Cinderella, check your slipper: Arkansas is dancing after winning the SEC tournament.
|
|
Player to watch
With Kenyon Martin out, some say it's Marcus Fizer's show. But we'll take Stromile Swift from LSU. Can you say Antonio McDyess?
Fearless Prediction
Defending champion UConn bows out early, falling to Utah State in the ever-popular 5-12 upset.
Stock Rising
The Big 12 -- a No. 2, two No. 3s and a No. 5. And none of those teams is Kansas.
Bracket buster
Tulsa. As long as the Golden Hurricane don't have to play Fresno State, they can do some major damage. Defense and great coaching does that for you.
Second round game we want to see
Illinois-Florida in the East. Lon Kruger fled the Gators to greener Big Ten pastures; now he could face his successor in Billy Donovan. Want to see the future of the game? Check out these teams' underclassmen talent.
User Message of the Day
Why have so many people here been brain-washed into thinking the RPI is the end-all be-all of evaluating teams? ... Some people seem to think that they should also tell the selection committee what criteria they should use when picking teams. How funny is that?
-- MSUMatt28
|
|
|
Daily Word: Seeding surprises
Mid-major teams were protected for the second consecutive year by the selection committee.
The selections of Indiana State (Missouri Valley) and Pepperdine (West Coast) over Vanderbilt was a
clear sign the committee wanted to reward mid-major teams that won regular-season championships
but failed to win their conference tournament titles.
Vanderbilt lost in the SEC quarterfinals, but swept Tennessee and beat Florida and LSU during the
regular season. The Commodores had better wins than Indiana State or Pepperdine, but that obviously
wasn't enough to get them a bid.
Eliminating Vanderbilt might have been done when Arkansas won the SEC tournament. But, if that's
the case, that would go against the committee's take of going team vs. team rather than picking a set
number of teams from a conference.
The committee has won fans with the mid-major conferences, but the high-major conferences have a
legitimate gripe about being left out of the field.
For more of Andy Katz's Daily Word, click here.
| |
QUESTION OF THE DAY
Who will win the national title? |
ESPN.com's Andy Katz
Michigan State. The Spartans' depth and experience from last year's Final Four team make them
the team to beat entering the tournament. They answered every challenge this season and are poised to win the title.
ESPN's Dick Vitale
I really like Michigan State. I think the Spartans have been focused towards this
goal ever since losing to Duke at last year's Final Four in St. Petersburg. The
regular-season preparation counts, playing the best of the best -- Kentucky, Kansas,
Texas, Arizona, Connecticut in non-league plus the rugged Big Ten schedule. Tom
Izzo had a plan, to get his kids mentally tough as possible for the three phases of the
campaign -- first the regular season, then the conference tournament and finally the
NCAA Tournament.
ESPN.com's Greg Collins
Stanford. The Cardinal shouldn't feel bad about being shipped to the South. Without Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati is clearly the weakest No. 2 seed and Stanford matches up well with Ohio State. Stanford only lost three games this season, and two were to another No. 1 seed. With depth, senior leadership, good 3-point shooting, solid coaching and a team-first atmosphere, the ingredients are there for a long run.
|
|
TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE
Have you signed up yet? The largest pool in the world is back again, looking to top last year's 400,000-plus entries. Click here to sign up, then check back all tournament for interesting statistics and tidbits.
|
|
ESPN BRACKETS
Wondering who's the hot pick among your favorite ESPN and ESPN.com personalities? Check back here later to see picks from the great minds here at Bristol U. |
Cinderella Watch
Five members of our final regular-season Cinderella Watch -- Hofstra, Utah State, Pepperdine, Indiana State and Southeast Missouri State -- made the field of 64, postponing the clock striking midnight for at least one game. Add to that list Saint Louis, Arkansas and a few more conference tourney winners from the small conferences, and you have a pretty strong field of slipper-wearing crazies gunning for upsets.
Some quick notes when picking a Cinderella in the Big Dance:
• The 5-12 combo: It's happened every season since 1988 -- a No. 12 shocks a No. 5. This season, your candidates are Utah State (over UConn), Butler (over Florida), St. Bonaventure (over Kentucky) and Indiana State (over Texas). Don't look at us for advice -- all four of those teams spent at least a week on the Watch during the regular season.
• Middle seeds are killers: Last season, every No. 9 seed and every 10 seed won their first-round games. With the parity this season, those "upsets" could spread to the 6-11 matchups.
• Hitch your ride to a star: Valparaiso had one two years ago in Bryce Drew. Last year, Gonzaga had a couple in Matt Santangelo and Richie Frahm. This year's could be Craig "Speedy" Claxton of Hofstra, who grew up playing against other NYC luminaries such as Erick Barkley and Ed Cota.
That being stated, have at it. This is the greatest time of the year to be an underdog because anything can happen on a given night.
|
|
|
