Two Big East teams are still kicking. Gus Johnson would still be yelling if he had been the play-by-play guy for the Nova-Pitt game. My National Champion pick (UNC) is still alive and well despite my utter lack of competence everywhere else on the bracket.

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Forget about Villanova’s impressive run to The Motor City—featuring a ‘why the heck did people pick this team to go to Detroit’ (when they were trailing American by double digits) and ‘this Scottie Reynolds is stinking up the joint’ comments from yours truly—Michigan State takes the cake here. Me hailing from Michigan, what a surprise, huh? Well, Tom Izzo and Co. deserve it. MSU is far from dominant, but they’re a fun team. Fun to watch interact with each other, fun to see plead with an irate Izzo, fun to watch on a fast break, fun to analyze which big man (there’s 5) Izzo will usher into the game, and extremely fun to witness pound a ‘powerful’ Big East team into the ground.  Jump on the MSU bandwagon now national media, yeah, own up.

Spartan Fever (Image:Newscom)

Player Most Instrumental To Team’s Success

Villanova- One guy has been playing way over his head. Senior guard/forward Dwayne Anderson. He’s scoring and rebounding over his season average. He does not want to play his last collegiate game.  Give me more Dwayne says.

North Carolina- Tywon Lawson is a top 5, top 10 draft pick?  Probably working himself into the former based on this three game tear where he’s shooting above 50% from inside and outside the long line, feeding and turning over the rock at a 10/1 ratio, and out potty mouthing Ari Gold. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Ty is healthy.

Connecticut- Lanky 6′9 Stanley Robinson sans the opening round game when he scored 24, has just been pretty good, nothing legendary, but he hasn’t needed to be. When Jerome Dyson went down with season ending injury, UConn needed someone to step up, play more minutes and be a threat to consistently score in double figures, and Craig Austrie sure wasn’t going to be that guy. Stanley Robinson is that X-factor guy.

Michigan State- The 6′10 Bosnian senior Goran Suton has been PUURRRE! the last two games, totaling 39 points (5-10 from deep), 19 rebounds, and 6 steals. Don’t know if he’ll be able to be so PUURRRE! against Mr. Thabeet, but if he is, MSU will be playing on Monday for the title.

Prediction For The Final Four

Ford Field will be a Green and White madplace for the Saturday 6:07 tip v. UConn and then for the Monday rematch with UNC.

Prepare.

Mr. Whitlock is a widely respected columnist for the Kansas City Star. He has won some cool journalism awards and stuff blah blah he is a pretty good writer yada yada yada.

Whitlock wrote an article for ‘FoxSports on MSN’ yesterday.

“NCAA Truths” he calls it.

I call it a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Ok, only some of it.

Whitlock’s words in bold

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are not my sleeper team. They’re my pick to win the whole thing.
Jason is trying to drum up some discussion and controversy on his article, no person (unless they’re a Zags fan) in their right mind thinks Gonzaga has a shot to win it all. That said, I also think Gonzaga can win it all, and I’m not a Zags fan.

If you’re looking for a tournament fraud, take a gander at the 27-4 Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma does not have an offense. The Sooners do nothing to free Griffin in the low post. He gets his points off talent and nothing else. Capel’s offense does not require Warren to move without the basketball.
Actually, I agree with this, plus, another thing that Whitlock did not mention, the Sooners have the depth of a kiddie pool with a hole in it. They might win two games.

Michigan State is the other top-10 poser. I don’t care what the RPI says, the Big 10 is the worst major conference this year. I’ve had the pleasure of watching many Big 10 hoops games this year. It’s all unskilled labor in that league. Michigan State is the perfect poster child to represent the Big 10. The Spartans can’t shoot. They don’t have enough ball-handlers and passers to run a consistent and effective offense. They’re brutal to watch. Thank a higher power that they won’t be around long.
Whitlock must have only watched MSU once this season (UNC game at Ford Field) to come up with an explanation like that. Travis Walton and Kalin Lucas are pretty good point guards. Goran Suton is one of the best big man passers out there. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Big Ten is overrated. Ha, eight overrated Big Ten teams will make the Big Dance. Riiiiight.

