College Basketball Reference

By Adam Kiefaber

If you look under this post you can find my Thursday picks.

Below are my Friday selections. Here is a link for Friday’s NCAA Tournament schedule

No. 2 Tennessee over No. 15 American (12:15 p.m.)
Tennessee hasn’t looked like itself lately, but it won’t have any trouble against American.
No. 7 Gonzaga over No. 10 Davidson (12:25 p.m.)
This game is a toss up. The majority seems to be leaning towards Davidson. The Wildcats are riding a 22-game win streak and feature one of the nation’s best payers in Stephen Curry, who is averaging 25.1 points per game. Gonzaga has roster full of talent and has eight players that average over six points a game. Point guard Jeremy Pargo is hard to stop off the dribble and freshman Austin Daye continues to improve. Daye is a great free-throw shooter and is 6-foot-10, but needs to add some muscle before he reaches his potential. I have to take the more proven team, which is Gonzaga.
No. 10 Saint Mary’s over No. 7 Miami (12:30 p.m.)
Any one of these teams can win this game. The Gaels have the best freshman that you have never heard of in Patty Mills. Mills is an extremely quick guard from Australia that averages 14.5 points a game. Five other players on St. Mary’s average over seven points a game. Miami unexpectedly had a great season. Overall the Hurricanes only won half of their conference games this season and they ran up their record with an easy nonconference schedule. Guard Jack McClinton (17.0 ppg) will have to catch fire to win this game.
No. 12 Western Kentucky over No. 5 Drake (12:30 p.m.)
This is becoming a popular pick. WKU doesn’t have a great win in its nonconference schedule, but the Hilltoppers played Gonzaga (71-74) and Tennessee (82-88) tough. I really like WKU’s backcourt, which is led by senior Courtney Lee (20.4 ppg). Lee is great at creating his own shots and has NBA talent. It is kind of scary picking against Drake because this could be a team that causes some trouble in the West region. This could be the most entertaining game of the day and could go down to the last shot. Drake guard Josh Young is a star.
No. 7 Butler over No. 10 South Alabama (2:45 p.m.)
The game is in Birmingham and that would give South Alabama an advantage. However, Butler has to be the best (AP No. 11) No. 7 seed of all time. Guards Mike Green and A.J. Graves are superstars. Forwards Matt Howard (inside) and Pete Campbell (3-point specialist) make this team very dangerous. I wouldn’t count out a possible upset by South Alabama, but I can see Butler being able to surprise Tennessee in the second round. South Alabama is led by senior Demetric Bennett, who averages 20.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. Cincinnati transfer Domonic Tilford (12.7 ppg) and Richmond transfer Daon Merritt (11.5 ppg) give the Cougars a great backcourt as well.
No. 2 Georgetown over No. 15 UMBC (2:55 p.m.)
Five different players average over nine points a game for the Hoyas, including 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert (13.6 ppg). Guards Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp make up a smart backcourt that were key to GTOWN’s Final Four run last year. UMBC is led by Ray Barbosa (16.9 ppg) and the Retrievers have a good team on paper. Darryl Proctor (15.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg), Brian Hodges (14.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Cavell Johnson (13.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) are all great players in the America East conference, but GTOWN is the best team in the Big East Conference and I have them getting to the Elite Eight.
No. 2 Texas over No. 15 Austin Peay (3:00 p.m.)
The Longhorns have a great backcourt and have the talent to make a run deep in this tournament. Point guard D.J. Augustin (19.8 ppg, 5.7 apg) could be the best at his position in the entire country. Shooting guard A.J. Abrams (16.1) is dangerous from behind the 3-point line. Austin Peay won’t be a pushover, five different players average over 10 points a game for the Governors. However, nonconference losses to Vanderbilt (67-81), Valparaiso (47-61), Evansville (62-72) and Akron (55-64) have me thinking this game won’t be close.
No. 4 Connecticut over No. 13 San Diego (3:00 p.m.)
Personally, I think that UCONN has a great chance to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. However, this game scares me because I’m afraid that it will be a bracketbuster. San Diego is a team that caught fire and unexpectedly won its conference without that many people noticing. San Diego was a good team all year, but wasn’t expected to knock off St. Mary’s and Gonzaga en route to a WCC Tournament championship. All that being said, I have to pick UCONN because I have liked them all season. I had ranked in my first CBR poll and honestly I was surprised that this team didn’t breakout last year. The Huskies feature seven solid scoring threats and have five that average over 10 points a game. I filled out two brackets, one of them I have UCONN going to the Final Four.
