What looked early to be the least competitive game of the entire Big Ten-ACC Challenge ended up being its most intense. Early on, the Clemson Tigers could do no wrong, as Trevor Booker showed exactly why he’s in the discussion for ACC Player of the Year.  No Illini big man was able to figure out [...]

This is one of the better brackets in recent memory (of course I would say that, given my projection). But top-to-bottom, Mike Slive’s Committee did a fantastic job of selection and seeding. Surprises: Boston College: A 7-seed seems a bit high for a team that lost to Harvard and Saint Louis in the non-conference portion [...]

Good Wins: N-Siena, Texas A&M, Texas, N-Oklahoma Bad Losses: None. Strengths: 1. Explosive Offense. Even with Missouri’s frenetic style, Kansas talent, and Oklahoma’s plethora of easy buckets, the Cowboys are actually the Big 12 scoring leaders at 81.1 per game.  Four players (James Anderson, Byron Eaton, Terrel Harris, and Obi Muonelo) all average in double-figures, [...]

Good wins: N-USC, California, at Oklahoma State, at Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, N-Oklahoma State Bad losses: None. Strengths: 1. Pressure Defense. Mike Anderson has brought Nolan Richardson’s ’40 minutes of hell’ to Columbia.  Missouri will guard you the full 94 feet on just about every possession.  They trap whenever possible and play at a frenetic pace [...]

FINAL Update: Selection Sunday, 1:00 pm PT. Without a doubt, this is the most confusing year to try to project the bracket since I started doing this in 2001. I would have no argument with the Selection Committee on selecting ANY of the 9 teams on the “true bubble.” Locks (38): ACC: North Carolina, Wake [...]

Good wins: at San Diego State, BYU, at UCLA, at Arizona, UCLA, Arizona Bad losses: Washington State Strengths: 1. Defense. I saw first-hand this team’s amazing ability to shut down the transition game of the run-and-gun Washington Huskies in late February, even in a loss.  Earlier this season they held the up-tempo Arizona Wildcats to [...]

Good wins: at UNLV, at Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, at Washington Bad losses: Oregon State Strengths: 1. Shooting.  The Golden Bears can flat-out shoot, no matter where they are on the court.  They lead the nation in three-point percentage at 44%, they’re second to UCLA in the Pac-10 in overall FG%, and rank 13th nationally [...]

Good wins: Arizona, California, Notre Dame, Washington, at California Bad Losses: None. Strengths: 1. Experience.  Three key players for UCLA have been to three straight Final Fours: Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, and Alfred Aboya.  They’re rarely going to beat themselves (particularly when you consider Ben Howland is on the sidelines).  Collison makes such good decisions [...]

Good wins: Oklahoma State, UCLA, at Arizona State, Arizona State, Arizona Bad Losses: at Portland Strengths: 1. Post Presence. Jon Brockman simply does not get enough nationwide publicity.  The senior is UW’s heart-and-soul, averaging a double-double per game at 15 points and 11 rebounds.  While most Pac-10 coaches have done a nice job with second-half [...]

Good Wins: N-Missouri, @Purdue, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, @Ohio State, Minnesota Bad Losses: None, though 33 points at home against Penn State and 36 on the road at Minnesota are concerns. Strengths  1. Defense. A staple of Bruce Weber’s tenure in Champaign, the Fighting Illini can guard most of the top teams in the country, [...]