Stephen Curry, Davidson and Sonya Curry belong in the NCAA Tournament. Look, sex sells, and the NCAA Tournament is a television event put on to draw viewers. Sonya Curry makes me want to watch Davidson hoops. The woman is fine. She looks like Halle Berry’s big sister.
Interesting.

Doug Gottlieb is the best guy calling college basketball today.
And Rush Limbaugh is a liberal.

The women’s 64-team field is an absolute joke and embarrassment. There are only 15 to 20 good programs, and less than half of those have a chance to win the national title.
Tell me about it.

Dwyane Wade’s strip and seal against the Bulls Tuesday night is one of the greatest regular-season moments in NBA history.
Whitlock wandering off topic again.

I like the Kansas Jayhawks a lot on the nights when Sherron Collins lets the game come to him offensively. They’ll lose in the first round if Collins gets out of control.
Let the game come to him offensively? Sherron Collins is the offense over there in Lawrence. Kansas will be lucky to make it out of the first weekend alive.

Can you really call it a challenge if one conference just annihilates the other year after year?

Here is my preview of all 11 games from August 15th. It’s so good I figured I wouldn’t revise it at all.

—-

The Atlantic Coast Conference has dominated the Big Ten in each of the 9 years of this yearly Challenge. The last two years the ACC has recorded 16 wins versus just 6 losses. The ACC’s total record is 56-30.

The Challenge tips off on the first of December with Wisconsin visiting Virginia Tech.

After the opening day game, 5 games on each of the next 2 days will take place. There are some salivating matchups for sure.

Is this the year the Big Ten will amass more than 5 wins in the challenge?

Nope.

7-4 will be the ACC’s record for this year’s challenge.

Schedule and further info can be found here.

The rundown…

Wisconsin at Virginia Tech
Everyone is back from Tech save Deron Washington. A.D. Vassalo might be the best baller most of America doesn’t know about.

On second thought, Wiscy’s Trevon Hughes might be the best unknown dude. At any rate, Tech must shoot the ball better from downtown if they are to escape Bo’s onslaught of a defense.

Edge- Wiscy

Ohio St. at Miami
The deep and deadly Hurricanes will stomp the Buckeyes, of course.

Edge- Miami

Iowa at Boston College
Both of these teams suck, but Tyrese Rice brings excitement and scoring to the game. Iowa could overtake the cellar from Indiana before it’s all said and done this year.

Edge- BC

Clemson at Illinois
Clemson returns 7 of its top 10 players from last year’s NCAA tourney team, including the Eric Piatkowski look alike, Terrence Oglesby. I vividly remember a game last year where Oglesby jacked up about 18 threes and hit about 2 of them. More accurately it was a 1 for 11 performance against Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tourney last year. Look for a strong game from Terrence.

Edge- Clemson

Duke at Purdue
This will be one of those early tests for Purdue, one in which will help sort out the veracity of the heavily pro-Purdue prognosticators.

Expect a shootout.

Edge- Purdue

Virginia at Minnesota
The teams look to be even, but the coaches are far from it.

Edge- Tubby

Indiana at Wake Forest
Wake will easily win this one. Wake looks like it could give anybody in the country problems as all five starters return and a highly touted class comes in.

Edge- Wake

Penn St. at Georgia Tech
Tech could be an ACC dark horse this year. Penn St. needs the Crispin brothers back.

Edge- GTech

Michigan at Maryland
Greivis vs Corperryale.

Michigan will turn the ball over 20 plus times but still be within 6 or 8 when it’s over.

I live in Michigan. Bet on it. No really.

Edge- Maryland

UNC at MSU (Ford Field)

MSU fans get loud. Ford Field is way bigger than the Breslin.

Unfortunately,

Hansbrough and Deon Thompson>>> Goran Suton and Marquise Gray

Edge- UNC

Florida St. at Northwestern

(Snorts and giggles)

The Seminoles will get their asses handed to them by an academic school that has had virtually no success in basketball, hence the giggling and snorting. This will feel like losing to Duke in football. Florida St. will have some mighty trouble this year, they lost too much from last year’s team. Northwestern is tough at home.

Edge- NW

The ACC, albeit not looking like a super strong conference this year, will still end up tearing apart most of the sluggish teams from the B10.

