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NCAA Basketball - SportDime

Bracket Busters - USC Basketball

January 12th 2011 18:48
USC Basketball

USC


The USC Trojans have been a completely different team since Fordham transfer G Jio Fontan became eligible in the game at Kansas. In the six games he has played for USC, he has averaged 13.7 points and 4.3 assists and will be the key to USC’s success for the remainder of the season. USC is 4-2 since Fontan became eligible, with wins at Tennessee, at home against Washington State, and at home against rival UCLA, and a pair of close losses at Kansas and at home against Washington.


F Nikola Vucevic can be a headache for opposing coaches because of his range. The 6-10, 260 pound forward from Montenegro can extend defenses all the way out to the three-point line where he shoots 32.5 percent. Vucevic is hauling in 16.1 PPG and 9.6 RPG for the Trojans this year and should get a look in the NBA when he declares for the draft. In turn, Vucevic’s range opens up space in the lane for F Alex Stepheson, who is built like a tank. Stepheson spent his first two seasons playing for North Carolina, but transferred and is in his last season with USC – he is contributing 10.2 PPG and 9.1 RPG.

USC has a very promising PG in Freshman Maurice Jones. Jones is one of the quickest point guard’s in the nation, and at 5’7”, he needs to be. The freshman out of Saginaw, MI was a great find for coach Kevin O’Neill and should be a good player for the next few years.

What most really good teams have is a bench player who can come on and contribute right away. USC has exactly that. Senior G Donte Smith can shoot USC back into any game with his three-point shooting abilities. He is shooting 39.8 percent from behind the arc and averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game. Against Kansas, Smith went 5-for-7 from three, and was seconds away from pulling off an upset.


Key Losses: Rider, Bradley (Neutral), at Nebraska, at TCU, at Kansas, Washington

Key Wins: Texas, at Tennessee, Washington State, UCLA

Prediction: 9-6 the rest of the regular season, 19-12 before conference tournament, will need two wins in conference tournament to have a chance at all for the NCAA’s. NIT 2 seed. However, if they do get in the tournament as an 11 or 12 seed, they could easily pull off an upset or two.

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Semifinals and Final

January 11th 2011 21:24
A few days ago I did an analysis on Cincinnati’s basketball team (you can find it here) and how they haven’t played/beaten anyone yet. Then, I stumbled upon the Louisville Cardinals and did a comparison. They have a couple of decent wins, unlike Cincinnati, which came against Butler and UNLV (both at home), but nothing to get excited about. Their losses include home games against Kentucky and Drexel. Kentucky is a talented team and can give teams fits, but what about Drexel? Drexel is a 10-4 team that comes out of the Colonial Athletic Conference and is 2-2 in league play thus far - not the best of losses.

Louisville is 2-0 in the Big East, but those games were against Seton Hall and at South Florida – both teams that will be at the bottom of the conference all year.

Many questions are still unanswered for the Cardinals. Can G Preston Knowles carry them to a winning record in the Big East? Does Louisville possess that killer instinct that will win them close games against good Big East teams? We will see shortly as Louisville goes to Villanova on Wednesday.

Prediction: 8-8 finish, 21-10 overall before conference tournament, Eight Seed in the NCAA tournament
Louisville



Now the Semifinals and the Finals:

5. Ohio State @ 1. Auburn

Ohio State will have to exploit Auburn’s horrendous pass defense (ranked 105th in the nation) in order to have a shot in this game. DT Nick Fairley and the rest of the Auburn defensive line will have to dominate the line of scrimmage and get pressure against QB Terrelle Pryor so that he can’t pick-a-part the Auburn secondary.

The third ranked rushing offense (in YPC) of Auburn will need to carry the load and Cam Newton will need to make smart decisions in the passing game in order to beat a tough Ohio State defense that is ranked in the top 10 in rushing and passing. Auburn wins this one – but barely.

Final Score: 27-23 Auburn
Auburn


6. Arkansas @ 2. Oregon


Arkansas leaves Fayetteville for the first time in the tournament and heads to Eugene for what should be another high scoring affair. QB’s Ryan Mallett and Darron Thomas are sure to light up the scoreboard, while RB LaMichael James should have a field day against the Arkansas defense that is ranked 52nd in the nation in YPC given up. The difference will be James and the home field advantage.

Final Score: 35-27 Oregon
Oregon


1. Auburn vs. 2. Oregon

We all saw what happened last night in Arizona. It was a very close game that could have gone either way for so many different reasons. But in the end, Auburn pulled out a victory with a last second field goal and are now the 2010-11 NCAA Football Champions. Congratulations.

