As for the rest of the Big 12 I think that Oklahoma is clearly the class of the league. Blake Griffin really impresses the shit out of me. The way he handles and passes out of double teams is just magnificent and really what helps make him so exceptional. By contrast Cole Aldrich tends to curl up in a fetal position and suck his thumb when double-teamed!! Griffin's surrounding talent ain't half bad either. Warren is just a phenomenal freshman and Johnson has a good enough shot you have to respect him. Mizzou definitely over-achieved a bit this year. I've always like Anderson and think he is finally showing what he can do with a little bit of talent. Sounds like Bama is offering him more money than Mizzou can afford to pay, I'd be shocked if he's back in Columbia next year. Regardless it was and still is a hell of year for the Tigers. I just think at the end of the day there are too many teams with more talent than them for Mizzou to be a real threat to go to the Final Four or Elite Eight, but who knows, stranger things have happened. The middle of the league is better than most give them credit for but certainly not great. Texas, Ok State, aTm, Kansas State and to a lesser degree Nebraska are all respectable teams. I personally think the Big 12 will get 6 teams in the tourney......right now that doesn't look good for KSU. The bottom of the Big 12 just freaking sucks. Iowa State, Colorado and Texas Tech are awful. Baylor has been dreadful as well the last six weeks.
In the Big 12 tourney I think Kansas will get to the final just on the basis of not having to play OU or MIzzou until then. I think Kansas handles whoever they play in their first round and shouldn't struggle too much with Texas or KSU in the semis. On the other side I think in spite of what happened in Columbia that Griffin will be too much for MIzzou, especially in OKC. Kansas plays OU and who freaking knows.......I personally think OU is the slightly better team but Kansas has seemed to develop a knack for winning this Big 12 tourney lately. Who knows.
My predictions for NCAA tourney for Big 12 teams:
Oklahoma - Final Four
Kansas - Sweet Sixteen
Missouri - Sweet Sixteen
Texas - 1st round loss
Ok State - 2nd round loss
aTm - 1st round loss
Nationally obviously Pitt, UConn and Carolina look pretty good although I think UNC still has the same problem they had last year and that is the fact they play terrible defense. Maybe it won't hurt them but it's hard to imagine them winning it all giving up points the way they do. And they do a lot of stupid things down the stretch.......like fouling with a big lead. Interesting team with a lot of talent but they definitely aren't unbeatable. And this is just me but I think Ty Lawson is the most over-rated player in college hoops today.
As of today my Sweet Sixteen would look like this (obviously there aren't any brackets, but just pretend) and these aren't rankings, just my pick of sixteen.
1) Pittsburgh
2) UConn
3) North Carolina
4) Oklahoma
5) Kansas
6) MIssouri
7) Purdue
8 ) Louisville
9) Michigan St
10) UCLA
11) Washington
12) Florida State
13) Clemson
14) Gonzaga
15) Duke
16) Memphis
Some possible sleepers for the Sweet Sixteen would includes St. Mary's, they learned to play without Mills and now he's back, this is a very good team. Arizona State, Harden and Pendergraph are nice players. ASU has been very inconsistent but they could get hot or get a good draw. BYU, Utah, New Mexico, UNLV, SDSU.......depending on who or how many get out of the MWC these are all very similar squads and could all do a little damage given the right situation.Ok State has been playing better and could possibly get there. Anyway those are a couple of semi-darkhorse picks. Nothing crazy.
That kinda sorta catches me up on the hoops season. I've been watching (and gambling
) all season just haven't been around these parts. I look forward to the tourney and will definitely be around here for the next few weeks.
