Remember when there was a buzz around campus the week that the
Florida men came to Starkville? Remember when the Lady Bulldogs
took down Vandy and LaToya eclipsed 2,500 points?
I remember it like it was yesterday.
Truth is, it was almost two months ago. Now we’re staring down
championship week in both men’s and women’s college basketball.
Since this is the last issue until March 21, consider this The
Reflector’s look into March Madness 2003.
Let’s begin with the women. By beating Auburn Sunday, the Lady
Bulldogs finished the regular season with a sparkling record of
22-6, 10-4 and will not have to play in the SEC Tournament until
Friday’s quarterfinals. So now the question becomes “Where will the
Lady Dawgs be seeded in the Dance?” Well, having an RPI of 10, and
assuming they win at least one game in Little Rock, Ark., MSU could
be looking at a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. At the worst,
look for the Lady Dawgs to be sporting the No. 3. As for location,
well, this is where it gets tricky.
Remember last season when the men’s basketball team earned a No.
3 seed only to be sent to Dallas to play No. 6 Texas in front of
19,000 Longhorn fans? Well, according to some bracket experts, it
may happen to our Lady Dawgs.
To create some semblance of parity in the women’s game and to
increase cash flow, the NCAA decided to pre-determine subregional
(first and second rounds) and regional (third and fourth rounds)
sites, rather than awarding the sites on Selection Sunday as they
have in the past.
According to collegerpi.com’s bracket projection, State will own
the No. 2 seed, but they will have to travel to Albuquerque, N.M.,
where they could possibly play … yeah, you guessed it–New
Mexico, the No. 10 seed. UNM is not ranked in either poll, and yet
they get to host … interesting.
State isn’t the only team who could get shafted. LSU, who is
also predicted as a No. 2 seed, is projected to be placed in the
Norman, Okla., region, where they could face Oklahoma. Although the
Sooners have been struggling this year coming off of a national
finals appearance last season, they are still a tough team to beat,
especially when they’re able to pack an 11,000 seat arena.
Advantage: Oklahoma.
Granted, these projections are early and could be WAY off come
Selection Sunday, but they do strike me as interesting.
As for the Final Four in Atlanta, I think it’s safe to say that
Connecticut will make a trip to the Georgia Dome, but outside of
the Lady Huskies (who have now won 67 straight games), it’s going
to be a complete toss-up between teams like Tennessee, Kansas
State, Duke, Texas Tech, LSU and yes, Mississippi State.
On the men’s side, well, as always, it’s going to be another
interesting year. There really isn’t a clear-cut favorite in the
SEC Tournament or in the NCAA Tournament for that matter. Most
would argue that Arizona is in control, but when it comes time for
March, is anyone really ever “in control”?
Despite the disappointing loss Saturday, it’s pretty much a
forgone conclusion that the Bulldogs are going to hang another SEC
Western Division championship banner from the rafters of The Hump,
as will Kentucky for the SEC East. When you go to New Orleans for
the SEC Tournament, things become much harder to predict.
Mississippi State has the toughest road to defending their SEC
crown, while Kentucky has a much easier path. Assuming the
standings hold where they are now, the Bulldogs, based on having
the top seed win each game, will have to play Tennessee, Florida
and Kentucky in that order. Kentucky will have to deal with LSU,
Auburn and Mississippi State. Advantage: UK. Upsets happen, though.
Ask South Carolina fans. No one expected them to make it to the
semis last year, and yet, there they were one win away from a SEC
title shot. So while things may look clear, they’re really not.
Nationally, it’s wide open, as it is almost every year. Anyone
could go to New Orleans for the Final Four, and I do mean anyone.
Of course, you could mention teams such as Arizona, Kentucky,
Oklahoma and Florida, but it’s the teams that don’t get No. 1 seeds
and who are least expected to do damage that I think could make the
most noise.
Case in point: Wisconsin. Yeah, I said it–WISCONSIN. What most
of you don’t remember is that the Badgers went to the Final Four in
2000 and they were long shots then. But if anything can assure you
of NCAA success, it’s defense. Wisconsin can play some D, just like
they did three years ago.
Here’s another thing I bet you didn’t know: UW is 21-6, 11-4
this year and if there is such thing as “quality losses,” the
Badgers have them. Their six losses are at Wake Forest, Marquette,
Michigan, Illinois and Purdue. Their other road loss came at Penn
State. You might say that they can’t win on the road, but hey, it’s
been proven lately that NO ONE can really win on the road
anymore.
It’s teams like Wisconsin that give people fits in the Big
Dance. If you play good defense, you make yourself tough to beat in
March.
By the way, CBS basketball analyst Clark Kellogg pointed out
Mississippi State as a team you wouldn’t like to see in your
bracket this year. Why? Defense.
While it is way too early to be spitting out predictions like
this, I figured making Final Four picks this early makes for
interesting water cooler discussions. So here you go:
Men: Arizona, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and Mississippi State.
Women: Connecticut, Texas Tech, Duke and you guessed it,
Mississippi State.
See you in New Orleans (or Atlanta)!
Thomas vs. Taurasi
While people down here in the South can make a pretty strong
case as to why they think LaToya Thomas should win the Wade Trophy
as the women’s national player of the year, it may not even be
heard.
UConn’s Diana Taurasi is picked by just about everyone to take
the honor. Why? Because she wears a uniform that bears the name
“Connecticut.”
Thomas ranks third in the country with 25.6 points per game.
Taurasi isn’t in the top 50. In fact, Tan White is in the top 50
ahead of Taurasi with 18.1 a contest.
Granted, Taurasi and UConn have won 67 straight games (28 this
season), but Thomas and MSU haven’t done too shabby themselves,
racking up 22 wins this season against some pretty stiff
competition.
This may just be a case of east coast bias running the show
again, but if the voters had any sense whatsoever, they would take
a look toward Starkville and find out that the best player in the
country wears Maroon and White.