The first two days of the major-conference tournaments have brought about several different situations. Bubble teams playing their way into the tournament; others playing their way out.
Teams attempting to play their way in: West Virginia looks to be a lock with two Big East tournament wins, including an impressive victory over Boston College...New Mexico, UTEP and George Washington are doing what they need to do to get a bid--avoid bad losses...North Carolina State dominated Florida State in a warm-up for Wake Forest...UAB may have clinched a bid with their huge, buzzer-beating win over DePaul...Iowa is doing their best to get back in the conversation with an expected victory over Purdue--they need to beat Michigan State tomorrow...Buffalo stayed in the discussion with a win in the quarterfinals of the MAC...Northern Iowa and Wichita State sat around and watched bubble teams lose...St. Joseph's needs to reach the final to get a chance...
Teams whose bubbles burst: Georgetown blew a chance to get a bid with their loss to Connecticut...Similarly, Notre Dame lost to #11 seed Rutgers to cost themselves a berth...Texas A&M is done after a disappointing loss to Kansas State...Houston went from almost in to NIT in 3 games--all losses...Maryland lost to Clemson for the third time (?!?!) to ruin any shot they had of getting a bid...Miami (Fl.) lost to Virginia to kill any shot they had of getting a bid...Vanderbilt got blown out by last-place Auburn, which assures them of the NIT...Kent State no longer has a shot after their loss in the quarerfinals of the MAC Tournament...
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Pac-10 Conference Tournament Preview
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According to the RPI, the Pac-10 was the second-best conference in the country for most of the season. According to human beings, the Pac-10 was nowhere close to that number. Arizona and Washington went back and forth for the league title the whole year, and the Wildcats ended up winning it outright after the Huskies lost to Stanford the final day of the season. Stanford and UCLA were the only other teams above .500 in league play.
Arizona is looking more and more like a Final Four team. Salim Stoudamaire is the best shooter in the country, while Hassan Adams can create his own shot if necessary. Channing Frye is one of the top centers in the country, and Mustafa Shakur is maturing more as the season progresses. Washington is deep and balanced. Nate Robinson is ridiculously explosive, while Will Conroy is one of the best passers on the west coast. Tre Simmons is a great scorer from the wing, and Brandon Roy is a versatile guy that can play inside and outside. Bobby Jones does a little bit of everything on both side of the ball. Stanford took a hit with the loss of Dan Grunfeld for the season with a torn ACL. However, they are still playing well without him. Chris Hernandez has taken on more of a scoring role lately, and Nick Robinson has tried to fill Grunfeld's shoes somewhat. The Cardinal have a solid post duo in Matt Haryasz and Rob Little. UCLA has been a bit inconsistent throughout the season, but seem to be playing their best ball of the year recently. Dijon Thompson can do everything for the Bruins; he leads the team in scoring and rebounding (18.2, 8.1). Jordan Farmar has developed into a very good freshman point guard, while fellow frosh Arron Afflalo and Josh Shipp are also steady contributors. The only other teams in the 8-team tournament that could make noise are Arizona State, lead by the most unstoppable player in the conference in Ike Diogu; and Oregon State, who have struggled to win away from home (0-9 on the road in Pac-10), but have one of the best backcourts in the league.
Prediction: The tournament championship is going to come down the same way the regular season championship did: Washington vs. Arizona. They split the regular season meetings, both winning at home. However, I think that Arizona has the ability to play at a pace other than top speed. Moreover, they play defense better than the Huskies. Channing Frye will be the difference against a smallish Washington team. The Wildcats will win the title and get the league's automatic bid.
According to the RPI, the Pac-10 was the second-best conference in the country for most of the season. According to human beings, the Pac-10 was nowhere close to that number. Arizona and Washington went back and forth for the league title the whole year, and the Wildcats ended up winning it outright after the Huskies lost to Stanford the final day of the season. Stanford and UCLA were the only other teams above .500 in league play.
Arizona is looking more and more like a Final Four team. Salim Stoudamaire is the best shooter in the country, while Hassan Adams can create his own shot if necessary. Channing Frye is one of the top centers in the country, and Mustafa Shakur is maturing more as the season progresses. Washington is deep and balanced. Nate Robinson is ridiculously explosive, while Will Conroy is one of the best passers on the west coast. Tre Simmons is a great scorer from the wing, and Brandon Roy is a versatile guy that can play inside and outside. Bobby Jones does a little bit of everything on both side of the ball. Stanford took a hit with the loss of Dan Grunfeld for the season with a torn ACL. However, they are still playing well without him. Chris Hernandez has taken on more of a scoring role lately, and Nick Robinson has tried to fill Grunfeld's shoes somewhat. The Cardinal have a solid post duo in Matt Haryasz and Rob Little. UCLA has been a bit inconsistent throughout the season, but seem to be playing their best ball of the year recently. Dijon Thompson can do everything for the Bruins; he leads the team in scoring and rebounding (18.2, 8.1). Jordan Farmar has developed into a very good freshman point guard, while fellow frosh Arron Afflalo and Josh Shipp are also steady contributors. The only other teams in the 8-team tournament that could make noise are Arizona State, lead by the most unstoppable player in the conference in Ike Diogu; and Oregon State, who have struggled to win away from home (0-9 on the road in Pac-10), but have one of the best backcourts in the league.
Prediction: The tournament championship is going to come down the same way the regular season championship did: Washington vs. Arizona. They split the regular season meetings, both winning at home. However, I think that Arizona has the ability to play at a pace other than top speed. Moreover, they play defense better than the Huskies. Channing Frye will be the difference against a smallish Washington team. The Wildcats will win the title and get the league's automatic bid.
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