The D-Dobbs Basketball Blog

This is the second hardest region to pick, with a lot of good teams here. I don’t know how Florida lucked out with a 2 seed, I think its way too high for them. I see one of two things happening: Jimmer Fredette goes off for 30-40 points every game and carries BYU to the Elite 8 and possibly Final 4 (BYU will go as far as he takes them), or a team will upset BYU in the early rounds, ending Fredettes historical season and career. I see Pitt as the team to take BYU down in the Elite 8. Do not sleep on Wisconsin or St. Johns, two very dangerous teams.

Best Team: Pittsburgh or BYU

Who Will Win: Pittsburgh

Player(s) to Look Out For: Jimmer Fredette (BYU), Ashton Gibbs (Pitt)

Matchup(s) to Look Out For: St. Johns vs. BYU (3rd Round), Pittsburgh vs. Wisconsin (Sweet 16), Pittsburgh vs. BYU (Elite 8 )

Possible Upset(s): Wofford over BYU (2nd Round), Utah St. over Kansas St. (2nd Round)

Everyone most likely will have Kansas or Notre Dame out of this region, which is why I’m going out on a limb and picking Purdue. There is no doubt in my mind Kansas could very well win it all. However, with a few big upsets things could look bright for Purdue even without 6th man Kelsey Barlow. Notre Dame is just as good as any other 2 seed, but can lose to anyone. May not happen but I predict Richmond to upset Vanderbilt, and then to move on to face Kansas, where they shock the world and win.

Best Team: Kansas

Who Will Win: Purdue

Player(s) to Look Out For: Morris brothers (Kansas), Justin Harper (Richmond), Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame)

Matchup(s) to Look Out For: Notre Dame vs. Purdue (Sweet 16), Richmond vs. Louisville (3rd Round)

Possible Upset(s): Richmond over Vanderbilt (2nd Round), Richmond over Kansas (Sweet 16)

This was one of the toughest regions to pick. But after I sorted everything out, I came to the conclusion that I am not having Duke going to the Final 4. Big surprise. This is the best region in the entire bracket, and I believe either of the top four seeds (Duke, San Diego State, UConn, Texas) have a shot at making it to the Final 4. I have Texas and San Diego State in the Regional Finals with Texas advancing to the Final 4. They are a tough Big 12 team who has what it takes, just as much as any other team in the region. Also, with their first two rounds in Arizona, San Diego State shouldn’t have a problem advancing to Regionals in Anaheim. Their home court advantage will give them a win over Connecticut and a chance at a Final 4 birth.

Best Team: Duke

Who Will Win: Texas

Player(s) to Look Out For: Nolan Smith (Duke), Jordan Hamilton (Texas), Kemba Walker (UConn), Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State)

Matchup(s) to Look Out For: Duke vs. Texas (Sweet 16), UConn vs. San Diego State (Sweet 16)

Possible Upset(s): Texas over Duke (Sweet 16)

Cutting it as close to the deadline as possible, I’ll be breaking down each region of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, starting with the East region. There shouldn’t be any real surprises in this region, but then again Northern Iowa did shock the world with their upset of Kansas last year. I see the Ohio State Buckeyes storming through this region without a problem, and punching their ticket to Houston for the Final 4. Their run won’t stop there as they will play for the National Championship on April 4th, and win. Their biggest threat will be Syracuse.

Best Team: Ohio State

Who Will Win: Ohio State

Player(s) to Look Out For: Jarred Sullinger (Ohio State), Tu Holloway (Xavier), Kendal Marshall (North Carolina)

Matchup(s) to Look Out For: Syracuse vs. Xavier (3rd Round), Syracuse vs. North Carolina (Sweet 16)

Possible Upset(s): Princeton over Kentucky (1st Round), Washington over North Carolina (3rd Round)

With the Kansas Jayhawks out of the picture, this tournament has “March Madness” written all over it. Here’s my take on the upcoming Sweet 16 match-ups this Thursday and Friday. I’ll start with Thursday’s regional semi-finals from the East and West Regions, located in Syracuse and Salt Lake City:

March 25, 2010 (East & West Regions)

5 Butler Bulldogs vs. 1 Syracuse Orange (Salt Lake City, Utah 7:07)

’Cuse has too many ways to hurt opponents. Andy Rautins and Wesley Johnson, combined for 55 in their win over Gonzaga. They also have Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine off the bench who are just as good as any starting players on any other team. No Arinze Onawaku? Who cares. Without Kansas in the tournament anymore Syracuse should absolutely steam roll any team that comes in their way. They will be playing on April 5th in the 2010 National Championship game.

