1. Nebraska - It’s hard to be critical of Nebraska. First tournament wins ever and a Sweet 16 appearance. Magical season in Lincoln.
2. Texas - Hard to be critical of Texas, either, but Sean Miller comes up short in a big moment again. Not having the big man out there, especially against that Purdue team was certainly a choice.
3. Houston - If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times, the offense will let them down. Efficient through the course of the season, always susceptible in a single-elimination tournament. To only score 55 against that Illinois team is quite the achievement. No sugarcoating it, losing to them isn’t a shame, losing that way is.
4. Arkansas - Back-to-back Sweet 16’s, can Cal take the next step here? He’ll have to fix the defensive side of the the ball, a year after the offense was the issue. Been sometime since one of his teams has been championship good on both sides of the ball.
5. St. John’s - The Johnnies actually made buckets last night. It was their issue the last two seasons. Pitino needs better backcourts or their ceiling is quite limited. He was a bit cantankerous in the postgame about Duke bullying them after they got up 10. The bully hates being bullied.
6. Alabama - Roster issues again. Coach is responsible for how he builds his roster and with who. Another year, more drama. Plus, time to find an assistant to fix the defense.
7. Michigan State - Sparty hasn’t been to the Final 4 since 2019. They’ll be a trendy pick next year assuming Fears is back but we can retire the “Izzo is March” nonsense. Haven’t had a top-20 offense since Covid.
8. Iowa State - Offensive bugaboos caught up to them. Was better through the course of the season and not having Jefferson makes this hard to grade but 15-25 from the line and 22% from 3 sounds like how we’d expect them to get knocked out. Absolutely bullied by the Vols. Second weekend might be the ceiling in Ames.
Elite 8 Thoughts
Iowa-Illinois is such a classic Big Ten matchup. Old rivalry with a trip to the Final 4 on the line. Super cool matchup for fans of the real Big Ten, not the Frankenstein league it is.
Purdue-Arizona is about stopping the oafish Purdue team. This Purdue team is wholly unlikable and way more representative of the 21st century Big 18. Arizona has a lot of demons to slay tonight.
Duke-UConn is another classic matchup. They’ve played some memorable March games but it’s been a minute since they’ve met. Met 4 times between 90-04 in the tournament, splitting, with UConn winning on the final weekend twice and Duke winning twice on the second weekend. Basketball schools unapologetically meeting for a trip to the Final 4 the way it should be.
Michigan-Tennessee is the shoulder shrug matchup. The Vols can physically match Michigan, something the Wolverines really haven’t dealt with yet in the tourney but the Vols offense is not good. Completely predicated on second chance points, if they can get Mara in foul trouble and make it a slog, they can finally make a Final 4 but it’s sure feels like Michigan is playing with its food right now waiting for the main course.
No comments:
Post a Comment