I don't think Kansas is very good. Sweet 16 at best.

So Oklahoma is a Top 5 team but Kansas is garbage? :zz:

I'm with you on the UNC train. I usually hate the team, but I love Lawson. I'm a lifelong Michigan fan and cried when Webber called that timeout. (I won $20 at a bar last month when my buddy's old college roomate didnt think I could name the Fab FIve....Easiest 5 seconds/20 bucks in my lifetime.)

NOW, onto Kansas. Theres a few reasons why Im going with them, and neither one is a good one. One is that I like how they play away from Lawrence. The other reason is that nobody else will have them. (worked when I picked Syracuse with Mello :o )...I'm eager to see if they can turn the tables on Mizzo next game...

:zz: :zz: :zz:

Was it crapping away the game at Missouri that impressed you? Or being thoroughly outplayed by Syracuse on a neutral court? Maybe it was that outstanding loss on a neutral court to UMass? The 17 point drubbing when they went to Arizona? The 13 points loss at Michigan St? Which one was it?

Please tell me this statement is based on their last meeting when Griffin didn't play. And I didn't say they were garbage. Sweet 16 is not really garbage in the grand scheme of things.

All of them. :D ...Like I said, poor reasoning. I was on the fence about riding them and kept talking myself in and out of it. I finally told myself to just overlook those games when they got demolished. Just let me be the one to rip up my bracket in the round of 32, Im sure I wiill be.

No, it's based on them being a better team and playing more defense. That game was a blowout until Cade Davis hit a few threes to keep it interesting. Yeah, no Griffin made things tough for the Sooners, but Aldrich and the twins wouldn't have allowed Griffin to have the kind of game he's been having against Texas Tech, Colorado, Iowa State, etc. anyway. Kansas is way better on the interior than anybody he's faced this season.

I keep hearing people talk about how wide open it is this year....but I don't really see it that way. Anything can happen in the tournament, but at this point I think UNC will be a strong and deserving favorite.

Isn't that what everyone says every year? And come tournament time, more often than not, they are bounced before the Final Four.

Doesn't mean it's not true though. Often, they are the deserving favorite but everyone knows that the favorite doesn't always win. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't be favored this year if they are the best team.

Deserving favorite and strong favorite are very different though. They are the deserving favorite cause of Lawson. They aren't a strong favorite though cause their second best player, Hansborough, isn't that great.

How great he is is certainly up for debate. I've never been convinced of how good he is either and don't expect him to make a great pro. But that doesn't take away from what he's been able to do in college. To put up the numbers he does night and night out for four year in the toughest conference in the country....he's earned my respect. He might not be great but as long as he's productive enough to get you 15-20 and 10+ boards a night, I'll take it.

I don't think they should be odds-on or anything but I think that they have a much better chance than anyone else.

That's the thing though. He only was throwing up 10+ boards a night his junior year. The other three seasons he's been under 8. I'll take Blair inside with Fields and his absurd 4 to 1 assist to turnover ratio at the point over anybody. And that doesn't even include their leading scorer.

Pitt is definitely going to be a tough team to beat. I think with UConn losing their point guard, it makes Pitt the second best team in the country. Blair is more than a handful inside. I don't think they have the depth and overall athleticism to stay with UNC for 40 minutes though. And it's kind of trouble how well they've handled prosperity this year, losing immediately after becoming number one both times. Neither were necessarily bad losses but it makes me a little concerned.

Jerome Dyson wasn't UConn's point guard.

Coulda fooled me. It looked to me like he and AJ Price both played point guard.

Price and Kemba Walker are UConn's point guards. Dyson played a little point last year, but not this season.

Are you saying that North Carolina is the favorite every year and then they get bounced before they make the Final Four? If so, I have no idea what you are basing that on.
The last five years:
2004: They were a #6 seed....so I somehow doubt they were the favorite.
2005: They WERE the favorites this year....and they won it all.
2006: They were a #3 seed....so again, hardly the favorites.
2007: They were a #1 seed this year, but with defending champion and eventual winner Florida also in the field as a #1 seed, the Heels were certainly not the favorites.
2008: They were a #1 seed last year and DID make it to the final four.

So....in none of the last five years did UNC fail to make the Final Four when entering as a Tourney favorite.
But even if they had....what would it have to do with this year?

North Carolina is the most talented team
imo. Their D is really bad at critical points in games, a big concern.
Its hard to tell if they lose focus because they
are so intent on opening it up offensively or what...
It seems like they just want to outscore other
teams, and when the other teams create pace
problems for them its trouble. They also seem
to let the opposition's guards penetrate way too much.

This is a very interesting year.

He will probably make a solid junkman.
You cannot run an offense through him obviously,
but he does clean up a lot of misses and there
are not many guys I would rather have going
to the floor gathering loose balls.

Thabeet is a guy I find very interesting.
Could make a Mutombo type player.
He was such a dork last year. Huge improvement.
Griffin is a very good athlete that has
very good hands and good post moves.
I dont see how he does not go number one
unless their is some foreign player that pops up.