Avid NCAA Men’s Basketball fans love this time of year. The tourney starts this weekend and, as always, will provide the usual upsets, buzzer-beaters, and Cinderella stories.
Here are some of my thoughts about the tournament.
Duke is the No. 1 overall seed after a 32-2 campaign. I cannot think of one reason the ACC champs cannot make a run to the finals. And I do not think they will be the first top seed team to be eliminated.
Michigan will be the first No. 1 seed to lose. The Wolverines lost in the Big Ten Tournament to Purdue and look nothing like they did a month ago.
My Cinderella team list includes No. 12 seed Northern Iowa. The Panthers have one of the best defenses in the nation, ranking in the nation. They’ll face a St. John’s team that fell as a No. 2 seed in the second round last March and enters the NCAA tournament without an established point guard. This could be a team ripe for upset against a strong defense.
Players to watch list has to include Cameron Boozer of Duke. The do-it-all 6-foot-9 forward is averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 56.5% from the field and 41 % from 3.
If Kansas makes a run Darryn Peterson will need to live up to his press clippings if the Jayhawks are to make a run. Peterson is an elite talent who started the season as the consensus No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft. An up-and-down campaign has tempered that excitement, but Peterson is a lock to go high in the lottery if not still No. 1 overall.
There’s little question about his basketball ability, and he’s flashed it this season with averages of 19.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game But there has been controversy with Peterson. He has missed 11 of Kansas’ 33 games and failed to finish others with uncertainty around exactly why he’s missed time. If he’s available and on his game, Kansas is dangerous. Anything short of that spells trouble for the Jayhawks.
In the end, I feel it will be Duke, Arizona, Florida, and Virginia in the Final Four. With Arizona winning it all.
