Sweet 16: No domefield advantage in Houston
I’ve given my first- and second-round picks. Time to move on to the Sweet 16.
MIDWEST REGIONAL
Kansas over Michigan State: Not an easy assignment. Not easy at all. St. Louis is easy to reach for KU fans, but Michigan State fans will show up, too. Watch out Jayhawks.
Georgetown over Ohio State: Thad Matta looks like an insurance vice president, but I guess he’s not a half-bad coach. This would be a very good gmae.
Kansas over Georgetown: If the Jayhawks get here, I think they could win easily. Georgetown’s got some rough seas to reach this port. So does KU.
WEST REGIONAL
Syracuse over UTEP: Man, I’d like to see Texas-El Paso win. I think the Miners could do it. But I doubt it.
Pittsburgh over Kansas State: I don’t know why I like Pitt. No DeJuan Blair. No Sam Young. No Levance Fields. But the Panthers are tough. You’ve got to give them that.
West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler, right, shoots over Notre Dame's Tyrone Nash during the first half of a semifinal round NCAA college basketball game at the Big East Conference Championships Friday, March 12, 2010 in New York. Butler scored 24 points as West Virginia won the game 53-51. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Pitt over Syracuse: Panthers haven’t made a Final Four since 1941, when it was a final four.
EAST REGIONAL
Temple over Kentucky: I don’t believe a freshman-dominated team can excel in the NCAA Tournament. This isn’t 1992, when the Fab Five did it. For all the scandal involving Michigan’s great class 18 years ago, those Wolverines knew how to play. Knew how to play and were great players. Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard were excellent NBA players. Maybe these UK guys are, too, but I’m not sure the current summer circuit creates high enough basketball IQ for a team to survive March playing primarily freshmen.
West Virginia over Marquette: Think about this. In a span of a year or two, Michigan swiped both of West Virginia’s marquee coaches, Rich Rodriguez (football) and John Beilein (basketball). The Mountaineers settled for Bill Stewart in football and brought home Bob Huggins for hoops. Rich-Rod has been a disaster at Michigan, while Beilein has done OK, getting the Wolverines to the NCAA’s second round a year ago. Stewart has done OK, nothing special, while Huggins has West Virginia basketball riding high. So here’s the question for Mountaineer fans. Are you happy with Michigan’s pilfering? Would you go back? You can’t split it up. You can’t say keep Rodriguez and add Huggins. It’s all or nothing. I think West Virginia fans would say they’re happy as it is.
West Virginia over Temple: Trivia question. Of Philadelphia’s Big Five (Villanova, Saint Joseph’s, LaSalle, Temple and Penn), which has gone the longest without making the Final Four. The answer is LaSalle (1955), but it’s close. Temple hasn’t been since 1958. John Chaney never made it.
WEST REGIONAL
Villanova over Baylor: I know Scott Drew is disliked because of recruiting practices and not well-respected because his teams sometimes play haphazard. But isn’t it about time he got some credit. Baylor is a 3-seed. Baylor. Isn’t that amazing?
California over Texas A&M: I know. I know. Both Baylor and A&M would be playing in Houston’s Reliant Stadium and would theoritically have a huge homecourt advantage. But I’m not big on homedome advantage. Syracuse in Albany? Duke in Charlotte? Kansas in Kansas City? OK. But not in domes. I checked. In the last 20 years, using the Sweet 16 and beyond, we’ve had seven games with a virtual home team playing in a dome. The “home” team is 4-3. Last year in the Final Four, Michigan State beat Connecticut and lost to North Carolina at Ford Field. In 2007 at the Alamodome, Memphis beat Texas A&M. In the 2005 Final Four in St. Louis, Illinois (which might or might not qualify as a home team) beat Louisville but lost to North Carolina. In 2003 at San Antonio, Texas beat both UConn and Michigan State. In those seven games, the higher-seeded team went 5-2 (counting North Carolina as a higher seed over Illinois in the ’05 national title game). I don’t know what it all means. But I’m not getting excited about Baylor and A&M, just because they’re playing in Houston.
Villanova over California: I don’t know why I like Cal, and it’s about to stop this nonsense.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Berry, I filled out my bracket yesterday and I completely agree with you on one thing: Kentucky is NOT going to the final four. I think they are too stupid and have gone seriously untested in the super weak SEC.
Having said that, i must tell you that I don’t think Cal has a snowball’s chance in a blazing inferno