College Basketball

2013 NCAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIPS PREDICTIONS

This year’s 2013 NCAA tournament will be won by either the Louisville Cardinals or the Michigan Wolverines. The game will be on Monday, April 8^th. Tipoff will be at 9:23 pm on CBS.

The final dance will be an offensive explosion along with an emotional rollercoaster. Michigan has arguably the best offense in the nation while Louisville is not far behind. Louisville has found a reason to compete in this tournament after Kevin Ware came down with that horrific injury in the Elite Eight. Win or lose Rick Pitino will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, whether it be this year or years down the road. He definitely deserves it.

Now on the Michigan side we have the Player of the Year, Trey Burke; two offspring of basketball superstars, Glenn Robinson III and Tim Hardaway Jr.; Arguably the most in-form player of the tournament, Mitch McGary; and a Canadian sharpshooter, Nik Stauskas. How can this team lose? Well their defence is lacking height and they are fairly young. However, their defence has been phenomenal allowing 61.8 points per game this tournament and the experience of their seniors and Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. has been enough to push through one of the bumpiest roads to the Championship this year.

My prediction is Michigan coming out with a close victory, 76-72. Michigan is in-form and has already been battle tested en route to this Final. Louisville is coming off a narrow victory over an underrated Wichita State and is missing a key player in Kevin Ware. Michigan is healthy, young, and lethal. A huge question a lot of Michigan fans are asking is will Trey Burke return next year? I believe that if Michigan wins a National Championship then he is definitely leaving. If not then it is really up for grabs.

Please comment below who you think will win the National Championship.

RUTGERS RANT

Rutgers University is a pretty prestigious university in the sports world. Basketball however, is not their strong point. They are a mediocre team playing in a beefed up Big East Conference. They may get into the NIT tourney every once and a while but that’s about it.

Recently Rutgers’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach, Mike Rice, has been under attack for abusing his players at practice. Rice has reportedly thrown balls at players’ heads, chests, and feet. Along with physical abuse Rice has been reported as verbally abusing players by calling them homosexual slurs and using inappropriate language.

Mike Rice Jr., son of Trailblazer’s announcer, Mike Rice, coached at Robert Morris University and in 2009 lead them to their first NCAA tournament since 1992. Rice was hired by Rutgers in 2010 and coached there for three seasons until being suspended in December 2012 and later fired April 2, 2013.

Now that you guys are up to date I have to ask a few questions. How could these 6-6, 215 pound guys put up with this abusive behaviour? How is the NCAA going to fix this problem? Many of the players on Rutgers gained Basketball Scholarships to go to college there. While you could say the players could just quit the team to avoid the abuse that is only partially true because if they quit the team then they lose their scholarship and may have to drop out or transfer colleges. When you break it down these kids were being forced to take this abuse in order to go to college. The NCAA can’t really punish the basketball program because then they would be punishing the players who just suffered the abuse.

I hope the players can overcome the Mike Rice incident and can move on and keep their careers alive.

BIG TEN REVIEW

This year the Big Ten was the dominant force of the nation. Indiana was the best team in the Big Ten although Ohio State won the tournament. (I don’t mean to brag but did I call that or did I call that?) In the NCAA Tournament Indiana is a one seed, Ohio State is a two seed, Michigan State is a three seed, Michigan is a four seed, and Wisconsin is a five seed. There is no doubt that the Big Ten has great potential for this year’s tournament.

However well any team has done in the regular season, it doesn’t matter! This is what matters, the NCAA Tournament.

The fact that the Big East is better represented than the Big Ten is very surprising. I definitely think a Big Ten team will come up with the NCAA Title this year.

In my regular season review I will essentially create a regular season power ranking for the top 5 teams in the Big Ten.

BIG TEN  POWER RANKING:

5. Illinois

Illinois gets the fifth spot over Wisconsin only because they did better with a worse roster. No offense to Illinois but they don’t have a really stand out lineup. Wisconsin have names like: Brust, Evans, Bruesewitz, and Jackson while Illinois only have Brandon Paul. Along with the roster Illinois have had some very impressive wins against: Butler, Gonzaga, Indiana, Ohio State, and Minnesota. I predict Illinois to make it to the round of 32 losing to Miami (FL).

4. Michigan

I would have put Michigan up higher but they lost 3 of their final six games. Michigan lack major components on defense however are a lethal weapon on offense. Michigan currently has a modern Fab Five now being called the Freshmen Five, referring to their five impressive freshmen in: LeVert, McGary, Robinson III, Stauskas, and Albrecht. I believe that if  Hardaway Jr. and Burke return next year Michigan will be extremely good. I have Michigan going the the Sweet 16 losing to Kansas.

