Oregon senior forward Robert Johnson and the Ducks face Utah in the first round.
It’ll be a grand ole time in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday. Country music. Square dancing. Elvis.
And oh, a little basketball, too.
Oregon’s bracket is stacked with a defensive monster in Kentucky, a famously rotund coach in Utah’s Rick Majerus and a team with the longest name in the history of universities (probably) in Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
So without further ado, let’s try to sort through the madness.
No. 1 Kentucky
The Wildcats have the nation’s longest winning streak and a defense widely regarded as the best in college basketball. What’s not to fear?
Kentucky, ranked No. 2 in both national polls, is riding a 23-game win streak. The Wildcats (28-3, 16-0 Southeastern Conference) haven’t lost since Dec. 28 when they fell to Louisville, 81-63. Kentucky then ran the SEC table, capping the year by winning the SEC Tournament title game Saturday over Mississippi State.
Kentucky’s defensive statistics are mind-boggling. The Wildcats hold opponents to an average of 64.5 points per game and keep them shooting only 41.6 percent from the floor. The Wildcats outscore their opponents by 13.4 points per game, on average.
Kentucky, it seems, has finally responded again to Tubby Smith’s defensive system. The Wildcats won the NCAA title in 1998 but exited early in subsequent seasons.
Those in the Nashville bracket hope the Wildcats will exit early this year, too.
No. 16 IUPUI
We’ll spare the full name on second reference, but IUPUI has that funny moniker and not much chance to beat Kentucky.
IUPUI (20-13, 10-4 Mid-Continent Conference) made it to the NCAA Tournament by winning the MCC Tournament last week. The Jaguars have only been competing at the Division-I level since 1998 (that’s when IUPUI changed its mascot from the “Metros”), and went through the 2002-03 season with a 17-13 record.
IUPUI beat Valporaiso, which had won seven of the last eight MCC titles, 66-64 Wednesday. That was after Valpo beat IUPUI twice during the regular season.
No. 9 Utah
This is the team Oregon fans will be most interested in, mostly because the Utes are the Ducks’ first-round opponent.
Utah (24-7, 11-3 Mountain West Conference) is a bit of an enigma. The Utes reeled off a 10-game win streak from mid-January to mid-February, but went 3-3 in their final six games, including a loss to UNLV in the MWC Tournament semifinals Saturday.
That 64-41 loss was Utah’s worst pounding of the season. It was so bad, in fact, that Utah coach Rick Majerus didn’t care to see the end of it. With 15 seconds left, the fiery Majerus walked to the UNLV bench, shook Rebel coach Charlie Spoonhour’s hand and exited the tunnel before the final buzzer sounded.
But Utah’s season hasn’t been all ugly blowouts. The Utes moved on the bubble after their loss to UNLV but made it into the NCAA Tournament on the strength of wins over Alabama and Arizona State, and two wins over Brigham Young.
The rest
of the Midwest
The Midwest bracket isn’t as stacked as the West or other regions, but there are still potential traps waiting for anybody coming out of the Nashville sub-regional.
Pittsburgh is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest, and the Panthers are one of the hottest teams in the nation heading into March Madness. Led by point guard Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh is riding a nine-game winning streak into the tournament.
Marquette is the No. 3 seed, and despite being shocked by Alabama-Birmingham in the quarterfinals of the Conference-USA Tournament, the Golden Eagles are also hot. Marquette was 15-1 in its last 16 games before the loss to UAB.
Of course it’s hard to predict who will be hot when the tournament finally rolls around. As Elvis would say, the NCAA Tournament is a heartbreak hotel for many teams.
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