ncaa picks

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SoCalHoops NCAA Tourney News

NCAA Tourney: Our First Day, 1st Round
Picks: Who Will Win & Why--(Mar. 14, 2002)

We don't often share our picks, but this year, the tournament is loaded with great teams from the West and SoCal in particular, so we're going to tell you who we like and why. No great detailed analyses, just our picks. What we've done is organize these in the order that the games are being played, chronologically the order you'll see them on CBS today:

Game 1--No. 10 Kent State v. No. 7 Oklahoma State 9:20 p.m. PST--South Region

We're going with Oklahoma State and Eddie Sutton and OK State's Maurice Baker, even though Kent State is on an 18-game win streak. If Baker's ankle is still bothering him, this could spell trouble, and Trevor Huffman, Kent State's 6'-1" senior guard is a high scorer for the Golden Flashes, but we still like Oklahoma and the tougher schedule they've had. KSU may have upset Indiana last year in the first round, but it won't happen again....

Game 2--No. 13 Valpariaso v. No. 4 Kentucky 9:25 p.m. PST--East Region

Kentucky. Tubby Smith may have lost control of this team and he may be on the way out the door if the rumors we're hearing prove true, but this is still a much more talented team than most people give them credit for. Dominguez grad Tayshaun Prince is still there and he will lead this team to the win over Valpo, which may have won the Mid-Continent tournament this year behind Lubos Barton, the 6'-8" power forward who will one day play for money, but Kentucky is going to advance.

Game 3--No. 12 Missouri v. No. 5 Miami-Florida 9:40 p.m. PST--West Region

We like the sentimental pick Missouri a lot, but we've got to go with our heads on this one and will pick Miami. At 24-7 this season, the Hurricanes beat Indiana, and went 10-6 in the Big East, but they have Darius Rice. This season has been a huge disappointment for Quinn Snyder, and there are rumors he will leave for Washington, his players have been booed on their home court, and generally other than Kareem Rush, the Tiger's have not had a great year. Look for Miami to advance.

Game 4--No. 10 Pepperdine v. No. 7 Wake Forest 11:42 p.m. PST--Midwest Region

The Demon Deacons lost to Duke, Maryland, Kansas and Cincinnati, but beat Marquette. They have Darius Songaila, a big power forward who played for the Lithuania team that almost upset the U.S. team of NBA all-stars in the Sydney Olympics, but they're going to lose this one to the Waves. Don't tell us that beating USC and UCLA in the same season doesn't mean anything. Pepperdine also beat Gonzaga and Paul Westphal is one of the best coaches in college basketball right now. We like the boys from Malibu, so we're going with Pepperdine.

Game 5- No. 15 Florida Atlantic v. No. 2 Alabama 11:50 p.m. PST--South Region

Alabama. In a landslide. We're not nuts. Even though the Crimson Tide lost to UCLA, Alabama is going to wallop Florida Atlantic in this first round game. Alabama has beaten Florida and Auburn in the SEC tournament, but lost in the final to Mississippi State. Erwin Dudley has had 14 double-doubles and Florida Atlantic has no one who can board with him. Well, ok they have Reaheim Brown a 6'-10" forward who is averaging 17 ppg and 9 boards.....Sure everyone should be scared about these 2 vs. 15 matchups, but this is a team which lost by nearly 30 to Miami. And it's their first trip to the tournament. Pick em if your brave or foolhardy, but we're going with Mark Gottfried's team on this one.

Game 6--No. 12 Tulsa v. No. 5 Marquette 11:55 p.m. PST--East Region

Tulsa is 26-6 this season and we really like them a lot. Do we like them enough to take out No. 5 Marquette? Yes. Call us crazy, call us stupid, but we think the Golden Hurricane can pull this upset off. The matchup will be Greg Harrington v.s Dwayne Wade. We like Wade and what Crean has done with the Golden Eagles but we're picking Tulsa.

Game 7--No. 13. Davidson v. No. 5 Ohio State 12:10 p.m. PST--West Region

Davidson is a really smart team, but they ought to be smart enough to figure out they are not likely to beat Ohio State in this one. At 21-9, they beat Furman to get the trip to the tournament, winning the Southern Conference tournament, but are they the best team in their conference? They lost to Duke 106-71 and beat North Carolina back when everyone thought that was a big deal, but who hasn't beaten North Carolina this year? Ohio State is 23-7, had huge wins over Louisville and Pittsburgh, and have a great point guard with Brian Brown. Ohio State.

Game 8 --No. 15 Montana v. No. 2 Oregon 2:10 p.m. PST--Midwest Region

Oregon. Period. Say good night, Grizzlies.

