Monday, March 19, 2007
Cinderellas Can't Jump
By Michelle Dapper
It's been a dozen years since a double-digit seed failed to make the Sweet 16. Many say there are no underdogs left. Cinderella is dead and already at the morgue. A year ago, we had No. 13 Bradley and No. 11 George Mason as the Cinderella stories.
This year that is certainly not the case. What we have left are 12 teams from the big six conferences. All of the top seeds advanced past the first two rounds. Wisconsin was the only number two seed to be knocked off and Washington State was the lone number three seed left out in the Big Dance.
I think there is a Cinderella here. Let’s talk about the PAC-10. For only the second time in history, the conference sent six teams to the tournament and is now tied with the SEC for having three left to dance with the stars.
The PAC-10 always seems to get a bad wrap for being a weak division compared to teams in the Big East and Big 12. This year they may have proven that to be different.
Here’s the 411, the breakdown…
UCLA is the team with the most NCAA men's basketball titles in history and they made a return to the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Regional bracket.
The Bruins had a 26-5 record this season and were ranked No. 1 for six weeks during the regular season. On the down side, they stumbled in the Pac-10 tournament losing to the California Bears 76-69 in the first-round that cost the Bruins the No. 1 seed.
No team in the country was more consistent this season than the Bruins. They also have the experience of last season's NCAA Tournament. Combined with their strong defense and key players like Aaron Afflalo, Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute they should have no problem handling Pittsburgh.
Next up, The USC Trojans are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002. With double duo on the court Junior Gabe Pruitt and Nick Young can pretty much score in any situation. Young scored 22 points against Texas and Taj Gibson, a 6-foot-9 freshman, had 17 points and 14 rebounds. USC won by playing smarter and more disciplined basketball. In order to take on and defeat University of North Carolina they have to watch the turnovers, they rank last in the Pac-10. They need to keep up the big defense and use they key players to execute.
Oregon advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002. The Ducks are an explosive offensive team. They like a fast-paced game, so their opponents try to slow things down a bit. They have Tajuan Porter, who is one of the best shooting little man in the country, especially from the 3-point range. Numerous programs turned their heads away from him because of his size, but Ducks coach, Ernie Kent, took a chance on him and it sure has paid off. One can’t for get about Aaron Brooks, simply Mister clutch, who led the Ducks with 22 points. The Ducks have a little trouble rebounding, due to the lack of size on the court. As long as they can control the pace of the game they should be able to run past the No.7 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.
The odds are pretty good for at least one of these three outstanding teams to stay for the last dance. So watch out Big 12 and Big East, there may be a new conference in town.
I am going to put my money on the Bruins.
It's been a dozen years since a double-digit seed failed to make the Sweet 16. Many say there are no underdogs left. Cinderella is dead and already at the morgue. A year ago, we had No. 13 Bradley and No. 11 George Mason as the Cinderella stories.
This year that is certainly not the case. What we have left are 12 teams from the big six conferences. All of the top seeds advanced past the first two rounds. Wisconsin was the only number two seed to be knocked off and Washington State was the lone number three seed left out in the Big Dance.
I think there is a Cinderella here. Let’s talk about the PAC-10. For only the second time in history, the conference sent six teams to the tournament and is now tied with the SEC for having three left to dance with the stars.
The PAC-10 always seems to get a bad wrap for being a weak division compared to teams in the Big East and Big 12. This year they may have proven that to be different.
Here’s the 411, the breakdown…
UCLA is the team with the most NCAA men's basketball titles in history and they made a return to the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Regional bracket.
The Bruins had a 26-5 record this season and were ranked No. 1 for six weeks during the regular season. On the down side, they stumbled in the Pac-10 tournament losing to the California Bears 76-69 in the first-round that cost the Bruins the No. 1 seed.
No team in the country was more consistent this season than the Bruins. They also have the experience of last season's NCAA Tournament. Combined with their strong defense and key players like Aaron Afflalo, Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute they should have no problem handling Pittsburgh.
Next up, The USC Trojans are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002. With double duo on the court Junior Gabe Pruitt and Nick Young can pretty much score in any situation. Young scored 22 points against Texas and Taj Gibson, a 6-foot-9 freshman, had 17 points and 14 rebounds. USC won by playing smarter and more disciplined basketball. In order to take on and defeat University of North Carolina they have to watch the turnovers, they rank last in the Pac-10. They need to keep up the big defense and use they key players to execute.
Oregon advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002. The Ducks are an explosive offensive team. They like a fast-paced game, so their opponents try to slow things down a bit. They have Tajuan Porter, who is one of the best shooting little man in the country, especially from the 3-point range. Numerous programs turned their heads away from him because of his size, but Ducks coach, Ernie Kent, took a chance on him and it sure has paid off. One can’t for get about Aaron Brooks, simply Mister clutch, who led the Ducks with 22 points. The Ducks have a little trouble rebounding, due to the lack of size on the court. As long as they can control the pace of the game they should be able to run past the No.7 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.
The odds are pretty good for at least one of these three outstanding teams to stay for the last dance. So watch out Big 12 and Big East, there may be a new conference in town.
I am going to put my money on the Bruins.
# posted by [X]press Staff @ 6:42 PM 