3. Michigan State

Michigan State have been somewhat disappointing this year finishing third in the Big Ten. However Michigan State are still successful and were able to make a late season surge and climb in the rankings and secure a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State lacked skill in the Guards department however making up for it in the impressive mobility of Forwards Nix and Payne. I have Michigan State upsetting Duke in the Sweet 16 but then losing to Louisville in the Elite 8.

2. Ohio State

Ohio State stunned the Big Ten community by winning the Big Ten Tournament and clinching a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. Aaron Craft in my mind has earned Big Ten Player of the Year Award with an impressive 66 steals this season. Ohio State have proven themselves worthy this year with impressive wins consisting of: Michigan, Indiana, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. I have Ohio State losing to Louisville in the Final Four. However I know many people have them winning the entire tournament.

1. Indiana

Indiana obviously ranks best in the Big Ten even though they fell to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana are such an offensive threat that they really don’t even have to play defensive. Although though they don’t need defense they still have a pretty good one with the dynamic and always dangerous Victor Oladipo. Indiana also have two players in Player of the Year contention with Zeller and Oladipo putting up amazing numbers. I have Indiana defeating louisville in the National Championship.

If you have any input to my selections feel free to post in the comments below. Or even share your bracket selections with us.

THE WOLVERINES COME UP SHORT

The Michigan Wolverines have played 3 tough games this season and have only come out 1-2 from those games. Is Michigan overrated? Will the dynamic duo of Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. live up to the expectations?

NO, Michigan needs a big man. Because when you are down by one with ten seconds remaining you don’t want to kick it out and go for a three, you want to pass it to a 7-foot big man and get an easy layup.

Michigan is an elite big 10 team however once they face Duke or Syracuse or Louisville they are going to break. Just last year Michigan played Virginia and lost. Virginia wasn’t ranked and had lost to TCU. The main problem with Michigan is their lack of size. This isn’t a problem in the Big 10 because no other teams have size. Why is Indiana’s Cody Zeller so good? Because he is 7-foot while Michigan’s tallest players are 6-10. In the 2011-2012 season Virginia’s tallest player was also 7-foot and Michigan’s remained a puny 6-10. Michigan’s very weakness is their lack of height.

The ACC is one of few conferences that still thrive off the common 7-foot center. When one team has a 7-1 player like NC State and say they play Big 10 Penn State whose tallest player is 6-11 it is very hard to defend a big man when you don’t have a big man. That is why NC State killed Penn State 72-55.

The key to the Big 10 is height. If Michigan want to do what the Fab Five never could, and win a National Championship they need to sign a 7-foot big man and integrate him into Belien’s master plan.

Finally, if you look at the rosters of the past 5 national champions you will notice every single one has a player that is 6-11 or taller. Because Michigan doesn’t have any tall enough I don’t think they will win a National Championship for the next 2 years.

BEST IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL?

College Basketball has been greatly talked about recently. All the drama coming with the constant change in top teams. But through the cloud of drama who is the best basketball player of the year?Many names come up when you talk about the Wooden Award like Burke, McDermott, and Zeller. But who is truly the best in the nation?

Michael Carter-Williams is the best player in the nation. He is a sophomore guard for the University of Syracuse and leads the nation in assists and is fourth in the nation in steals. Carter-William’s success in these two categories shows his well roundedness. He excels both on defence and offense. His performance hasn’t gone unnoticed, the Orange are ranked 9^th in the nation and prime contenders in the NCAA tournament.

Even if Carter-Williams doesn’t win the wooden award this year I strongly believe that he could in some of the following years. I can see him prospering into a very strong young NBA star.

Carter-Williams is the heart and soul of the Syracuse basketball team and will most likely lead them far through the NCAA tournament.

BEST IN THE BIG TEN?

Who is the best team in the Big 10 this year? This year the Big 10 is without a doubt the best conference in the nation, but who is the best of the best? Teams like Indiana and Michigan are obvious contenders however, Wisconsin has beaten both of them.

The current technical best in the Big 10 is now Michigan State, however they have four losses this season. I look forward to this year’s Big 10 Tournament because of all the possible upsets. Many favor Indiana although they have lost to Illinois and Wisconsin.

My personal opinion for the best in the Big 10 is Ohio State. The reason I have selected them is because they have only lost to quality teams this year such as Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Kansas, and Duke. Also Ohio State have defeated both Michigan and Wisconsin this year.

All the other Big 10 teams have lost to unworthy opponents: Indiana to Illinois and Wisconsin; Michigan to Wisconsin; Michigan State to Miami and Minnesota; Wisconsin to UVA and Iowa.

Ohio State being the only team that hasn’t lost to a pathetic team proves their abilities and rank in the Big 10 conference this year.

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