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just a guy blogging to make his useless sports knowledge not so useless...
Well it’s that time of year again. March madness is here and I have decided to share with all of you (like 5 people and none of you fill out brackets) my thoughts and why I feel this way. I should inform you before we get to my picks as to how I make each pick. I am big on two criteria when comparing two teams; who you’ve played (also includes the conference and opponents in it) and if your playing well going into the tourney or limping in. In order to keep this from being way too long I’ll give you my final four picks, my champion, my cinderella team, and a select few first weekend games.
Second Round games to keep an eye on:
East Region:5. WVU vs. 12. Clemson This game I struggled with for a few days. I figured Clemson would cruise through the “first” round game against UAB, which they did, and face the Mountaineers. WVU is a smaller team that can spread the floor while Clemson showed great dominance inside and stifling “D” against UAB Tuesday night. However, I am going with WVU in a close game.
West Region: 8. Michigan vs. 9. Tennessee What a draw for the Michigan Wolvernines. Finally reach the tournament and see Tennessee (who in my mind is the second biggest disappointment this year next to Sparty) and IF they win that they have defending champion Duke. This has my vote for the most intreaging matchup. Michigan has the ability to make it rain 3’s all day on the Volunteer defense. But, what happens if they have an off shooting day? Yes, I do believe the Wolves could be the most dangerous team due to their ability to shoot from beyond the arch but I don’t think the Vols will give them the oppourtunity to show this. Tennessee is quick and athletic and can score from all over the floor. Tennessee faces Duke.
Southwest Region: 5. Vanderbilt vs. 12. Richmond These are two teams I don’t know that much about but it looks like an even matchup on paper. Vandy has been known for being vulnerable for upsets early in the tournament (Siena and Murry State) in which both times I had them going deep into the tourney. This year, I am picking then to make an early exit again. The Commodores posted a 9-7 conference record in a conference that I believe is the weakest power conference in the nation. I think Richmond’s ability to take care of the basketball and decent 3 point shooting will carry them into the 3rd round.
Southeast Region: 4. Wisconsin vs 13. Belmont This is probably the worst draw in the entire tournament for a high seed. The Belmont Bruins are a team that can cause alot of havoc in the tournament. They are coming in winning 12 straight games and have the ability to light up the scoreboard. Wisconsin made an early exit in the Big Ten tournament against a team they should have handled easily. If Belmont make this an offensive game they will win. If Wisconsin can keep it low scoring they will win. However, my thought is Belmont lights up the scoreboard and gives us the biggest upset in the second round.
My Cinderella:
Call me a homer if you’d like but I’m riding Michigan State all the way to the Elite 8. Now before scrutinizing me, hear me out. Michigan State has a favorable second round game against UCLA. The Bruins finished 2nd in a mediocre Pac-10. I like Kalin Lucas and his re-found ability to lead the team and rally the rest of the team around his abilities. However, and I’m sure you have heard this before, Durrell Summers has to get it going to win this game. I think he does. I think Sparty wins a close, low scoring game.
This gives us a Michigan State against Florida. I think the Gators are the most overrated 2 seed in the tourney. In all honesty I cannot believe they should be no more than a 4 seed. They played a weak out of conference schedule and played a weak SEC schedule as well. Sparty advances.
This sets up a Sweet 16 matchup that could include State and BYU. This could be the most intreaging matchup in the tourney involving Kalin Lucas and Jimmer Fredette. BYU is a team I don’t know much about but they play a weak conference, except SDSU, and have star big man Brandon Davies missing. I think State takes advantage of Jimmer’s lack of defense as well as BYU’s lack of big men and Roe, Green, and Payne lead the way to the Elite 8.
I then slated Michigan State vs. Pitt. Pitt is a team I have liked to be a favorite since day one. They play tough teams week in and week out and have plenty of experience. They play more consistant basketball than Michigan State and flat out have more talent and better depth. Pitt wins.
This leads me to my Final Four. I like Syracuse, Duke, Kansas, and Pitt. Wait, Syracuse over Ohio State? Yes. Syracuse is a very talented team and I think the zone shuts down Ohio State’s ability to go inside out. I then like Duke and Kansas in the finals with the champion being Kansas.
The Detroit Lions… what else can we say other than they have been the forgotten about franchise in the NFL since Barry Sanders left and they started losing more games than Americans losing their houses to foreclosure. I really started thinking about the state of this franchise as I drove home from the heartbreaking overtime loss to the super bowl contending New York Jets. I listened to the radio as caller after caller ripped on a variety different players, coaches, and calls. The more calls I heard the more I started to disagree with all of them. The bottom line is vast improvements have been made. The Lions are competitive and have been in EVERY game this year. Players seem to have bought into Jim Schwartz and his staff. The defense has vastly improved, so much that they are worthy of a fantasy start in your league (ha ha). You can’t expect the worst franchise in the league to turn things around instantly. I believe the saying is Rome wasn’t built in a day applies here. In my opinion the Lions are heading in the right direction and are in a good division (by good I mean good because its weak) to make the turn towards an above .500 team. They have the quarterback to do so as long as he can stay in the game and they certainly have the explosive players and the talented ones. Once they get experience and a tad more discipline (cough, cough, Julian Peterson, cough) look out because the Detroit Lions will be a winning franchise.
Well here it is, my first attempt at blogging. I guess my inspiration came from a few different things over the past month or so. The mix of a good friend of mine writing a book and my rediscovered interest for twitter has caused me to mix the two and share my thoughts for anyone who cares to read. At first I thought I wanted a place to express my thoughts on sports related topics. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of what I have to say will probably be my opinion on various national and local sports topics, but the friend that referred me to this website quickly convinced me that it is a good thing to get all of your thoughts out there. I suppose I wanted a place to express my thoughts and opinions to others in an organized way. I’ve tried writing poetry, music, and stories but nothing so far has worked. Facebook is slightly polluted and not the best place for thoughts on life. And of course their is Twitter. I love Twitter but I think a downfall is a limit on characters. So with all of this said, I apologize if you are offended by my horrible grammar or spelling, but I do hope all of you who read are interested in my thoughts and ideas. I look forward to gaining followers as I continue to blog and I hope to receive some feedback and comments as I post. As mentioned before, I will mainly use this as means to get my opinion out there on sports and hopefully hear about yours as well, but I do expect to discuss music, friends, school, and a slew of other topics. I also look forward to reading and following others and what they have to say. Thanks for checking out my first blog and hopefully I’ll update often and stay consistant.
just a guy blogging to make his useless sports knowledge not so useless...
