Sportsfrog.com

(Many thanks to basketball fiend UNC Boy for the East)

By far, the toughest bracket of the four playing this season features two Big East stalwarts, two ACC finalists, a physical Big XII, a heavily-guarded Big XII, and a Pac-10 team traveling coast-to-coast for the entire tournament to the Final Four. With the exception of one upset in the opening round, this top five can easily make a statement to reach the Elite Eight. In the end, I am presuming Pitt will hold serve and advance to their first Elite Eight since 1974 and their first Final Four since 1941.

Dayton POD:
Pittsburgh vs East Tennessee State
The Panthers are coming off a horrific one-and-done in the Big East Tournament that basically cost them the overall #1 seed to Louisville. With an extra couple of days off, Pitt will be revamped and recharged and be focused on getting out of the East and into the Final Four. DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Lavance Fields, and Jermaine Dixon are the huge suppliers for the 28-4 Panthers, who are taking on East Tennessee State at 23-10 and in for the first time since 2004. Head coach Murray Bartow, who is the son of former UAB coach Gene Bartow, has taken the Bucs to the tournament for the second time in his six years at Johnson City. ETSU knocked off Jacksonville in the Atlantic Sun finals to earn the automatic berth. Senior leadership is provided by their guard Courtney Pigram, along with post player Kevin Tiggs, who scored 21 points against the Dolphins nearly two weeks ago. ETSU has a pretty solid bench, but as a whole, the team cannot compete against the Panthers’ size and quickness. Pitt will win this game by at least 16.

Oklahoma State vs Tennessee
The Cowboys are back in the field for the first time since 2005. Travis Ford has taken over a program that had been in disarray prior to and since the departure of legendary coach Eddie Sutton. OSU reached the semifinals of the Big XII tournament to help their cause of a higher seeding, not to mention an RPI of 18 to boot. The Cowboys are led by their sophomore shooting guard James Anderson and his backcourt mates Byron Eaton and Obi Muonelo. Meanwhile, Tennessee is also coming off a disappointing loss in the SEC Championship to Mississippi State. A team that is much taller in size than Oklahoma State, Tennessee is led by Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism up front, along with J. P. Prince at the point and Scotty Hopson at the two. Bruce Pearl has taken the Volunteers to the Dance each of the last four years now, not getting out of the Sweet 16 in the last two years. They are 3-0 under him in the opening round. While the Vols can be physical underneath, I believe the quickness of OSU will be the key. I expect OSU to win by six.

Boise POD:
Florida State vs Wisconsin
Leonard Hamilton has done a great job putting FSU back on the map. The Seminoles are in the tournament for the first time since 1998. Led by senior guard Toney Douglas at 21.3 ppg, he is the Noles player to average in double figures. Florida State also gets production from Solomon Alabi, Uche Echefu, and Chris Singleton, each averaging over five rebounds a game and a persistent point guard in Derwin Kitchen. Florida State made a huge statement getting as far as the ACC Championship before losing to Duke. However, their momentum is likely to continue to carry against Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers, who are making an unbelievable eleventh straight appearance, losing to Cinderella Davidson last year in the Sweet Sixteen. The Badgers are led by their senior forward Marcus Landry and junior guard Trevon Hughes. Wisconsin made the field as one of the last few teams in, having struggled midway through the Big Ten season before climbing back to a respectable top four finish in the conference. Bo Ryan is 6-1 in the opening round as Wisconsin’s head coach. The Big Ten have not been known to score much and against the tricky Florida State defense, this could loom danger for the boys from Madison. Florida State will score in the 70’s and will win by at least 13.

Xavier vs Portland State
Xavier is looking to recapture their Elite Eight run of a season ago. Sean Miller has taken the Musketeers in the tournament for the fourth consecutive season and is 2-1 in the previous three. Throughout the senior leadership of B. J. Raymond and C. J. Anderson, this duo, along with junior forward Derrick Brown are the catalysts of a spread offense that averages 72.5 per game. The 25-7 Xavier team will play two-time defending Big Sky champions Portland State, who is led by probably the coolest name of any head coach, Ken Bone. The Vikings are 23-9 and has their best win of the season on the road against a top-10 Gonzaga team. Their strength is mostly coming from the guard position. Jeremiah Dominguez may be 5’6”, but he is the team’s leading scorer at nearly 13 ppg. His backcourt mate DominicWaters tallies 11.5 for the team, while their third guard Andre Murray contributes with 11 ppg. Their front line is led by sophomore Phil Nelson, who averages 11.2 ppg and Julius Thomas and Jamie Jones, both collecting over five rebounds a contest. This game has the tendency to be entertaining, but the Xavier squad should come out on top in this one by about eight points.

