Tourney Preview

By Kufere Laing

I'm going to go region by region picking a sleeper team, player to watch, put certain teams on upset alert (because they really are going to listen to me and wise up) and in the pick a champion.

First up: Midwest Region

Sleeper Team- Watch out for those pesky West Virginia Mountaineers. They are great defensively, can play both up tempo and in a walk it up mode, an experienced coach, and have played great competition all year in the Big East. Also, they match up well with the rest of the region. Their height and athletecism should give Dayton some problems in the first round and although Kansas won the national championship last year, Kansas has been known to underachieve in the tourney (1st round loss to Bucknell in 04, followed by a 1st round loss to Bradley in 05, and being the 1st #1 seed to lose in 06) and lack the big game experience (excluding Sherron Collins) that last year's team had.

Player to Watch- While there are a lot of great players in the region (Jeff Teague, Da' Sean Butler, Terrance Williams, and Sherron Collins) none are as important to their team as Boston College's Tyrese Rice. He is the focus of the BC offense and almost every play is run through him, if USC's defense is able to contain him, BC has little hope of moving on to the 2nd round.

Upset Alert- Michigan State. Not only are they playing the Team of Destiny in the 1st round (your Robert Morris Colonials ladies and gentlemen), but a second round match up with USC could be very dangerous. Despite a mediocore conference record and inconsistent play, USC has won 5 in a row, are a great defensive team, and Michigan State lacks an impressive win this season coupled with their poor showing in the NIT Warm Up Tourney, I mean Big 10 tournament I'm not sold on this MSU team. Also USC has the secret weapon of the tournament in Percy Miller.

Region Favorite--Got to go with the #1 seeded Louisville Cardinals. They're the overall #1 for a reason and their defensive ability, combined with their gritty guards and senior leadership, Louisville will be a tough out.

West Region

Sleeper Team-(Does Memphis count? Very well then.) Maryland is the pick. They've been up and down this season (beating Michigan St. by 18, losing to Morgan St, losing to Duke by 41, beating UNC), but Gary Williams has his team playing hard (Central Catholic JV coach Joe Cattania recruited the entire Maryland roster for Coach Williams) and UMD has had a jolt of confidence since knocking off UNC and saving their tourney hopes. Also, they have a match-up nightmare in Greivis Vasquez who has shown the ability to take over games.

Player to Watch- None other than the aforementioned Greivis Vasquez! Vasquez does it all for Maryland, he passes, rebounds, scores, and when he isn't doing one of those three things he engages in friendly conversations with the opposing teams fans. Vasquez is a threat for a triple double in almost every game and similarly to Tyrese Rice of BC, UMD's tourney hopes ride on his shoulders.

Upset Alert- Washington is going to face a hot Mississippi St. team in the first round and then will probably play a tough Purdue team that will be a tough out in the tourney. Washington is a relatively young team with only three seniors and have not made the tourney the past two seasons, meaning their roster lacks big game experience.

Favorite- UConn...UConn has been the most consistent team this season with all of their losses coming to ranked teams. They are great defensively, their guard play is as good as it gets even without Jerome Dyson, and they have great depth.

East Region

Sleeper Team- Villanova/Florida St. It's a tie in the East for similar reasons, one of these two teams are beating Pitt. Yes it's bold and I'm a huge Pitt basketball fan, but someone had to say it. Nova has the guard play to succeed in March and due to their quickness are almost impossible to score on. Florida St. is a young team led by senior guard Toney Douglas and gave Pittsburgh problems earlier this season by holding them to 33% shooting from the field and also made DeJuan Blair due to foul trouble.

Player to Watch- How bout DeJuan Blair? With him, Pitt is a top four team in the country, without him they're average. In all of Pitt's losses this season, Blair has been saddled with foul trouble and has been a nonfactor. If Blair stays out of foul trouble, Pitt reaches the national championship (I don't see this happening five games in a row which is why I think Nova knocks them off in the Elite 8) if he doesn't it, Pitt's season ends.

Upset Alert- How bout those Pittsburgh Panthers? Pitt has never gotten past the Sweet 16 (but the good part about never is it has an expiration date) and could possibly have a rematch with a dangerous Florida St team in that very round. If the Panthers knock off Florida St to reach the Elite 8, Villanova should be there waiting. In the first match up between Nova and Pitt, Nova forced Blair to the bench due to foul trouble and used their quickness to disrupt the Pitt offense.

Favorite- Villanova...I love Nova's guards along with their defensive tenacity and Jay Wright's coaching ability. Their main concern has to be a lack of height though and running into a tall team like UNC in the Final Four could end their season.

South Region

Sleeper Team- Syracuse...Johnny Flynn and Eric Devendorf form one of the top back courts in the country and the Orange have Ben Stevenson wannabe Andy Rautins coming off the bench who can shoot the lights out. Syracuse has good height, versatility, and really showed their toughness in the Big East tournament. Their lack of a go to post scorer could hurt them later in the tournament though.

Player to Watch- Ty Lawson has to be the guy. Without him UNC looked very beatable in the ACC tournament. With him, they might be the best team in the country. He controls the game from the point with his decision making and speed and most importantly he knows when to take the game over and when to look for his teammates.
Side note--How great would a Johnny Flynn-Ty Lawson match up be witha trip to the Final Four on the line?

Upset Alert- Gonzaga has been a tough team to figure out all season. At times they've looked as if they could get to the Elite 8, possibly the Final 4 and at other times they look like a team that might not make it out of the Sweet 16. With that said, a match up with Western Kentucky (if they knock off Illinois from the Little 10) in the second round could be very dangerous for the Zags.

Favorite- UNC, but barely. If Lawson's toe injury is bad enough to keep him out of more than two games, then Syracuse looks like they might make a run to the Final 4

Tourney Winner--UConn wins it all, beating UNC in the Final as Hasheem Thabeet is named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.