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March 07, 2004
Spring is coming
and a young man's thoughts turn to intricate dreams of bracketology.
Well, young-ish anyway. I missed my one chance this season to pelt Billy Packer in the back of the head with a pretzel, preferring instead to sleep in and watch SU's victory over UConn from the unshaven, unshowered comfort of my own little corner of the world. UConn continued to look like the LA Lakers of college b-ball, pretending to appear human thanks to Okafor's back. As tough as it's been for the Lake to "turn it on come playoff time," I've got to think that the Huskies are now prime upset-bait. Of course, every team I think that of inevitably does 2-3 rounds better than I end up predicting for them. So maybe UConn's going to the Final Four.
SU is not, despite looking pretty decent today and against Pitt last week. They have learned how to win ugly this year, which is better than losing pretty, but they're still a pretty streaky team. They could go anywhere from 4-6 (although a 4 seed would depend on a good Big East Tournament, I think) in their seeding, and I wouldn't bet against them making the Sweet 16, unless they get a really hot team in the opening regional. Teams don't get but 3-4 days to prepare for the Orangemen's long-armed, flex-spaced 2-3, and that can be pretty tough on a team. They've got weaknesses, but my guess is that it'll take a top 10 team to really exploit it (see Pitt's and UConn's first encounters this season, e.g.).
My picks? I think the whole "Road to Perfection" thing has screwed everyone up. Stanford, St. Joe's, Gonzaga have screwed up the rankings (and will screw up the seeds) by ripping off 18+ games in a row in crappy conferences. Give me the teams ranked one step below that, and my bracket will be pretty happy...
Posted by cgbrooke at March 7, 2004 11:49 PM