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Today is a huge day for college basketball. Lots of conference finals including the Big East, Pac 10, Conference USA, Mountain West, and a slew of other small conference finals. There also are a ton of semifinal conference games in the ACC, Big 12, Big 10, etc. So today should be a big day for college basketball and this is one of my favorite times of the year.
Now to review what happened last night:
Georgetown continues to roll in the Big East and squares off against Pitt tonight in the Big East final. Georgetown might be playing their best ball at the right time and will definitely be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament. They are a semi-sleeper pick to go all the way because I think most people think they are either overrated or not as good as the North Carolinas, UCLAs, Memphis', etc. However, Georgetown is 6th in Defensive Efficiency and 21st in Offensive Efficiency, so they are a solid team who plays a unique style.
UCLA squeaked past USC and did not look as impressive against them as they did in their opening game in the Pac 10 tournament. However, USC is no slouch and is one of the better defense teams in the country. They are 13th overall in Defensive Efficiency and 16th overall in FG% allowed giving up only 44.5 %. Unfortunately for them, UCLA is 4th in Defensive Efficiency, which is why the game was probably in the 50's last night.
I would expect a similar game tonight when UCLA squares off against Stanford in the Pac 10 final because Stanford is ranked 10th in defensive efficiency. I'm getting a strange feeling about this UCLA team. They don't win pretty, similiar to Georgetown, but they have alot of talent and they are in the top 10 in both Defensive and Offensive Efficiency(ADJ). The only other teams in the top 10 in both are Duke and Kansas.
Duke and North Carolina both won and would seem to be on a collision course to meet in the ACC final. However, Clemson rolled through BC last night and could cause trouble for Duke. I would be shocked if Va. Tech knocked off North Carolina so I expect to see UNC in the final.
In the Big 12, Kansas and Texas took care of business and now square off against Texas A&M and Oklahama today. I would love to see a Kansas vs Texas final here but I would not be surprised if either one of them got knocked off. I would expect Oklahoma would be more likely to knock off Texas than Texas A&M would be to knock off Kanses. I have a strange feeling that Texas A&M will win but it's hard for me to justify that after Kansas just took care of them last weekend.
In bubble related news, St Joe's knocked off Xavier and now squares off against Temple in the A-10 final. If Temple wins, then the situation could arise where both Temple and St Joe's make the NCAA Tournament which could be bad news for the rest of the bubble teams out there. Right now the A-10 is the only tournament that will definitely have a team that was on the bubble or next expected to make the tournament as the winner. There are a few teams like Minnesota, Georgia, and Va Tech that could also steal a bid but they are not in position yet to do that.
The play of the night came in the pathetic Big 10 as Minnesota knocked off Indiana with a Christian Laettner like shot from Blake Hoffarber. Purdue also got knocked off by lowly Illinois. Wisconsin and Michigan State look like they are headed for the finals here.
Here is a video of the game highlites and winning shot for Minnesota by Blake Hoffarber who also happens to be the same kid who hit one of the best game tieing shots ever when he was in high school:
Now to review what happened last night:
Georgetown continues to roll in the Big East and squares off against Pitt tonight in the Big East final. Georgetown might be playing their best ball at the right time and will definitely be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament. They are a semi-sleeper pick to go all the way because I think most people think they are either overrated or not as good as the North Carolinas, UCLAs, Memphis', etc. However, Georgetown is 6th in Defensive Efficiency and 21st in Offensive Efficiency, so they are a solid team who plays a unique style.
UCLA squeaked past USC and did not look as impressive against them as they did in their opening game in the Pac 10 tournament. However, USC is no slouch and is one of the better defense teams in the country. They are 13th overall in Defensive Efficiency and 16th overall in FG% allowed giving up only 44.5 %. Unfortunately for them, UCLA is 4th in Defensive Efficiency, which is why the game was probably in the 50's last night.
I would expect a similar game tonight when UCLA squares off against Stanford in the Pac 10 final because Stanford is ranked 10th in defensive efficiency. I'm getting a strange feeling about this UCLA team. They don't win pretty, similiar to Georgetown, but they have alot of talent and they are in the top 10 in both Defensive and Offensive Efficiency(ADJ). The only other teams in the top 10 in both are Duke and Kansas.
Duke and North Carolina both won and would seem to be on a collision course to meet in the ACC final. However, Clemson rolled through BC last night and could cause trouble for Duke. I would be shocked if Va. Tech knocked off North Carolina so I expect to see UNC in the final.
In the Big 12, Kansas and Texas took care of business and now square off against Texas A&M and Oklahama today. I would love to see a Kansas vs Texas final here but I would not be surprised if either one of them got knocked off. I would expect Oklahoma would be more likely to knock off Texas than Texas A&M would be to knock off Kanses. I have a strange feeling that Texas A&M will win but it's hard for me to justify that after Kansas just took care of them last weekend.
In bubble related news, St Joe's knocked off Xavier and now squares off against Temple in the A-10 final. If Temple wins, then the situation could arise where both Temple and St Joe's make the NCAA Tournament which could be bad news for the rest of the bubble teams out there. Right now the A-10 is the only tournament that will definitely have a team that was on the bubble or next expected to make the tournament as the winner. There are a few teams like Minnesota, Georgia, and Va Tech that could also steal a bid but they are not in position yet to do that.
The play of the night came in the pathetic Big 10 as Minnesota knocked off Indiana with a Christian Laettner like shot from Blake Hoffarber. Purdue also got knocked off by lowly Illinois. Wisconsin and Michigan State look like they are headed for the finals here.
Here is a video of the game highlites and winning shot for Minnesota by Blake Hoffarber who also happens to be the same kid who hit one of the best game tieing shots ever when he was in high school:
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