Nimreitz

I think Xavier and Duke are the weakest teams at their seeding number, and UCLA matches up very well with the UConn Huskies.

EDIT: Bilas talking about the potential Stanford vs. Marquette game. Marquette would cause them all kinds of problems; Marquette has beaten teams (read: Notre Dame) despite their all american big man dominating.

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Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

HKF

You know if I put the UConn bigs of Robinson, Adrien and Thabeet up against Mata, Love and Aboya I really like UConn's bigs to play them even. However the Price, Austrie, Wiggins, Dyson group reminds me of Arizona '97. I just expect UCLA to have another offensive drought in this tournament.

Stanford has bad guards. How can anyone expect them to do much with those poor guys at the guard spots.

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2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (NYK)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

bball2223

If our guards shoot well we will take care of George Mason, but if they don't they will beat us.

Nimreitz

That's what I'm thinking, particularly in regards to a possible match up with Marquette in Round 2. James, Matthews, and McNeal are going to combine for 15 steals.

Starting to do a little research, and I'm no longer writing in the George Mason upset. They just aren't a very good team. If their name wasn't George Mason, I don't think anyone would pick a very good Notre Dame team to lose, and frankly, I think GM would probably be a 13/14 if that wasn't their name.

__________________
Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

HKF

I see a lot of people picking Mason as well, but since Notre Dame lost to Winthrop last year in the first round, something says to me that lightning won't strike twice. I actually believe Villanova is a better team than Clemson straight up.

__________________
My favorite NBA players: Deron Williams * Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman * Wilson Chandler

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (NYK)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

TM

great point, Nim. Did anyone watch them in them in their conference title? that team is young and not very impressive.

Nimreitz

Alright, here's where I stand on the difficult games to call (difficult for me anyway)...

Oklahoma over St. Joe's: this isn't all statistical, but Joe's poor defense is more of a detriment than Oklahoma's poor offense

Kent State over UNLV: against my gut, but the stats seem to point to Kent being a better team, and they have better wins/losses. Kent State does turn the ball over an awful lot through, and while they force even more turnovers on defense, UNLV is one of the most protective teams in the country. Very close game.

Gonzaga vs. Davidson: I can't call this game, it's a tossup. Statistically every metric I look at favors Gonzaga. The game is in Raleigh. They are still very even.

St. Mary's over Miami: This is another very even game, but I think Mary's gets a slight edge.

BYU over TAMU: Texas A&M has so many good losses, but very few good wins. I just don't think TAMU is that good, whereas BYU has played some great games and look pretty damn good.

Western Kentucky over Drake: Hard to explain. WKU just slightly better at things, and has just as many bright spots on their season as Drake. WKU forces a ton of turnovers.

Purdue over Baylor: Actually, I don't think this is very close at all.

Arizona over West Virginia: With Zona's schedule it's really hard to judge them accurately, but they have some great wins, and played a killer schedule. On the other hand, West Virginia is a couple buzzer beaters away from being a 5 seed. This should be an awesome game.

__________________
Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

TM

I can't wait to see UNC lose in either the 2nd round or sweet 16

HKF

I'd love to see UNC lose early, but they play home games. It would be nice if Arkansas or Indiana can pull the upset, but I doubt it.

__________________
My favorite NBA players: Deron Williams * Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman * Wilson Chandler

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (NYK)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

Nimreitz

Louisville.

__________________
Speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, [McCain] declared, "I will veto every single beer [. . .]"

Obama '08! Because the stakes are too high.

TM