This year’s Final Four field is set as the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes meet for only the ninth time in their history but for the second time this season in the second NCAA Tournament semifinal on Saturday in New Orleans.
The Massachusetts Minutemen are a high scoring team out of the Atlantic 10. They made a push at the end of the season to qualify for the Big Dance but fell short in the A-10 Tournament, losing to juggernaut St. Bonaventure.
The Washington Huskies will make their second trip of the year to the Big Apple on Tuesday, where they will hope to have better results when they take on the No. 6 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers for a chance to play either Stanford or UMass in Thursday’s NIT championship game.
2011 wasn’t a good season for the Chicago White Sox. The team was expected to compete for the AL Central, but they finished a very disappointing 79-83. There was plenty of drama surrounding the team throughout the year as well.
No one had a better offseason than the Detroit Tigers. While the Tigers won 94 games and beat the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, expectations are much higher this season.
The Clippers are coming off a win, but they are only 4-6 in their last 10 games and are tied with the Mavs for the 4th spot in the Western Conference.
The Bulls will be without Derrick Rose for the 7th straight game, but even without the reigning MVP in the lineup Chicago has won 4 straight.
The Heat have beaten the Pacers 5 straight times, but they are coming off their worst loss of the season and Indiana is coming off a win.
Cleveland burst out of the gates last year to grab a big lead in the AL Central. The Indians actually led the division by seven games after starting 30-15.
These are two teams that seem to be headed in different directions right now.
The Miami Heat are playing well right now and head into this mid-season epic on a 4 game winning streak.
On the second day of Elite Eight action we see another matchup between #1 and #2 with the second seeded Kansas Jayhawks being tabbed as favourites.
While Duke was knocked out by Lehigh in Round of 64, many people did have Baylor meeting Kentucky in the Elite Eight in the South Region.
It seems like the Kansas City Royals always have tons of young talent, but they haven’t been able to mature into that contender just yet.
The Ohio State Buckeyes played a very interesting game to make it to the East Regional final.
#2 Ohio State Buckeyes (30-7) vs #1 Syracuse Orange (34-2)
Saturday March 24
East Region – Boston, MA
7:05PM
Moneyline: Ohio State -150, Syracuse +140
Spread: Ohio State -3
O/U: 136
Ohio State
Against Cincinnati they looked pretty good early, horrible in the middle then finished strong.
Strong enough that they are now the favourites against the region’s #1 seed.
I find this result interesting. Does it mean that Cincinnati is very good because that is not what I saw Thursday night.
Should be a very competitive game.
Against Cincinnati it felt like the Buckeyes were always controlling the action. I didn’t realize it at the time but they scored 14 more points at the foul line.
Aaron Craft was super disruptive on the perimeter both on his man and others. The Bearcats are not blessed with playmakers on the perimeter so I think their defense will be challenged more against Syracuse which can avoid Craft’s presence a little easier.
Jared Sullinger and Deshawn Thomas both played well, when that happens this team gets all the scoring it needs.
Syracuse
It is a #1 vs #2 matchup but can’t remember the last time a #2 seed was the favourite. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Against Wisconsin I thought the Orange played pretty well and lets not forget that Ohio State lost to those same Badgers, on their own homecourt, in a game they needed for the Big 10 regular season championship.
Being a #1 seed doesn’t mean you have to trounce teams.
I have been fading Syracuse a bit this year but I love this team as the underdog.
On Thursday night the Badgers were awesome shooting from deep but the Buckeyes do not present the same challenge.
I am curious to see how the zone affects Jared Sullinger because when you can neutralize him the OSU offense can be pretty ordinary.
I am expecting another good game from Dion Waiters tomorrow. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they have to put Craft on him to slow him down.
Spread Pick: Syracuse +3
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Syracuse 72 – Ohio State 70
The Sacramento Kings had been on their best run of the year, winning three in a row before falling to Utah Thursday night. The last time these two teams hooked up Sacramento got rolled losing by 26 points and Golden State holds the advantage on the season 2-1.
