Wisconsin's Mike Kelley leads the Badgers in celebration following their win over LSU.
|
|
Player to watch
Charlie Bell, Michigan State. Tendinitis in his left knee slowed him down last week, but Bell started ringing true in the second half against Syracuse. He scored nine of his 12 points in the second half, and his bank shot with 5:18 left put the Spartans up for good.
Random thought
What will be more important in the West Region final, Ron Dayne's rushing yards or Drew Brees' touchdown-to-interception ratio?
Stock Rising
Jamaal Tinsley. This season opened with a slew of point guards bucking for the spotlight, but Tinsley might be better than them all. He fell one rebound short of a triple-double and shut down Earl Watson, who was coming off his best game of the season.
Bracket buster
Everyone who picked an all-Big Ten regional final in the West, please e-mail us and we'll send you your complimentary "I told you so" hat for you to wear with pride.
User Message of the Day
With all due respect to Tobias Sherwood and Mark Rickard and to the other naysayers who as of yet haven't even mentioned my alma mater in the same breath as "Potential National Champions," I present the following: Purdue 75, Gonzaga 66. ...To paraphrase Edward G. Robinson in The Ten Commandments: "Where's your Bulldogs NOWWWW?"
-- adstone97
|
|
|
Daily Word: Ugly is in
Halfway through the Sweet 16, ugly is in and finesse is out
OK, so Iowa State doesn't struggle to score that often, and Michigan
State seems to find the on switch to its offense in the second halves of games. But the concurrent
themes running through the Cyclones, Spartans and West Region bullies Purdue
and Wisconsin are defense, rebounding and hard work.
Thursday's games shows there's a place for the
unheralded, slow, plodding, physical, skilled and patient player in the
NCAA Tournament.
These four teams are not littered with high-profile, high-flying players who made names for themselves in AAU summer leagues. They are the forgotten players who tough-guy coaches
like Tom Izzo, Larry Eustachy, Dick Bennett and Gene Keady end up getting to play exactly the way they want.
For more of Andy Katz's Daily Word, click here.
| |
QUESTION OF THE DAY
Which Big Ten team will win the West Region final? |
ESPN.com's Andy Katz
Wisconsin. The Badgers have successfully forced three teams to play into their hands, while Purdue has only done that to Gonzaga. But Fresno State, Arizona and LSU did everything wrong against the Badgers. Teams need an aggressive point guard and have to make open shots to beat the Badgers. None of those teams did that in this tournament. Purdue knows what to expect with Wisconsin. However, the Badgers have a bit more momentum. They replaced Gonzaga as the fan favorite. They beat Purdue in the Big Ten tournament, and they can do it in the Elite Eight.
ESPN.com's Greg Collins
Purdue. Fresno State, Arizona and LSU had two things in common: they have athletic players, and they like to run a free-wheeling offense. That led to their undoing vs. Wisconsin. Purdue runs the same sort of disciplined, tough-nosed system as Wisconsin (although not as restrictive on defense), and knows what to expect from the Badgers. Purdue already won a war against Oklahoma, and can put the defensive clamps to Wisconsin. The Badgers haven't been in a situation where they have to score points, and you never know when that offense could disappear.
|
|
TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE
The Madness is under way. This year's pool is larger than ever, with 590,000 brackets submitted. Click here to check your brackets. Some interesting tidbits:
Michigan State was the second favorite pick to make it to the Elite Eight, showing up on 85.9 percent of all brackets. Only Duke (88.5) showed up more often.
LSU made it to the Elite Eight on 27.2 percent of all brackets.
After the first two rounds, 519,250 brackets had scores ranging from 350 to 450 points.
|
|
ESPN BRACKETS
Bracket fever has hit ESPN! We have our own Tournament Challenge group, and you can check it out. First, you'll need to log on to the Challenge main page with your entry, and then check out the Featured Group Great Minds of Bristol U. to see our predictions for the NCAA Tournament. Still in the lead is Jay Bilas with 540 points, trailed closely by Andy Katz (530) and David Lloyd (520). |
Cinderella Watch
At this point of the tournament, it's time to redefine what a Cinderella is. We usually don't like to put the glass slipper on teams from major conferences, but we'll have to make an exception for Wisconsin.
Why the Badgers and not fellow Big Ten bully Purdue? The Boilermakers were one game away from a three-way tie for first place atop the conference with Michigan State and Ohio State. Just because the Boilermakers hardly received any recognition in the national polls doesn't mean they aren't a national power.
Wisconsin has something extra. Start with how the Badgers played themselves into the tournament with a regular-season win over Indiana. Then trace their path to the Elite Eight, with wins over three conference champions or co-champions. Then start counting the number of times Wisconsin has made it to the NCAA Tournament (five), much less gotten as far as the Sweet 16 (twice, 1941 and 1947).
Basketball and Wisconsin go together like cheese and dirt. Until now.
Wisconsin had five NCAA Tournament wins in school history heading into this season (Purdue had 23, by the way). Should the Badgers make it to the national final, they'll equal that mark.
And although the Badgers' style of play won't instantly become beautiful with a wave of a wand from a fairy godmother, that won't keep Wisconsin from wearing the glass slipper a little longer. |
|
|
