No North Carolina ! , no West Virginia ! !, no UCLA ! ! No Duke ! !, no FSU ! !, no Arizona ! ! - those were the teams I definitely wanted to stay away from early, due to match-up concerns. So, what's not to like in our seeding ???
My first worry - getting beyond the first game ! ! However, we seem to have caught a break getting Vermont. They are a good team, who was undefeated during conf play, but . . we beat them last year without AJ and I am sure they will find out that Biggie has improved - A LOT ! !
Do NOT look past them though, just because we torched them with 18 3s last year - I doubt that happens again on a neutral court and we only outrebounded them by 1 last year, with them getting more paint points than we had. The good news is they lost their best big from last year's team, so I am NOT seeing any upset this year ! ! Purdue by at least 10
2nd game match-up will be a challenge - Both Iowa State and Nevada can run and shoot 3s, but we are fairly good at defending the 3s - I just worry about the driving ! Could be another Notre Dame type game. I expect it to be close, but we have the size advantage inside if we can effectively utilize it. If we don't turn it over too often on bad passes and double teams, I like our chances. Purdue by 5
From there, I will be screaming like mad for a couple of teams from the big ten to pull some upsets ! I think Michigan knocks out Louisville, since they can handle their pressure and rebound with them, while out-shooting them. The Michigan State game and Kansas should be a bar fight ! We already know Kansas is not a top team without Jackson, and problem is . . the kid likes to try for highlight reel dunks and with Michigan State he may just find a team willing to take charges ! If he gets in foul trouble, I like Bridges to pull an upset (Kansas has a history of bowing out early - lets keep it going ! !)
That would make for a very entertaining 2nd week-end ! (would love to meet up with the Michigan schools again.)
Starting to drink the kool-aid again ! I really like the first week though Boiler up !
My first worry - getting beyond the first game ! ! However, we seem to have caught a break getting Vermont. They are a good team, who was undefeated during conf play, but . . we beat them last year without AJ and I am sure they will find out that Biggie has improved - A LOT ! !
Do NOT look past them though, just because we torched them with 18 3s last year - I doubt that happens again on a neutral court and we only outrebounded them by 1 last year, with them getting more paint points than we had. The good news is they lost their best big from last year's team, so I am NOT seeing any upset this year ! ! Purdue by at least 10
2nd game match-up will be a challenge - Both Iowa State and Nevada can run and shoot 3s, but we are fairly good at defending the 3s - I just worry about the driving ! Could be another Notre Dame type game. I expect it to be close, but we have the size advantage inside if we can effectively utilize it. If we don't turn it over too often on bad passes and double teams, I like our chances. Purdue by 5
From there, I will be screaming like mad for a couple of teams from the big ten to pull some upsets ! I think Michigan knocks out Louisville, since they can handle their pressure and rebound with them, while out-shooting them. The Michigan State game and Kansas should be a bar fight ! We already know Kansas is not a top team without Jackson, and problem is . . the kid likes to try for highlight reel dunks and with Michigan State he may just find a team willing to take charges ! If he gets in foul trouble, I like Bridges to pull an upset (Kansas has a history of bowing out early - lets keep it going ! !)
That would make for a very entertaining 2nd week-end ! (would love to meet up with the Michigan schools again.)
Starting to drink the kool-aid again ! I really like the first week though Boiler up !
