West Coast: Bringing The Heat

Round 1
1 Connecticut
16 Chattanooga

Mediocre and veteran is still mediocre. Take UConn. Feel good about it.

8 BYU
9 Texas A&M

Both teams are good but flawed. BYU is a great shooting team, but an inside threat can eat it alive. Texas A&M is a team that can draw fouls excellently and rebound decently, but they are poor versus a good three point shooting team. Oh hai? BYU has 4 starters that have a 37 percent shooting percentage beyond the arc. TAKE THE MORMONS!

5 Purdue
12 Northern Iowa

The question is, can the giant Jordan Egelseder get the ball where he wants to. If he can? Then UNI can keep it close. If not? Purdue can win in a walk. UNI is good, but they're a tad too youthful. I think JaJuan Johnson will control the game.

4 Washington
13 Mississippi St.

For being such an excellent shotblocking team, the fighting Jarvis vanardo's are soo poor at rebounding. Washington? Spectacular at generating second chance opportunities off of misses. Also? If Jay Mariotti says you will shock the world, you will lose.

6 Marquette
11 Utah St.

Marquette has a simple script to win the game. Disrupt the passing lanes and get Gary Wilkinson into foul trouble. They do both? Then it would take a bad shooting night to lose. My one-time stealth final four pick at least gets one.

3 Missouri
14 Cornell

A sharpshooting team always finds a way to stay in the game. And even with a solid defense that generates a tremendous amout of steals and an excellent low post presence, Cornell is not going to be one of those teams down by 21 at the half. They're not going to win? But they'll be a good sparring partner.

7 California
10 Maryland

Cal is the pick here. The Golden Bears are a sharpshooting team that can take care of the ball. They are better at stopping second chance looks. They can't generate turnovers, but they will not likely lose the turnover battle. If it comes down to stars? I would trust Cal's Jerome Randle.

2 Memphis
15 CSU Northridge

Memphis. You don't need an analysis as to why.

Round 2
1 UConn
8 BYU

Remember when I said that a team with a good low-post can eat BYU alive? Hi, Hasheem Thabeet. Hi, Jeff Adrien. Welcome to the Sweet 16.

4 Washington
5 Purdue

Washington is great at rebounding. Purdue not so much. Purdue's great at field goal defense. Washington is already not a great shooting team. Purdue's better at generating turnovers. JaJuan Johnson is more of a talent than Jon Brockman. A healthy Robbie Hummell makes it no contest.

3 Missouri
6 Marquette

If Dominic James was helthy, this would have been different. But Missouri is just too strong down low. Marquette can keep it interesting, but this game is Missouri's to win. Leo Lyons FTW.

2 Memphis
7 California

Memphis cannot hit the three. But you know what? It doesn't matter. They're a veteran team who will dominate down low, win the turnover battle, and manage the game on offense. Cal's a good team. Memphis is a great one.

Sweet 16
1 UConn
5 Purdue

Purdue will win the turnover battle. They have all their stars healthy. They will have better guard play. UConn will draw more fouls and get more second chance looks. They will make Purdue take bad shots. They still have A.J. Price willing to take the big shot.

So you see? Evenly matched. A man who found me weird but funny once has a rule. One conference always dominates a tournament. And I just get the sense that Purdue will have a shot at glory.

3 Missouri
2 Memphis

I do like Memphis and I will pick Memphis. But that being said? Leo Lyons can make millions of dollars with a warrior's performance here. And if Missouri can get out and run? This will usurp Gonzaga-UNC as the #1 sweet 16 potential match-up. But Memphis will win, and losing here is no disgrace

Elite 8
5 Purdue
2 Memphis

Trust in Memphis. They are going up against a game but ultimately weaker team on paper. The strengths in the UConn game for the Boilermakers disappear here. Memphis is the Final 4 team. All hail the age of Calipari.