First we have to beat Florida...

...but who would we rather play, Syracuse or Marquette?

Marquette. That Syracuse zone is hard to figure out on short notice.

Ummm, according to the ESPN tournament bracket we play the Duke/Louisville winner first if we beat Florida. Or, am I reading that thing wrong?

BillMFan wrote:

Ummm, according to the ESPN tournament bracket we play the Duke/Louisville winner first if we beat Florida. Or, am I reading that thing wrong?

You are right. I got UM beating Duke in my bracket. I had UM beating IU in the championship game. I guess I'd like to see UM beat OSU in the title game.

May very well happen, Fish. I think O$U has the easier route to the championship game. I hate that we have to play either Duke or Louisville first, cause I think Louisville (especially) is gonna be the hardest to beat IMO.

Well, you guys have certainly confused me. The ESPN site certainly makes it look like the South winner plays the Midwest winner. Also, the fact that they both play on Sunday would suggest that. On the flip side, several of the brackets in my pool have a Midwest/South final game and I googled some experts brackets and a few of them also have a Midwest/South final. Also, all the printable brackets sure make it look like the FF is Midwest/West and South/East matchups. Anybody got a definitive answer?

Wikipedia says Midwest/West plays and South/East play, in other words we play Syracuse/Marquette winner if we win. I'll go with that.

South plays East and Midwest plays West

Michigan plays SU or MQT.

hailtoyourvictor wrote:

Michigan plays SU or MQT.

Yep, ESPN was wrong. Looks like 'Cuse is the team.

Nah, I think that you read it wrong. Everything I have seen (but I don't pay that close attention to "basketball" has said that South plays East in the National Semi-finals.

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Nah, I think that you read it wrong. Everything I have seen (but I don't pay that close attention to "basketball" has said that South plays East in the National Semi-finals.

Probably. I'm not that šharp.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Nah, I think that you read it wrong. Everything I have seen (but I don't pay that close attention to "basketball" has said that South plays East in the National Semi-finals.

Probably. I'm not that šharp.

Ah give yourself some credit. Granted, we frequently disagree but at least you're not a sparty fan. You've got that goin' for ya!

fishgoblue22 wrote:

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Nah, I think that you read it wrong. Everything I have seen (but I don't pay that close attention to "basketball" has said that South plays East in the National Semi-finals.

Probably. I'm not that šharp.

Well, I guess I'm not to sharp either then, Fish, because that ESPN bracket (before Syr & WSU won) clearly shows South playing Midwest & East playing West, I don't care what anyone says!
Oh well, today we have to take care of Florida!

Does anyone else besides me think that we may have just beaten the best team in the tourney? I certainly feel like they are one of the top two, anyway.

GO BLUE!

BillMFan wrote:

fishgoblue22 wrote:

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Nah, I think that you read it wrong. Everything I have seen (but I don't pay that close attention to "basketball" has said that South plays East in the National Semi-finals.

Probably. I'm not that šharp.

Well, I guess I'm not to sharp either then, Fish, because that ESPN bracket (before Syr & WSU won) clearly shows South playing Midwest & East playing West, I don't care what anyone says!
Oh well, today we have to take care of Florida!

Does anyone else besides me think that we may have just beaten the best team in the tourney? I certainly feel like they are one of the top two, anyway.

GO BLUE!

Well to be quite honest I have pretty much thought the exact opposite all year. I've thought Kansas had been a bit overrated or at least overhyped this year.

I think our regular season team matches up with Florida really well and the numbers show it.

UM Scoring Per Game: 75.2
FLA Scoring Per Game: 71.9

UM Rebounds Per Game: 35.1
FLA Rebounds Per Game: 35.1

UM Assists Per Game: 14.3
FLA Assists Per Game: 15

UM Field Goal Percentage: 4.84
FLA Field Goal Percentage: 4.84

Noticed how I said regular season team above. We are not playing like we were in the regular season, we are playing better. Mitch McGary's play during this tournament has lifted Michigan to an entirely different level of play.

Another thing to note is that Michigan averaged those numbers above while playing in a tough B1G conference. Florida averaged their numbers by playing in a really weak SEC.

I know this is starting to sound a bit cliche but I think McGary's play really is the difference maker at this point. Florida wont be able to handle him. I am expecting a UM win today.

Gee, thanks Sandy! You just shot my confidence in that win all to hell!! lol, j/k.

Agree with your assessment of Mitch....I too think he has contributed the most to our recent success in the tourney.

I think Fla is NOT going to be an easy win for us, like some on the other board are sayin. They did beat Wisconsin by 18.....and, you know how we fared against the Badgers this year (twice). Ugh.

I also think GRIII has helped with our success recently. Hope these guys keep up their intensity today & forward.

I too thought the BT was a superior BB conference, but, after the exits of our fellow conference teams, I now am having my doubts about that. Just sayin.....

Anyway, here's to hoping for a good win today & forward! Living here near Atlanta I REALLY, REALLY want to go see our team play & WIN! I am so lookin forward to that.

GO BLUE FOREVER!

BillMFan wrote:

Gee, thanks Sandy! You just shot my confidence in that win all to hell!! lol, j/k.

Agree with your assessment of Mitch....I too think he has contributed the most to our recent success in the tourney.

I think Fla is NOT going to be an easy win for us, like some on the other board are sayin. They did beat Wisconsin by 18.....and, you know how we fared against the Badgers this year (twice). Ugh.

I also think GRIII has helped with our success recently. Hope these guys keep up their intensity today & forward.

I too thought the BT was a superior BB conference, but, after the exits of our fellow conference teams, I now am having my doubts about that. Just sayin.....

Anyway, here's to hoping for a good win today & forward! Living here near Atlanta I REALLY, REALLY want to go see our team play & WIN! I am so lookin forward to that.

GO BLUE FOREVER!

Yep Bill there is no doubt you bring up some very interesting points....

1. Florida blew out UW and Marquette earlier this year so there is that to think about.

2. I'm afraid GRIII may get picked on today. He'll have to guard Young (6'9" 250lbs and shoots 58% from the field) or Murphy (6'10" 240lbs and shoots 53% from the field). Either way he's going to have a tall task ahead of him.

3. On the flip side, Florida will be grossly undersized against Hardaway and Stauskas. Prather is the only guy that can guard them and I bet he and Trey go at all game. So as long as at least one of them gets hot today we have a really good shot at winning this. If both of them get hot, McGary gives us 15 and Burke is just Burke, we win going away.

Who gives a damn about tennis? Where's my pregame?