March Madness Weekend Recap

What did we learn after four days of the Madness?

#1 Tennessee is better than I thought they were. The Volunteers are far too reliant on the three point shot (Half of their makes were from long distance), but they are just the type of team that will give Ohio State all sorts of difficulty. The Volunteers up-tempo style could keep Greg Oden from being as much of a factor on the defensive end. Oh by the way the Buckeyes and Vols have played earlier this season with T-OSU (The Ohio State University) pulling out a controversial 2 point win in Columbus.

#2 USC might not win it all this year, but they are probably pre-season #1 next season. The Trojans are about to make Los Angeles the capital of the college hoops world. Coach Tim Floyd is magnificent at controlling tempo and his two pronged PG’s Dwight Lewis and Daniel Hackett nearly made DJ Augustin cry. If the Trojans had a second big guy to go with Taj Gibson I would give them a good chance to beat North Carolina. Next year they add 6’7 forward Davon Jefferson and the unbelievable PG OJ Mayo (probably a one and done recruit) to a nucleus that will lose only Lodrick Stewart. USC and UNC will have the most NBA talent on the floor of any of the Sweet 16 matchups.

#3 Lon Kruger is further proof that good college coaches should stay college coaches. Kruger flopped with the Atlanta Hawks (hasn’t everyone), but returned to the collegiate ranks to lead his 4th different team to a Sweet 16 (Kansas State, Florida, and Illinois were the others). I don’t know if Kruger wants to stay in Vegas long term- he might be a candidate at Michigan, but he is a proven winner.

#4 Why don’t Longhorn and Kentucky Wildcat fans stop their bitching and just switch head coaches already? The Wildcats will get Rick Barnes, the big time recruiter they so desire, while the Longhorns will get Tubby Smith, a good in-game coach who can occasionally get a win when his team is overmatched.

#5 My Final Four (Georgetown, Texas A&M, UCLA, Oregon) is still alive, though none of the teams really had a walk in the park through the 1st two rounds. I’m sticking with UCLA and Georgetown in the finals with The Hoyas cutting down the nets.
---- MJ