State your case:
Florida
by Jeff Dahdah
So you think Florida is invincible? You think they are going to prance through their bracket like a lamb in a daisy field? Well I’m here to tell you otherwise.
Granted, they have the easiest bracket, and granted, they didn’t lose a game in conference. However, the SEC is not what it used to be. There are two good teams in Florida and Kentucky, a few mediocre teams and some bad ones. It’s about as impressive as going 18-0 in the American Conference.
Kentucky proved in the SEC championship game that Florida wasn’t unbeatable. They won by one point and were lucky to do so. Had it not been for a slip by a Kentucky player while driving in for the winning basket, Florida would not have hoisted that SEC trophy.
If a No. 8-seeded, inconsistent Kentucky team should have taken down everyone’s favorite Gators, why can’t Pittsburgh or Colorado? Those two teams battled it out in extremely competitive conferences all season. How about a tournament-tested VCU team or surging UCLA team? Both of them play in more competitive conferences.
Before you go hopping on the Florida bandwagon, look at the other wagons. Some of them may have better seating.
– dahdahjm@gmail.com
Twitter: @dahdahusu
Arizona
by Calvin Makelky
Arizona started the year 21-0, but their invincibility has faded ever since they lost starting forward Brandon Ashley to a season-ending injury. They have dropped two of their last four games, and their last three losses have all been against Pac-12 teams who made the NCAA Tournament, showing that they struggle against top-tier competition.
In order to beat the best teams, Arizona has to win close games. While nobody questions Arizona’s defense and physicality, they have one major flaw in free throws. In order to win these barn-burner games, they need to hit the clutch free throws down the stretch because of their slow pace. They have struggled to do so all year, ranking No. 181 in the nation in free throw percentage.
With an easy first game against Weber State, Arizona’s first real test is against either Gonzaga or Oklahoma State, both very good teams. OSU’s Marcus Smart has the ability to shut down Arizona’s best scorer in Nick Johnson, and both Gonzaga and OSU excel at creating turnovers.
Arizona has struggled to hold on the ball, recording 422 turnovers. So while Arizona has had a great season, it is hard to see them going far if you can not trust them down the stretch.
– cmakelky@gmail.com
Twitter: @makelky
Wichita
by Connor Comeau
Wichita State went undefeated during the regular season and now has chance to run the tables and win the national championship as a No. 1 seed. Going 34-0 is impressive in any conference, and the Shockers have shown they can play. The big question entering the tournament is: Who have the Shockers played?
The Shockers hail from the Missouri Valley Conference, which they dominated this year. But playing teams like Indiana State and Missouri State doesn’t help a whole lot when a team is trying to send a message. The closest the Shockers came to losing was an overtime game at Missouri State. Other than that, they haven’t played any power teams this year, which can bode bad news in the tournament.
The tournament is full of teams from power conferences, and going undefeated into the Big Dance doesn’t necessarily mean a clean path to the championship. Add to this the fact that three of last year’s Final Four teams are in the same part of the bracket as the Shockers means a tough road to get to the Final Four.
In the end, a tough bracket and a lack of games against power teams will spell doom for the Shockers.
– connor.comeau@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @ConnorSports
Virginia
by Brad Ferguson
There are three teams better than Virginia in the East bracket; Michigan State, Villanova and Iowa State. The selection committee correctly picked the three No. 1 seeds; and then they picked Virginia.
If the Cavaliers don’t lose to a team like Memphis, they will fall to a healthier, stronger team like the Spartans from Michigan State; yahoo.com sports gives Virginia a 33 percent chance of beating the No. 4 Spartans. Go figure.
As the selection committee states, they “look at a team’s full body of work.” Apparently they didn’t check the season Virginia had last year. This is the team that lost to North Carolina State 56-75 in last year’s ACC Tournament. This is the team that didn’t even make it to the Big Dance last year.
An ACC championship win is great and all, but would’ve been more impressive last year when the conference was actually stronger than the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences.
Wichita hasn’t lost a game, Arizona held the No. 1 spot in the AP for eight weeks and Florida – let’s face it – is going to cut down the net as the kings of the court. When it comes to being in the “Top Four Teams Club,” Virginia is the fat kid on your dodgeball team. We all know they’re going out fast.
– brad.ferguson76@gmail.com
Twitter: @BradFerg47