As a huge college basketball fan, nothing gets me going like the improbable nature of March Madness. That being said, the 2007 season looks a lot like the 2005 season. You may remember in 2005, North Carolina and Illinois jockeyed for the #1 ranking the majority of the season. The Tarheels steamrolled to the championship game, while the Illini needed a historic comeback over Arizona in the Regional Finals to reach the Final Four. Even though we are more than 5 weeks away from post-season play, it will take a Herculean effort to knock off either North Carolina or the de
fending champion Florida Gators come March.
Exhibit A this past weekend as UNC went into Tuscon and handed Arizona its worst home loss (28 points) in the long storied tenure of Lute Olson. Playing without arguably their best player (freshman Brandan Wright) the Tarheels held the #19 Wildcats to 33% from the field and a pathetic 1-23 from beyond the arc. Roy Williams’ crew is deeper than any team in the country including Florida. Other than complacency, there seems to be very little standing in the way of a 4th UNC national championship.
Meanwhile, the Florida Gators are well on their way to joining the 1995-1996 Kentucky Wildcats as the only SEC teams to run through conference play undefeated. Florida shot 59% from the floor in an absolute butt kicking of the Auburn Tigers who were coming off their most impressive victory of the season (a Tuesday night thrashing of then #12 Alabama). The Gator big men, Al Horford and Joakin Noah, are as unselfish as they come. This team has been challenged on a number of occasions thus far (more so than UNC) but you can’t help but think they are tad bored with regular season play.
If you’re looking for this year’s George Mason, here are a couple of under the radar teams to keep an eye on.
fending champion Florida Gators come March.Exhibit A this past weekend as UNC went into Tuscon and handed Arizona its worst home loss (28 points) in the long storied tenure of Lute Olson. Playing without arguably their best player (freshman Brandan Wright) the Tarheels held the #19 Wildcats to 33% from the field and a pathetic 1-23 from beyond the arc. Roy Williams’ crew is deeper than any team in the country including Florida. Other than complacency, there seems to be very little standing in the way of a 4th UNC national championship.
Meanwhile, the Florida Gators are well on their way to joining the 1995-1996 Kentucky Wildcats as the only SEC teams to run through conference play undefeated. Florida shot 59% from the floor in an absolute butt kicking of the Auburn Tigers who were coming off their most impressive victory of the season (a Tuesday night thrashing of then #12 Alabama). The Gator big men, Al Horford and Joakin Noah, are as unselfish as they come. This team has been challenged on a number of occasions thus far (more so than UNC) but you can’t help but think they are tad bored with regular season play.
If you’re looking for this year’s George Mason, here are a couple of under the radar teams to keep an eye on.
Virginia Commonwealth- The Rams run a 3 guard lineup that forces up-tempo basketball and shoot the 3 at over 42%. George Mason’s run out of the Colonial conference last year should help get them in the field if they don’t win the conference outright (currently 10-0).
UNLV
- Lon Kruger’s squad features 10 players averaging at least 15 minutes a contest. The coach’s son Kevin is a perimeter stopper and can shoot out to the arc. The Running Rebels have already managed to do something neither Kansas or Texas A&M could do….beat Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Mountain West features 3 potential sweet 16 teams (Air Force, UNLV, BYU) so the conference champion will be battle tested.
On a local note…..It only took 18 games, but Tom Penders finally decided to release the hounds and allow his players to play full-court,pressure defense. The result has been 3 consecutive halves of blow out basketball. The Cougars have a tricky non-conference game with Saint Louis on Monday night before the return engagement with Rice on Wednesday at Hofheinz. Second Place in CUSA will be on the line.
No comments:
Post a Comment