OSU: Bracket Breakdown
By John Helsley
The O-Club erupted as soon as Oklahoma State entered the bracket, with a bonus of being a No. 7 seed.
And it didn’t take long into the Selection Sunday program for the Cowboys to rejoice. Indeed, a good day for the Pokes, who have returned normalcy to the program with back-to-back tournament bids.
After breathing and taking the bracket in, however, this much is clear: the Cowboys have much work to do in order to surpass last year’s accomplishment — winning a first-round game.
The Midwest Regional is a monster.
You’d think with No. 1 overall seed Kansas in the region, there’d be some soft spots in the 16-team quadrant. Not so.
And the Cowboys certainly didn’t find any favors, drawing Georgia Tech in their opener with Big Ten champ Ohio State waiting in Round 2. That’s two hot squads staring down OSU in Milwaukee.
The Yellow Jackets could be a bracket sleeper after surging to the ACC Tournament finals, where they gave Duke — another No. 1 seed — all it wanted. Tech, a team with Final Four and NBA talent, likely underachieved during the regular season, but may have found itself just in time.
The Cowboys have one major chip on their side, James Anderson, and his impact should never be underestimated, especially now that he’s outside the suffocating familiarity of the Big 12.
But the Jackets have superb freshman Derrick Favors in the middle of a strong frontline and even more talent surrounding him, including Gani Lawal, who along with Favors projects as a first round NBA draft pick. It’s been mostly untapped talent at Tech, until last weekend.
A matchups of OSUs in the second round would deliver star power: Anderson against the Buckeyes Evan Turner, one of the premier individual pairings in the tournament, with two of the Sporting News’ five first-team All-Americans going head-to-head.
An OSU’s matchup also pairs like lineups, with the Buckeyes also sending out a four-guard starting five. The theme of that game would be simple: who’s hotter?
The rest of the regional? Kansas and Georgetown and Maryland and Michigan State and Tennessee…
The Midwest Regional is a monster.
But then, the Cowboys help make it that way.
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Georgia Tech got past Maryland and had to play the 11 seed (NC State) to get to the final against Duke. I don’t give them much for that. I think Duke is overrated as well.
They turn the ball over more times a game than they shoot it. The interior is very, very good but I believe Coach Ford will do everything to keep the ball out of the paint and pressure the turnover prone guards.