My Final 4 as 1/19/2013

Louisville
Kansas
Duke
Michigan/Indiana

Whoever wins the Big 10 will get a 1 seed. The other will be a 2 seed in a region where the 1 seed will be a legitimate NC contender.

hailtoyourvictor wrote:

Louisville
Kansas
Duke
Michigan/Indiana

Whoever wins the Big 10 will get a 1 seed. The other will be a 2 seed in a region where the 1 seed will be a legitimate NC contender.

Clearly it's going to depend on who get's placed in what bracket but let me give you my top 4 teams in no particular order

Michigan,
Syracuse
Indiana
Kansas.


Duke is soooooo close at this point but it's clear that without any one of their star players (Curry and Plumlee especially) they don't have the juice to really scare anyone with a deep run.

And I know you can say the same about Michigan. Without Burke we might not be a top 10 team but the difference is that on any give night Hardaway, Stuaskas, GR3 and dare I say McGary can light a team up. My point is that UM has multiple scoring options, as proven by having the #1 points per trip in the nation, and they play as good of defense as anyone in the nation. Also, to touch on something that somebody on here said the other day (too lazy to look for the post) Albrecht isn't that bad. He's a viable option with game smarts and a shooting touch. I say the kid starts on 60% of the other teams in the country and if all else fails Tim can run the team too.

^^^ Also they take care of the ball ^^^

Oh yeah and Albrecht doesn't start on 60% of the teams in the country. I got a little ahead of myself ha ha but you get my point. He's no schlub.

Have you seen Louisville play yet? They are for real. Their back court combo of Russ Smith and Peyton Siva are the 2nd best combo in the nation behind Burke and Hardaway. Andy Katz actually ranked the UL duo 1A and Michigan's duo 1B. Their full court press will give anyone fits.

Also, note that their only loss came to Duke while missing a starter.

That being said, the top 5-6 teams are all on the same level IMO.

I guess my bias also made me fail to disclose that Duke has 5 players that average double digit scoring BUT I stand by my Plumlee statement, he IS Duke's rebounding. without him they may be dead in the water on the boards.

As far as Louisville.... The do have a great back court but they only have three guys average double digit scoring and Siva's assist avg is nowhere near burke's. Plus I think UM would out rebound Louisville easily. I still like Syracuse regardless of the outcome of today's game (which by the way, midway through the 2nd is shaping up to be a GREAT game).

Burke's putting up unreal numbers for college bball. That assist to turnover ratio is aweseosme. Siva is not slouch though.

FWIW, Smith and Burke were both on the SI midseason All-American team (here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-basketball/news/20130111/midseason-all-americans/)

I think Michigan can beat Louisville, but that match up would scare the hell out of me. Michigan struggled against Minnesota's press, and the UL press is head and shoulders better than Minnesota's . They are 3rd in the nation in steals per game at 11.41.

hailtoyourvictor wrote:

...They are 3rd in the nation in steals per game at 11.41...

Yep I was gonna mention the steals but I semi addressed it by mentioning Michigan's ability to hold on to the ball. without sounding too cliche I think turnovers would determine the outcome of a Louisville v UM match up.

By the way, I'm watching Siva choke right now. He's been basically absent from the game but Smith has picked up his slack so Louisville is in this game.

B1G may get two #1 seeds.

I also think going through the B1G season will help in the tourney.

Hail.... can you believe Louisville turned it over on their last two possesions (Siva was one of them)?

Wow... What a game.

Now to the MSU O$U game.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

B1G may get two #1 seeds.

I also think going through the B1G season will help in the tourney.

Don't get me wrong, Indiana and Michigan are both good enough to be #1 seeds, but that won't happen. Louisville, Duke, Kansas, Arizona, and Syracuse all have patsy schedules. I can't imagine any of them losing more than 1 or 2 games the rest of the season.

The Big 10 will beat itself up. The Big 10 title winner will get a #1 seed, no doubt. But I don't see a 29-5 Big 10 team getting a 2nd #1 seed over a 31-3 Duke, Kansas, Louisville, Cuse, or Zona.

If I had to predict seeds:
#1 Michigan
#2 Indiana
#2 Minnesota
#3 Ohio St.
#4 Michigan St.
#5 Wisconsin
#10 Bubble team (Illinois or Iowa)

hailtoyourvictor wrote:

Louisville
Kansas
Duke
Michigan/Indiana

Whoever wins the Big 10 will get a 1 seed. The other will be a 2 seed in a region where the 1 seed will be a legitimate NC contender.

Yes because we all know how you have to be #1 seed to get to the final 4. Never mind that history has shown that an all #1 final four rarely happens.

Not saying that. But I expect the 4 best teams to get to the Final 4 and I expect the 4 best teams to get #1 seeds.

Bump. My final four in brackets:

Louisville
Florida
Indiana
Ohio St.