Game 9 --No. 11 Wyoming v. No. 6 Gonzaga 4:40 p.m. PST--West Region

We'd love to go with Gonzaga, and they will probably win it, but the laws of conditioning and physics tell us that Wyoming has at least an even shot at this game. Wyoming plays, works and lives at 7,000 feet above sea-level. The Zags work, live and play at 0 feet above sea-level in Eastern Washington. This game is going to be played at 5,000 feet above sea-level in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and as anyone who has ever visited the mountains to ski, mountain bike or hike knows, you can't perform at high altitudes well for at least several days. Unless the Zags got there about three or four days ahead of schedule, they will likely run out of gas sometime about midway through the third quarter. Sure the Zags have Dan Dickau and Blake Stepp, and a bunch of guys who can really play. And they should be justifiably pissed that they only got a No. 6 seed. But we really like Wyoming to pull off the big upset this time. Watch Marcus Bailey and Ronnell Mingo, as well as Ugo Udeze. On second thought, forget the laws of physics, conditioning and the rest. We're going with Gonzaga.

Game 10-- No. 9 Charlotte v. No. 8 Notre Dame 4:40 p.m. PST--South Region

Notre Dame. We've been reading that it's a real statistical anomaly about these 8 vs. 9 matchups and that in the last few years, more 9's win, but we still like Notre Dame to pull this one off. Charlotte has lost a lot of games to some really good teams, but they don't really bring to the table a lot that does it for us. Sure Jobey Thomas is a great shooter, but this is a team that's lost to Indiana, Temple, Florida and Miami this year as well as Cinncinnati. They did beat Memphis, but we don't see Memphis here.... Notre Dame on the other hand has Chris Thomas, and he's the sparkplug who led them to wins over Pittsburgh (twice), St. John's and Georgetown in quadruple OT, and they still have Ryan Humphrey.....

Game 11--No. 16 Holy Cross v. No. 1 Kansas 4:50 p.m. PST--Midwest Region

Kansas. Holy Cross is a nice team, but they're done. How they beat American is a mystery to us, but they're finished now. Look for Drew Gooden to dominate.

Game 12-- No. 13 UNC-Wilmington v. No. 4 USC 4:55 p.m. PST--South Region

USC. Are you kidding? You really need to ask. Only if the USC bus doesn't make it to the arena will UNC Wilmington win this one. We don't care about hearing that UNC-Wilmington is "dangerous" or that the Trojans will need to "bring it." Even if Brandon Granville breaks his leg, the Trojans won't lose this one. Brett Blizzard may have been the player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association, but their season is about to end. And if we're wrong... well, we'll blow our brains out.

Game 13--No. 14 UCSB v. No. 3 Arizona 7:05 p.m. PST--West Region

Branduinn Fullove, Jacoby Atako, Nick Jones, and Coach Bob Williams are on the rise, and they might have a better chance than most think to knock off the Wildcats, but it's not going to happen, at least not this year. The Wildcats should not take the Gauchos for granted, but this will be the biggest upset of the tournament, bigger than Winthrop beating Duke in our view, if it happens. UCSB is a sentimental favorite, but it's not their year to beat the Pac-10 champion. Not with Jason Gardner and Luke Walton. It's going to be a great game however it comes out, but we're picking Arizona.

Game 14--No. 16 Winthrop v. No. 1 Duke 7:10 p.m. PST--South Region

Duke. Period.

Game 15--No. 12 Utah v. No. 5 Indiana 7:20 p.m. PST--South Region

This is a very interesting game, perhaps one of the most interesting matchups of the entire day. Indiana is 20-11 coming off the best season they've had in a while under new coach Mike Davis and they have the Big Ten POY in Jared Jeffries, who is still great even if he's bothered by a bum ankle. Utah played in the NIT last year but Rick Majerus has got his guys back to some semblance of winning, but we're not sure they have the horses this season to get it done. Britton Johnson is good, but not Jared Jeffries-good. Maybe next year with Richard Chaney, Tim Drisdom and Bryant Markson, but probably not this year. We're going with Indiana.

Game 16--No. 9 Western Kentucky v. No. 8 Stanford 7:20 p.m. PST--Midwest Region

Stanford will will this one. Casey Jacobsen is their leader, and while they haven't set the world on fire this year, the Hilltoppers haven't either. Sure they beat Kentucky, but didn't everyone else? The Cardinal beat Arizona on the road but we think they'll pull this one out. The odds say to favor a No. 9 over a No. 8, but we're going with the Farm.