—-

Just heard ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb say that it would be more detrimental to MSU if Goran Suton missed Wednesday’s game against UNC than it would be for UNC to be without Tyler Hansbrough. Basicially Doug is saying that UNC is so good that they could still beat MSU even without T-Rex roaming around and pissing everyone off… always in the right place, always banking in those awkward shots, always being competitive, something lots of people just don’t like about him.

Bulletin Board material for Coach Tom Izzo?

The Spartans are again wickedly athletic, versatile, deep and, yep, a likely good tease as well.

Losing Drew Neitzel won’t be as catastrophic for the Spartans as it would be for quite a few other quality teams in the country. Izzo had some depth to work with last year and that allowed fellow guard Kalin Lucas, now a sophomore, to really gain a wealth of experience. As one of the fastest players in the country, Kalin often does not need anyone to accompany him on a fast break. He’s an up tempo player of the A grade variety. He can also shoot a little too (36% 3pt). Crafty defensive veteran Travis Walton also returns, as does sharp shooter Chris Allen and athletic do it all wing Durrell Summers. All of those guys finish in transition and bring intangibles to the table that every really good team must have.

Wing/forward Raymar Morgan is the most polished player on the team. He will certainly be asked to add to his 14ppg total of last year. If he can be a legitimate threat from downtown (just 33 attempts last season), there’s not much Raymar can’t do on offense. He’s solid. He needs to be more spectacular.

The obvious strength of the Spartans is the backcourt and wing position. It might be under the radar, but it’s budding for sure.

But what about the front court?

Don’t count on Tom Herzog or Idong Ibok to sufficiently replace departed senior Drew Naymick. Let’s not over blow Drew’s importance. Firstly, it took the once offensively challenged Naymick about 7 years to contribute and while it’s important to give credit where credit is due (Drew came a long way in that time and really played like a competent Big Ten big man his last two seasons), the Spartans will miss his defensive presence, but not much else. They can do better. But the question remains, can Gray, Ibok, and Herzog actually do it?

The upside on Herzog seems high still, but similar expectations were put on Marquise Gray, a 5 star recruit four years ago.

Gray has been a bust to say the least.

Gray has all the athletic attributes a player needs, but he doesn’t seem to yet be able to grasp Izzo’s concepts. He’ll have his shining moments for sure, although Izzo will likely remember the head scratching-hair pulling moments he’s endured because of Gray the most.

Izzo only a minute away from taking large, thick chunks of hair out his skull while pleading with Marquise Gray on why he fouled the other team 60 feet from the hoop

Herzog, if he has gained any more weight, should be good for more than 13 games at 5 minutes a pop. He has the reputation of being somewhat competent on the block, whereas Gray and Ibok do not, but Herzog does not possess the strength to stay on the block at this level yet. It’s apparent, just look at the numbers, Ibok played in 13 more games and gives you nothing on offense. The future sure looks shaky for Herzog.

Video from a couple of years ago-

As far as Ibok is concerned, heck, he’s on the books for just one more year. Ibok has shown an inconsistent work ethic and furthermore has instilled little to no confidence into Izzo. Ibok is not what you call a basketball player yet. He’s a project still in the developmental stage. But better yet, he already has his degree, so, he has something a lot of college basketball players will never obtain.

It’s imperative for the bench bigs to overachieve, if you will, since it’s a foregone conclusion that Goran Suton will look like Bill Walton one play and then an immobile Christian Laettner the next six.

Put Suton down for 10 and 8 and be done with it. Throw it aside. He is what he is. Serviceable.

Delvon Roe, while a stud in my view, may come along slower than expected because of his injury difficulties. But soon enough he should be starting along with Morgan and Suton up front. Those 3 complement each other very nicely. You got some flash and sizzle in there, some inside-outside flavor and some quality post action to count on as well.

Overall the team, on a national level, mind you, might not be considered top 5 caliber, but I see them as a formidable top 5 team. The pieces are in place to become elite, but when push comes to shove, the impressing play they will exude in the regular season will come to a sudden halt somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd round of the tourney.

Unless freshman Draymond Green or junior Isaiah Dahlman, two, as of now, unlikely rotational players, have something in store to add to this team, like something significant, then the Spartans will be about one impact player short of a final four caliber team.

Thinking back a little, I’m tempted to proclaim that this might be the year the Spartans get back to that elite level. It would be the perfect year to do so.

