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email John Stansberry |
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AROUND THE NATION
March 19, 2010
Murray State leads a parade of distinguished 13
seeds
The 6/11 and 5/12 matchups in the NCAA Tournament
are always a breeding ground for upsets. Many an
office bracket pool has hinged on the picks made in
those games.
With that in mind, let me once again thank the
2003-04 editions of Manhattan and Pacific. You were
the 12-seeds who helped me win a whopping $47 that
season.
But with 13th seed Murray State already having
provided some drama with a last second win over 4th
seeded Vanderbilt, the 4/13 matchups COULD generate
the most surprises in this tournament.
Take the Midwest bracket for instance, where Houston
is the 13th seed and Maryland is sitting at 4.
Houston wants to run and gun and hoist up
3-pointers, having hit 10 or more in a game 13
different times this season. And with Maryland not
exactly being a deliberate team this season (they
lead the ACC in scoring), this matchup is shaping up
to be extremely accomodating for the Cougars.
For connoisseurs of great guard play this game will
be as pleasing as a box of Girl Scout Samoas.
Greivis Vasquez and Eric Haynes for Maryland
squaring off against Aubrey Coleman and Kelvin Lewis
for Houston? These four will easily total up 60
points in this one.
Shifting over to the Midwest, 14th seeded Wofford
would literally appear to be playing David to 3rd
seeded Wisconsin's Goliath.
Wofford has no starter over 6'6" while Wisconsin is
18-1 this season when outrebounding the opposition.
But look closer and you'll see this one might be
more even than it appears.
Against power conference opposition this season, the
undersized Terriers have played well. They beat
Georgia and South Carolina out of the SEC and gave
Wisconsin's Big Ten partners Illinois and Michigan
State all they could handle.
Hey, Wisconsin's trees could smother Wofford, I'll
be the first one to admit that. But Baylor's size
advantage didn't exactly send Sam Houston State
running out of the arena. Heart can take down
height.
Wofford has giant killing potential, but the 4/13
matchup that everyone has tabbed as being an upset
(even President Obama) is in the South Region, where
MAAC Champion Siena appears to be the giant killer
of choice.
Has any 4th seed ever been deemed more vulnerable
than Purdue? First they lose Robbie Hummel, then
they lose to Minnesota in the Big Ten tourney with
the worst first half performance in school history.
Now they've lost the respect of a nation.
Did the Boilermaker players and coaches even pack a
change of clothes for this trip to Spokane? But the
fading fortunes of Purdue are what make this the
most intriguing of the 4/13 games. With America
against it, wouldn't a Purdue win be the upset?
Hmmmm...
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com. Check out
John's blog
LonelyTailgater.com.
EMAIL JOHN |
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