Photo Courtesy of Clays Blaze, www.claysblaze.com
Let me start out by throwing some numbers and percentages at you. Nearly six million brackets were filled out in anticipation of this year’s NCAA Tournament. There are now four teams left. Surely there are a handful of people who picked those four correctly. False. Exactly two people went 4-for-4 in picking the Final Four teams. In fact, only 27.6 percent picked one team correctly into the Final Four. Now that’s what I call madness. So, don’t feel bad about your likely sub-par bracket because chances are your friends are in the same boat (let’s face it, all we really care about is beating our friends).
The past two weeks have been nothing short of miraculous in the world of college basketball. It started off with a bang (#13 Morehead State’s improbable win over #4 Louisville) and finished with poetic justice (VCU’s slipper fits – for now). It’s not often that an 8-seed makes the Final Four and is NOT the focal point of attention, but that is exactly the case in 2011. While this has arguably been the wildest NCAA Tournament in recent memory, there are still three games left, which are expected to be as entertaining as the previous 60.
Without further adieu, here are the final four teams remaining in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. No, there are no 1 or 2 seeds, but there is a returning member (Butler), a perennial powerhouse (Kentucky), an 11-seed (VCU), and a legitimate POY candidate (some guy named Kemba):
#3 Connecticut – West Region
Starting Lineup: Kemba Walker – Jr. (Guard), Jeremy Lamb – Fr. (Guard), Tyler Olander – Fr. (Forward), Roscoe Smith – Fr. (Forward), Alex Oriakhi – So. (Center)
Road to Houston: #14 Bucknell 81-52, #6 Cincinnati 69-58, #2 San Diego State 74-67, #5 Arizona 65-63
Key Player: Connecticut may rely on the nation’s 4th leading scorer in Kemba Walker a little too much, but why shouldn’t they? The Bronx, NY native takes over 30% of the teams shots and scores 34.7% of the their points. Kentucky (and the whole country for that matter) already knows about the mighty Kemba, but on Saturday, get yourself familiarized with true Freshman, Jeremy Lamb. What a fabulous tournament Lamb is having (18.3 PPG, 59% FG, 73% 3PT) and he takes a tremendous amount of pressure off Kemba on the offensive end of the floor. Expect more of the same against Kentucky.
Prediction: Thanks to their much talked about five wins in five days tear through the Big East Conference tourney, many people (myself included) considered the Huskies as one of the hottest teams going into the tournament. That certainly shouldn’t change now. Come next Monday night, we will be looking at the National Champs. UConn 71 – VCU 63. MOP- Kemba Walker.
#4 Kentucky – East Region
Starting Lineup: Darius Miller – Jr. (Guard), Brandon Knight – Fr. (Guard), DeAndre Liggins – Jr. (Guard), Terrence Jones – Fr. (Forward), Josh Harrellson – Sr. (Forward)
Road to Houston: #13 Princeton 59-57, #5 West Virginia 71-63, #1 Ohio State 62-60, #2 North Carolina 76-69
Key Player: John Calipari is known for masterfully recruiting talented guards and shipping them off to the NBA before you can say Big Blue. This season is no different with his 6’3” point guard from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Brandon Knight was very consistent throughout the regular season (double-digit points in 32 of 33 games), but in the NCAA Tournament, he has been up and down. His ups came against West Virginia (30 pts) and North Carolina (22 pts). While his down games against Princeton and Ohio State (4-18 FG, 11 pts combined) were ugly at times, his only basket in the Princeton game was a game-winner. Knight will drive the car (or crash) for the Wildcats against UConn.
Prediction: Kentucky will have a great contingency in Houston as the Blue Nation travels very well, but I feel Connecticut has just too much size inside for the cats to withstand. While it will be the guards who will get all the attention, the big men will decide the game. UConn 73 – Kentucky 67
#8 Butler – Southeast Region
Starting Lineup: Shelvin Mack – Jr. (Guard), Chase Stigall – So. (Guard), Shawn VanZant – Sr. (Guard), Matt Howard – Sr. (Forward), Andrew Smith – So. (Forward)
Road to Houston: #9 Old Dominion 60-58, #1 Pittsburgh 71-70, #4 Wisconsin 61-54, #2 Florida 74-71 (OT)
Key Player: Possessing a 21.3 PPG average in the four games of the tournament and a canny ability to get shots off over bigger defenders, Shelvin Mack is easily the most experienced guard left of the four teams. While Mack has put the team on his back at times, I did find a cause for concern. Over the regular season, Mack accrued four fouls in a game exactly zero times, while he’s done it twice in four games in the tourney. He ran into foul trouble against Wisconsin and Old Dominion. His minutes were reduced in those games and the ability of the VCU guards to get to the basket could cause Mack to sit earlier than coach Brad Stevens wants.
Prediction: Last year, the Bulldogs were a 5-seed with the support of the entire nation during the Final Four, while this year they are but a mere backseat to the real Cinderella story. While they may have the experience over the Rams, it will be hard to fight their magic without Blue II in Houston, which is ironic because they had that same magic last year. VCU 68 - Butler 64
#11 VCU – Southwest Region
Starting Lineup: Joey Rodriguez – Sr. (Guard), Bradford Burgess – Jr. (Guard), Ed Nixon – Sr. (Guard), Jamie Skeen – Sr. (Forward), D.J. Haley – Fr. (Center)
Road to Houston: #11 USC 59-46, #6 Georgetown 74-56, #3 Purdue 94-76, #10 Florida State 72-71 (OT), #1 Kansas 71-61
Key Player: Jamie Skeen has gotten a lot of the headlines recently and rightfully so, but the motor to this astonishing run through the tournament has been Joey Rodriguez. Although his 10.2 PPG and 7.6 APG during the five game stretch-run for VCU is nice, the most impressive stat is his turnovers (or lack thereof). His 3.8:1.0 assist to turnover ratio in the tourney is impressive, but more impressive for those who have watched the Rams during this run. He handles the basketball just as much as anyone and he will be the key to prolonging VCU waking up from this dream.
Prediction: Losses to Georgia State, Drexel, James Madison, and South Florida coupled with a stretch late in the season where they went 3-5 in the CAA had people questioning their birth in the NCAA Tournament. Colorado this, Virginia Tech that. I don’t think those people are talking anymore. Team by team, conference by conference (Pac-10, Big East, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12), the Rams have rolled through the Southwest region and now there are two games keeping them from becoming the lowest seed to ever win the tournament (1985 – #8 Villanova). How much magic is left? That’s the beauty of the sport, but in my estimation (Stephen A. Smith anyone?), it will carry them to the National Championship game, but a 71-63 loss to UConn will cut the Happily Ever After ending a little sho---.
Sports Fan
Doug Potter