Philadelphia POD:
UCLA vs VCU
UCLA has been to the Final Four the last three years. To get in for a fourth straight year, they will have to play nearly 3,000 miles away from home for the next two weekends, starting with the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth. UCLA has fire power from Darren Collison and Josh Shipp, who averages about 14.5 each, and a strong rebounding force from Alfred Aboya, 6.2 per game. Collison also contributes by dishing out nearly five assists per game. VCU is back in the field for the second time in the last three seasons. Head coach Brian Grant, who is a possible consideration for the Virginia job, has his work cut out in hopes to replicate their first round upset over Duke in their last appearance. The Rams are led by 6’3” senior guard Eric Maynor (22.4 ppg) and 6’10” post player Larry Sanders (11.3). Sanders also led the Colonial Athletic Association champions with 8.5 rebounds per game. UCLA on paper could win this game. But with the fans coming from Richmond, about three hours away, VCU will not be holding any reserves for the Bruins. This could be the only upset in the first round. VCU wins by four.

Villanova vs American
The Wildcats will be making a very long 15-minute drive from West Philly for this one. Jay Wright has his team back in the tournament after a Sweet 16 appearance as a 12-seed last year. Villanova is led by junior guard Scottie Reynolds and senior forward Dante Cunningham. The Wildcats also have a killer inside game that can put out any team that tries to play into their style. The Eagles of American are back in for the second-consecutive year and they bring back a more experienced squad with seven seniors on the team. Led by Garrison Carr and Brian Gilmore, the Eagles won the Patriot League with a record of 24-7. American’s experience could beat any other team, but not Villanova, part of the beasts of the Big East. There should be a well-enthused home crowd that will be a major factor in this game, despite American making the two-hour bus ride from D. C. Villanova by 11.

Greensboro POD:
Texas vs Minnesota
Texas was expecting to be better than their 22-11 record of this season. Although A. J. Abrams returned for his senior year as well as his core of Dexter Pittman and Connor Atchley, the Longhorns have struggled mostly with their inside game, despite 9.2 rpg from Damion James. Abrams’ leadership will be a huge key against the Gophers, back in the Dance for the first time since 2005. Minnesota is led by junior guard Lawrence Westbrook and freshman center Ralph Sampson III, son of three-time AP all-American Ralph Sampson out of Virginia. Tubby Smith sweated over the final couple of weeks after their seventh-place tie in the Big Ten. Texas will win basically due to their inside and if it’s consistent enough, they will win the battle of the boards and lead to a huge win. Texas by 7. One other piece of note – this game also marks a homecoming for both coaches. Texas coach Rick Barnes is a native of Hickory and also coached games in Greensboro when he was the leader at Clemson, while Tubby Smith played at High Point University, just down the road from Greensboro.

Duke vs Binghamton
The ACC Tournament Champions will have momentum and the crowd in their favor with a good group of fans coming from nearly an hour from Durham. Mike Krzyzewski has never lost an NCAA Tournament game in Greensboro (6-0 lifetime) and is bound to be 7-0 after Thursday night. Senior guard Gerald Henderson has proven to be a better guard by showing his inside abilities. Also, with Kyle Singler playing an all-around floor player, Duke will advance to the second round over the Bearcats. Binghamton is making its first-ever appearance in the tourney after winning the America East Tournament. Head coach Kevin Broadus takes his team to the Dance in just his second year, after they finished the season before tied for fourth in the conference and held a 14-16 record. Binghamton has five players averaging in double figures, including their star forward D. J. Rivera, who puts up an even 20 on the floor and averages 6.5 boards. Reggie Fuller also helps out on the rebounding with 7.1 per game to lead the team. Their triple-threat guard play will match up well against Henderson and Jon Scheyer, as well as Singler when he can find one from the open range. This should be an exciting contest. Binghamton will keep it close for the first 25 minutes; but Duke will pull away with their experience and come out with a 16-point win.

For the second round, I expect Pitt to advance over Oklahoma State, Florida State to knock off Xavier, Villanova and their home cooking to eliminate VCU, and Duke getting a scare from Texas before advancing to the Sweet 16.