Actually, kidding aside, it would be perfect this year.

The Final Four is in Michigan– Ford Field.

Think the Spartans wouldn’t be the favorites?

Ha.

I’d take em.

Drew Nietzel era over-

Kalin Lucas, Raymar Morgan, Goran Suton, Chris Allen and Delvon Roe might be the most solid starting five in the nation outside of UNC.

Kalin Lucas is so fast that rabid Spartan fans have flooded SpartanTailgate.com with Usain Bolt-Kalin Lucas comparisons.

But as one quick poster pointed out, who would be faster dribbling a ball?

Yeah Usain, try multi-tasking while running your little 100 and 200 meter jogs.

Kalin is maneuvering his way around folks, laying it in around and over guys six or more inches taller, all the while dribbling a basketball at full speed. One man fast break!

The Atlantic Coast Conference has dominated the Big Ten in each of the 9 years of this yearly Challenge. The last two years the ACC has recorded 16 wins versus just 6 losses. The ACC’s total record is 56-30.

The Challenge tips off on the first of December with Wisconsin visiting Virginia Tech.

After the opening day 5 games on each of the next 2 days will take place. There are some salivating matchups for sure.

Duke at Purdue

UNC vs. MSU at Ford Field– ok, UNC at MSU

Ohio St. at Miami

Eh, I guess know “salivating” is more of a subjective take on these games.

But those three matchups just about do it for me.

Is this the year the Big Ten will amass more than 5 wins in the challenge?

Nope.

7-4 will be the ACC’s record for this year’s challenge.

The rundown…

Wisconsin at Virginia Tech
Everyone is back from Tech save Deron Washington. A.D. Vassalo might be the best baller most of America doesn’t know about.

On second thought, Wiscy’s Trevon Hughes might be the best unknown dude. At any rate, Tech must shoot the ball better from downtown if they are to escape Bo’s onslaught of a defense.

Edge- Wiscy

Ohio St. at Miami
The deep and deadly Hurricanes will stomp the Buckeyes, of course.

Edge- Miami

Iowa at Boston College
Both of these teams suck, but Tyrese Rice brings excitement and scoring to the game. Iowa could overtake the cellar from Indiana before it’s all said and done this year.

Edge- BC

Clemson at Illinois
Clemson returns 7 of its top 10 players from last year’s NCAA tourney team, including the Eric Piatkowski look alike, Terrence Oglesby. I vividly remember a game last year where Oglesby jacked up about 18 threes and hit about 2 of them. Actually it was a 1 for 11 performance against Villanova in the first round last year. Look for a strong game from Terrence.

Edge- Clemson

Duke at Purdue
This will be one of those early tests for Purdue, one in which will help sort out the veracity of the heavily pro-Purdue prognosticators.

Expect a shootout.

Edge- Purdue

Virginia at Minnesota
The teams look to be even, but the coaches are far from it.

Edge- Minny

Indiana at Wake Forest
Wake will easily win this one. Wake looks like it could give anybody in the country problems as all five starters return and a highly touted class comes in.

Edge- Wake

Penn St. at Georgia Tech
Tech could be an ACC dark horse this year. Penn St. needs the Crispin brothers back.

Edge- GTech

Michigan at Maryland
Greivis vs Corperryale.

Michigan will turn the ball over 20 plus times but still be within 6 or 8 when it’s over.

I live in Michigan. Bet on it. No really.

Edge- Maryland

UNC at MSU (Ford Field)

MSU fans get loud. Ford Field is way bigger than the Breslin.

Unfortunately,

Hansbrough and Deon Thompson>>> Goran Suton and Marquise Gray

Edge- UNC

Florida St. at Northwestern

(Snorts and giggles)

The Seminoles will get their asses handed to them by an academic school that has had virtually no success in basketball, hence the giggling and snorting. This will feel like losing to Duke in football. Florida St. will have some mighty trouble this year, they lost too much from last year’s team. Northwestern is tough at home.

Edge- NW

The ACC, albeit not looking like a super strong conference this year, will still end up tearing apart most of the sluggish teams from the B10.

Not really going out on a limb here with the history of this challenge and all, but you’ll forget about this one after you read my final two death wishes… er, predictions.