Wow...the first weekend of the NCAA tournament was unreal. So many upsets and buzzer beaters consumed the first 4 days of the tournament that nearly everyone's bracket is in shambles. Northern Iowa pulled off the upset of the tournament with their win over the #1 overall seed Kansas. Ali Farokhmanesh solidified himself in the ranks of Bryce Drew, Michael Jordan, Drew Nicholas, Tyus Edney, Scottie Reynolds (2008 version), and Christian Laettner with his dagger 3-pointer with about 30 seconds to go. Northern Iowa made Kansas feel the pressure of the tournament favorite by leading nearly the entire game and absorbing all the blows Kansas threw including the full court pressure late in the 2nd half that got Kansas back into it.
Omar Samhan has led the tournament in scoring and provided some honest and funny post game interviews. He led his Gaels over Nova with the help of his Aussy teammates to provide the second biggest upset of the 2nd round. The best team from the west coast looks to continue their run against the very talented and long (copyright Jay Bilas) Baylor Bears who could pose big problems for Samhan.
Cornell dominated Wisconsin, but they will face a completely different type of team in Kentucky then they did the first two rounds. Temple and Wisconsin are more methodical and not nearly as athletic as Kentucky. This game will prove the ultimate test of youth versus experience. Both teams are talented, but Kentucky has the decided edge in athleticism while Cornell is the best outside shooting team in America. The key matchups will be John Wall vs Louis Dale and DeMarcus Cousins vs Jeff Foote. If Cornell can win these match-ups or at least break even, then the Big Red will be there in the end.
All Sweet 16 Team
G Ali Farokhmanesh N. Iowa
G Louis Dale Cornell
G Jacob Pullen Kansas St.
F Omar Samhan St. Marys
F Jordan Crawford Xavier
6th Man
G Chris Kramer
Elite 8 Picks
N. Iowa
Ohio St.
Syracuse
Kansas St.
Kentucky
West VA
Duke
Baylor
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment