NCAA Tourney: Day 3

Today might not have been as exciting as Friday was, but it sure was filled with a bunch of good games. With 8 of the 16 games in the second round done, there are more things I have noticed:

- All doubts I had about Villanova after their near scare against American have been vanquished. They handily put away UCLA, a very good, experienced team, by 20 points. They were able to get production from a handful of players, with 6 players scoring in double figures. 'Nova has excellent guard play, and are solid down in the paint (Dante Cunningham led the team in points with 18 while grabbing 10 boards). And, perhaps most importantly, they are well coached. Jay Wright is a very good, smart coach and has experienced the tournament many times.

- Purdue looks better every day. They beat a good Washington team today, and, right now, seem like they can beat a lot of very good teams. Today's win might even be considered an off day for the Boilermakers as of late. They turned the ball over 11 times and shot 39 percent from the field. Their defense was solid, however, and, after jumping out to a big lead, they were able to stay ahead of the Huskies and preserve their lead.

- Ty Lawson is a stud. With him, UNC is twice as good as they are without him, and without him, they're a really good team. After watching them beat LSU today, I'm second-guessing picking Louisville to beat them in the final. The Heels are good in every part of the game and have contributor at every position. Even if Hansbrough has an off day, you can count on guys like Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and/or Danny Green to step in and take over. Ty's toe? Not to be worried about. Even if he wasn't 100 percent today, his 80 or 90 percent is better than a lot of guys' 110 percent.

- I hate to say it, but it's really hard to pick against Duke right now. Growing up 5 minutes from the University of Maryland, where hating the Blue Devils is hereditary, it kinda hurts to admit how good the Dukies actually are. They're a tad undersized, but their amazing guard play makes up for that completely. Jon Scheyer, distorted faces and all, has been hot lately, and Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler are consistently good. They were able to contain A.J. Abrams for the most part. Abrams, by the way, has the best shooting stroke in the nation. Its so sweet and natural, and its so easy to watch. Oh and also the ball goes in a lot when he shoots it. Now back to Duke: Its gonna be an epic game next week against Villanova, and it'll be interesting to see how the Blue Devil guards match up with 'Nova's. Both run offenses centered largely around great guard play. And, hey, if Scottie Reynolds starts picking them apart, they can always have Henderson throw an elbow .

- I'm still not convinced by Oklahoma. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Blake Griffin is incredible, I know. But, without him, Oklahoma is just a mediocre team, solid at best. They snuck past Michigan today, who is a good, but not great, team. If you're as good as Oklahoma is cracked up to be, you should be able to put away teams like the Wolverines with ease. As long as Blake Griffin is healthy and playing though, the Sooners will be just fine. I don't like their chances against Syracuse (if they get past Arizona State) next round, however. The Orange has been playing great basketball as of late, and I don't think Oklahoma could keep up with them.

- Dear espn.com, please, please, please get rid of the iPod ad at the top of the homepage. Seriously, every time I want to check basketball scores, the ad starts shaking around and moving the icons, so instead of seeing basketball, I hear about how the new iPod touch is "the funnest iPod ever."

Thats about all I've got to say. My bracket is still 89 percent right! Woohoo.  I'm looking forward to Cleveland State-Arizona, Marquette-Missouri, and, of course, my Wisconsin Badgers beating Xavier (I hope) tomorrow.

P.S.: This is why its called March Madness.

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.