11 Washington Huskies vs. 2 West Virginia Mountaneers (Syracuse, New York 7:27)

This will be the game where Washington proves how bad the Pac-10 really is at basketball (finally). I like WVU in this one. They have too much going for them: Devin Ebanks, and a red-hot Da’Sean Butler. Although I do hate the Big East as well, WVU will advance.

6 Xavier Muskateers vs. 2 Kansas State Wildcats (Salt Lake City, Utah 9:37)

Jordan Crawford’s (yes the guy who dunked on LeBron last summer) heroics end here. Too much athleticism by KSU and too much of a dominating back court in guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. KSU advances to Elite 8.

12 Cornell Big Red vs. 1 Kentucky Wildcats (Syracuse, New York 9:57)

Let’s be real people, Ryan Wittman, Cornell’s savior will miss shots. Unfortunately for team’s like Wisconsin and Temple, he did not miss, and Cornell scored every possession. The smart, white boys’ run will also end here. Kentucky’s style of game will prove far more athletic than Cornell’s. And do I even need to mention John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe….woops.

March 26, 2010 (Midwest & South Regions)

6 Tennessee Volunteers vs. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (St. Louis, Missouri 7:07)

Too much Evan Turner, too much Jon Diebler. Buckeyes advance. Don’t expect this one to be close.

10 St. Mary’s Gaels vs. Baylor Bears (Houston, Texas 7:37)

This will be the first time Omar Samhan and the Australian crew will see a team with far more athleticism than they have ever seen. Quincy Acy, LaceDarius Dunn, Tweety Carter, and Ekpe Udoh of the Bears should be able to give the sharp-shooting Gaels a dose of reality. Needless to say, I would be SHOCKED if the “slipper still fits” for this Cinderella story, especially since Baylor literally has home court advantage, in Houston. Ekpe Udoh…meet your toughest task….Kyle Singler.

9 Northern Iowa Panthers vs. 5 Michigan State Spartans (St. Louis, Missouri 9:37)

Hopefully, this is the end of Ali Farokhmanesh, because I am personally tired of him and his entire team. Go back to your home in Cedar Falls, Iowa you overgrown lumberjack. But putting all bracket-ruining biases aside, the experience brought forward by Raymar Morgan, Darrell Summers, and head coach Tom Izzo should be enough to power the Spartans to the Elite 8.

4 Purdue Boilermakers vs. 1 Duke Blue Devils (Houston, Texas 9:57)

As much as this pains me, the Dookies are one of the best teams in college basketball. I would go as far as saying top-two in the nation. Too much Kyle Singler, too much Nolan Smith, too much Jon Scheyer, too much Brian Zoubek, too much Coach K. They’ve got too much going for them, for them to possibly slow down. Although the Boilermakers were my dark-horse for a final-four run, Duke will advance.

Saturday night a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament was knocked out in the second-round for the first time since 2004. The Kansas Jayhawks fell to nine-seeded Ali Farokhmanesh and the Northern Iowa Panthers by a score of 69-67. These over-grown axe-men and lumberjacks have recently won over the hearts of many Americans.

With Kansas no longer in the picture, Kentucky has a clear cut path to a National Championship. Not one team can stop them, especially the way they have been playing as of late.

Coming off a 29 point first-round victory over East-Tennessee State (yes that’s a real college) and a 30 point blow out of ACC powerhouse Wake Forest, the Wildcats are playing unselfish, team basketball. They are looking like the Kentucky Wildcats we’ve seen all season.

With many doubters second-guessing the Wildcats because of their inexperience, they have continued to prove their haters wrong. Their youth in All-Americans John Wall and Demarcus Cousins has yet to show a downside. They even have a third freshman stud, Eric Bledsoe, a sharp shooting dark-horse who is always over looked due to Wall and Cousins, who are both going top-three in this year’s NBA Draft in June.

The youth has proved more beneficial as opposed to Bill Self’s experienced Kansas team with Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, who have been through it all, in their illustrious four-year careers.

Now that the hype of Kansas is gone, it is safe to say Kentucky is the best team in basketball, nobody will beat them, they will win the National Championship.

Head coach John Calipari’s unfathomable recruiting with this freshman class will payoff April 5^th, and bring Kentucky Basketball back to where it used to be.