Sports Blog » Vanderbilt

One Shining Moment For 2008

Dave — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:03:29 +0000

As everyone suspected the moment UNC beat Clemson, the Tar Heels took over the No. 1 overall seed for this year’s tourney. The other three No. 1 seeds were Memphis, Kansas, and UCLA. To see the entire bracket, go here.

Thoughts on each bracket:

-East

Carolina’s No. 1, which was the obvious pick. That said, does UT, who was thought to possibly be a No. 1 seed earlier in the day, really deserve to be thrown in the same bracket as UNC and Louisville? It makes for a tough region, and if the Sweet 16 pans out as anticipated, Louisville vs. UT could be a game that reaches 200 combined points.
It may be a long shot, but don’t be surprised if Winthrop sneaks past Washington State.
Indiana and Arkansas may be one of the best first round games, and Indiana/UNC could quite possibly be the best second round game.

-Midwest

After beating Texas, Kansas seemed like the obvious pick. Even as a UT fan, I won’t argue that.
Siena will upset Vanderbilt.
Georgetown will make the Final Four.
It’s crazy, but I think Kansas could lose to Kent State in the second round, doing what Kansas does best, exiting the tournament early.

-South

Memphis won’t make the Final Four again. While everyone is bent on them playing the best out of conference schedule, their in conference schedule was terrible; and beyond that, their two best out of conference opponents, Tennessee and Georgetown, were both home games, and they only came away with a W in one of them.
Michigan State will make a nice run, but Texas will win a close one in the Elite 8 to represent the region.
People love the run Kentucky’s made to close the season, but I don’t see them getting past Marquette in Round 1.

-West

To me, this is the easiest region. UCLA should be able to run through it. Duke is overrated, Xavier’s an untested, weak No. 3, and Uconn isn’t quick enough to hang with the Bruins.
Don’t be surprised if West Virginia pulls one out against Duke in Round 2. The Blue Devils are fundamentally sound, but they’re not super athletic.

March Madness Update: Well, At Least Good Defense Was Played

Dave — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:08:02 +0000

Wisconsin 48, Ohio State 49: I’ve commented on it all season, so I figure I’ll harp some more about it now (it’s tough being right: If Wisconsin plays a team that’s solid down low, they’re going to have a hard time beating anybody with their three point shooting. The Badgers were 5-17 from beyond the arch, and Alando Tucker led all Wisonsin players with 12 points. Greg Oden had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. They won and all, but I think Greg Oden needs to get the ball a little more so he takes more than the 8 shots he took in this game.

Houston 64, Memphis 77: Every time I write about this team, it seems they’ve just played another .500 patsy. They play good defense on paper, but I think this might be a high-seeded, early exit come March Madness.

Kentucky 65, Vandy 67: Seems like a long time ago that everyone was getting pumped up about Kentucky’s game with Florida that might catapult them into the top 10 (they lost, of course). Kentucky’s lost four of their last five, and still have to play Georgia and then travel down Florida to finish the season. They lose those two, I’m not sure they’ll get a bid.

Duke 67, St. John’s 50: It’s unfortunate, but it also seems like a long time ago that we were discussing the possibility of Duke not making the Dance. They’ve rattled off four-straight, and Greg Paulus — who just seems really irritating to watch — is finally starting to contribute on offense.

North Carolina 87, Maryland 89: Well, you can go ahead and stamp Maryland as being in the tournament. I’m wondering who’s fallen faster: UNC, Wisconsin or Florida.

Other Top 25 Scores From Last Night

Dave — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:45:35 +0000

Sorry these are being posted so late, but I woke up late as hell today. Couldn’t fall asleep last night. I was having dreams of Georgia Tech being dominated by Duke, only to wake up and realize that we beat them like they were our Sister of the ACC. Take that, Duke. It’s about time (it was only our 2nd win against them in the last 22 meetings. Not a very good percentage, since you had to ask).

Kansas 87, Ok. State 57: So much for Ok. State being a top ten team. Kansas had a 17 point lead at the break, and continued their wrecking-ball dominance through the second half. Now we’ll see if they can do this in March.

Butler 67, Illinois-Chicago 73: So much for this team to be a 3 seed in March. They had a nice little run, but a couple of more losses and they’ll go back to Cinderella status.

Marquette 73, UCONN 69: Jim Calhoun’s squad is starting to come back to earth after a nice start. This loss was most deflating because it came at home, where Uconn had a 31 game winning-streak.

Vandy 82, UT 81: Vandy has now beaten Georgia Tech and Tennessee, making them my least favorite team in the nation. Chris Lofton did his thing for the Vols, shooting 6/7 from beyond the arch, which actually turned out to be an off day.