Auburn

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Round Two, Part Two

January 6th 2011 17:32
Cincinnati’s basketball team has stunned many people this year by starting out 14-0, but for those of us that dig in a little deeper – we know a scam when we see one. The Bearcats started out the season with six straight home victories against much lesser opponents, the best being a Dayton team that can be pesky, but wasn’t really a threat that night because of their 20 percent FG shooting. Credit can be given to Cincinnati’s defense that night, but 20 percent? Division One teams don’t shoot 20 percent unless they are just completely off that night.

The first road test Cincinnati faced this year was at Toledo. 3-11 Toledo! Ok, most big name teams have cupcakes on the schedule at the beginning of the year, so I will give them a pass on that one. Then, a few more home victories against Utah Valley and Georgia Southern - ok, another pass.

Then came their massive test in Oklahoma City at the All-College Classic against 8-6 Oklahoma. Oklahoma lost to Chaminade at the Maui Invitational this year! Chaminade! So another easy win, then another road trip all the way up to Oxford, Ohio to take on Miami (OH) - a long bus trip on US-27 that is a whole 33 miles away from Cincinnati. Safe to say, the Bearcats had no problem dispatching the 5-9 RedHawks. Another easy home win against St. Francis (PA) and the Bearcats were 12-0. Overall, in non-conference play, Cincinnati has one game outside of Ohio (Xavier is still left to go). Pretty impressive.

Ok, it’s alright, Big East play will start now and they will be exposed for the scam that they are - wrong. Cincinnati opened up with home games against perennial bottom feeders DePaul and Seton Hall and took care of them pretty easily.

Next up is their rivalry game against Xavier, then they finally go SOMEWHERE and play SOMEBODY when they go to Villanova on Jan. 9. Good Luck at Villanova.

Prediction: 7-10 finish ; 21-10 overall, a one seed in the NIT because they will have no quality wins, otherwise 21-10 gets you in the NCAA’s
Cincinnati



Let's get on with Round Two, Part Two

15. Alabama @ 2. Oregon

This is by far the toughest game to predict in rounds one and two because of how good both teams can be on any given day. RB LaMichael James is an unstoppable force averaging 5.6 YPC and 143.5 YPG while QB Darron Thomas has 33 total TD’s this year alone. Then in comes Oregon’s defense that is ranked 13th in the nation in YPC given up. Oregon is a force to be reckoned with, especially at home.

Alabama is no slouch, though. QB Greg McElroy only had five INT’s this year, combined with throwing for 20 TD’s. His main target is WR Julio Jones who was a Second Team AP All-American who finished the year with 1,133 yards receiving. Alabama’s running game is also formidable with the combination of two future NFL running backs, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson.

Overall, with the injury to S Mark Barron, the Crimson Tide are just not strong enough to hold off the Oregon offense in Eugene, and Oregon pulls this one out.

Final Score: 27-24 Oregon
Oregon



10. Oklahoma @ 7. LSU

The second Big 12 vs. SEC matchup in the second round will be interesting when LSU’s defense takes the field against Oklahoma’s offense. QB Landry Jones for the Sooners will have to outwit First Team AP All-American CB Patrick Peterson and his defense in what could be a great game in Baton Rouge.

Oklahoma brings in the nation’s fourth best passing offense, while LSU is ranked tenth in pass defense. The biggest problem that LSU will face though, is their own pass offense. Jordan Jefferson had four passing TD’s all year. Oklahoma doesn’t have the best pass defense in the world, but mediocre is good enough for them to go into LSU and get a win.

Final Score: 27-13 Oklahoma
Oklahoma



19. Oklahoma State @ 3. Wisconsin

The Cowboys stroll into Madison sporting arguably the best offense in the nation, but the Badgers are at times unstoppable rushing the ball. The question will be: Can the Badgers hold onto the ball long enough to not let Weeden and Co. outscore them? The three-headed monster of White, Clay, and Ball will have to run behind Carimi and Moffitt effectively all day, but I just don’t see that happening. Oklahoma State brings in the 28th best rushing defense in YPC, and should be able to get enough stops throughout the day to get the ball to their offense and win a close one.

Final Score: 27-20 Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State



11. Nebraska @ 6. Arkansas

Two very different offenses are going to collide in Fayetteville for this one, and for Arkansas to have a chance in this game, QB Ryan Mallett will have to step his game up to another level. Nebraska has a very stingy pass defense that is ranked seventh in the nation, but Arkansas has the third best pass offense which should make for a good matchup.

CB Prince Amukamara will have to play lights out against Mallett, and Nebraska’s running game will have to be unstoppable in order to keep the high octane Arkansas offense off the field. QB Taylor Martinez, along with RB’s Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead have been very good this year, but are they good enough to go into Fayetteville and get a win? I think not.

Final Score: 27-17 Arkansas
Arkansas


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