Finally, Four
By Dan Patrick
We're down to the Final Four in this year's NCAA Tournament. I picked Oklahoma and Maryland to play in the title game, so my bracket is still looking good. And I still think that's the game we will get on April Fool's Day (by the way, I picked the Terps to win it all).
Juan Dixon and the Terps are part of a very powerful Final Four.
I thought Illinois would come out of the Midwest, but Kansas played up to its seeding and faces Maryland on Saturday in what will be a great game. Illinois gave the Jayhawks quite a scare on Friday. But Kansas coach Roy Williams got his team ready for Sunday, and they really dominated a good Oregon team.
Don't tell me you had Indiana winning the South. I went conservative and picked Duke. But both of the Blue Devils' weaknesses (rebounding and foul shooting) were on display against Indiana on Thursday, and now Coach K and the boys are home. That shows you how close the top 10 or 20 teams in the country are. One bad night and you lose, even if you're the No. 1 seed.
Oklahoma versus Indiana should be a good game. As I see it, the only position where Indiana has an advantage is whoever matches up with Hoosiers forward Jared Jeffries. That's an advantage the Hoosiers would have in any game. Oklahoma has Aaron McGhee inside and Hollis Price outside, and that's a powerful combination. Overall, I love the way the Sooners play. They remind me of Cincinnati, but with more firepower. They are constantly in the attack mode, putting pressure on you offensively and defensively. They'll be in the title game.
The winner of the Maryland-Kansas game could simply be the last team with the ball. I like Maryland and the way they take advantage of all that senior leadership, a rare commodity in men's college basketball these days. If the Terps can hold their own on the boards against Drew Gooden and Nick Collison, then they'll win. Lonny Baxter and Chris Wilcox certainly give them that chance.
I don't think Kansas has a real answer for Juan Dixon, either. But Maryland point guard Steve Blake needs to play better against Kansas than he did in the regional final against UConn. He hit a key 3-pointer at the end but was not a factor the previous 35 minutes. He'll need to be a more forceful presence for the whole game.