No. 1 North Carolina over No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s (7:10 p.m.)
UNC should cruise to a win in this game. The Tar Heels feature one of best players in the country in junior Tyler Hansbrough (23.0 ppg, 10.4 rpg). Guard Wayne Ellington (16.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) can be streaky, but has a pretty jump shot. Sophomore point guard Ty Lawson (12.4 ppg, 5.3 apg) is key to UNC’s run, he isn’t as quick as he was last year. UNC junior Danny Green (11.6 ppg) is one of the most improved players in the ACC. Mt. St. Mary’s won the play-in game against Coppin St., but shouldn’t stand a chance in this game. UNC is an obvious national championship contender.
No. 11 Saint Joseph’s over No. 6 Oklahoma (7:10 p.m.)
This pick scares me a little because I can kind of see Oklahoma being able to upset Louisville in the second round, but I can’t see St. Joe’s doing the same. However, I like St. Joe’s to upset the Sooners. The Hawks feature five scorers that average over 9.7 points per game, including senior Pat Calathes (17.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.7 apg). Oklahoma has a great defense that could give St. Joe’s and possibly Louisville fits. Overall this team is not that talented, but they can beat you up inside. Personally, I think St. Joe’s has more talent.
No. 4 Vanderbilt over No. 13 Siena (7:20 p.m.)
Vandy had a great season, but I was a little surprised to see the Commodores get a No. 4 seed after losing three of their last five games. Shan Foster (20.5 ppg) is a great player and freshman center A.J. Ogilvy (17.0 ppg) has been a surprise. If Ogilvy stays out of foul trouble, Vandy could be a tough out. The Saints have three great scorers Edwin Ubiles (17.3 ppg), Kenny Hasbrouck (15.6 ppg) and Alex Franklin (15.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg). Siena was in a underrated conference that ended in a heated race for the title. I can feel an upset brewing, but I just don’t want to pick it.
No. 9 Oregon over No. 8 Mississippi St. (7:25 p.m.)
Toss up. Oregon was an underachiever in a tough conference and Miss. St. was an overachiever in a weaker conference. The Ducks have a solid spread out scoring attack. On paper, you would think a team with Malik Hairston (16.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Maarty Leunen (15.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg), Tajuan Porter (13.8 ppg) and Bryce Taylor (13.0 ppg) would have a better record than 18-13. Mississippi St. features four players as well that average over 10 points per game. Jamont Gordon (17.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.8 apg) and Charles Rhodes (16.9, 7.7 rpg) are the stars of this team. MSU also features Ben Hansbrough (10.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 apg), who is UNC Tyler Hansbrough’s younger brother.
No. 8 Indiana over No. 9 Arkansas (9:30 p.m.)
IU is just so talented, but are going through so much. The safer pick here is probably Arkansas, but I’m picking Indiana just based on the talent advantage. The reason not to pick IU is because it has lost its last two games to Penn St. and Minnesota. The reason to pick the Hoosiers is the duo of D.J. White (17.3 ppg, 10.4 rpg) and Eric Gordon (21.3 ppg). The selection committee probably shouldn’t have dropped IU to an No. 8 seed - the team won 25 games and was 14-4 in the Big Ten. In comparison Michigan St. won 25 games and was 12-6 in the Big Ten and received a No. 5 seed. The Hogs are dangerous as well, before losing to Georgia in the SEC Tournament championship, they had back-to-back wins over Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
No. 3 Louisville over No. 14 Boise St. (9:30 p.m.)
The Cardinals shouldn’t have any trouble with Boise St. Louisville plays great defense and has eight different players that can take over a game. Louisville has the talent and the coaching to make a deep run in this tournament. Boise St. has some good scorers, but they aren’t strong enough to score a lot of points against Louisville. I like the Cardinals by a lot in this one.
No. 1 Memphis over No. 16 UT-Arlington (9:40 p.m.)
The Mavericks had a losing record in the Southland Conference. They don’t stand a chance against the Tigers.
No. 12 Villanova over No. 5 Clemson (9:40 p.m.)
I thought that Nova would be a lot better than they turned out to be this season. Point guard Scottie Reynolds (15.6 ppg) is a star. Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell is 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are playing really well right now. I think Nova has had the tougher schedule than Clemson. Clemson seems to be everyone’s sleeper, but I can’t pick a team that struggles at the free-throw line.

I will continue to breakdown each game of the NCAA Tournament, but for now here is a link for a viewable bracket from CBSsportsline.com. For the printable version click here.

This entry was posted Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 11:47 pm and is filed under NCAA Tournament. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.