The View from the Couch - Final Four Break Down
by Gavin McDougald of BetUS - 03/30/2007
We have one more extended weekend of college B-ball bliss before returning to the harsh reality of the other sports.
For instance, it turns out that everyone in the NFL, except Peyton Manning, appears to be a criminal. Adam "Pacman" Jones, the Tennessee Titans' cornerback, has a record of the criminal variety so spectacular he should be called the "Wayne Gretzky of errant athletes." His high profile case(s) has brought to light the nearly 50 arrests in the past year involving NFL players.
I know Manning is crime free by the way because, besides winning the Super Bowl and exceeding the GDP of Guam with his endorsement deals, it turns out he's also funny. Funny guys just aren't felons. He killed on SNL Saturday night - although I found the "monster holding the rock" skit rather lame - and his shirtless physique even more so. Now, far be it from me to criticize anyone on their build considering mine is so decidedly gooshy, but all I do is sit and type all day. He's got to run up and down and stuff. All I'm saying is, shouldn't a two-time NFL MVP be at least, well, muscular looking?
Then there is the NHL, where, while we've been away focusing on squeak-squeak-swish, there's been a huge brouhaha over the fact that fighting is commonplace in that league.
Fighting! In hockey! Who knew? See what you miss because you're not paying attention?
Nope - all we've be caring about is the NCAA Basketball tournament, where I crashed and burned so bad in my bracket, a country song out to be written about it. I did manage somehow to have two of the Final Four still alive. That just goes to show you how good Georgetown and Florida truly must be! I guess I'd be crazy to pick against them now...
Florida (1) vs. UCLA (2)
The sequel - The rematch of last year's championship game where Florida semi-crushed UCLA 73-57. Considering both teams are counting on many of the same players contributing, at first glance that should be huge advantage Gators. However a year as champeens hasn't resulted in Florida looking any better than they did last year, in fact they don't look quite as good. Contrast them with the Bruins and a year of almost, but no quite grasping the orange ring, has clearly motivated them big-time.
Maybe Florida has just been bored with it all up until now. Or perhaps distracted by their coach Billy Donovan perhaps waving bye-bye to sunny FLA and flying up to the blue grasses of Kentucky. Whatever it is, does this team look like it can handle a defense that held my #1 pick Kansas to just 55 points? Point guard Darren Collins leads Florida at both ends of the court. He, along with Arron Afflalo, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (how many cutesy jokes are we gonna hear about that name over the next few days?) swarm players when they are in the paint, and rely on their speed to cover shooters beyond the 3-point line.
The thing is - that plays right into the hands of Florida's biggest strength. Their frontline is all big, athletic, and think pass first. Corey Brewer, Al Horford, and Joakim Noah should drive Florida crazy leaving Lee Humphrey and Taurean Green open to bomb away from deep.
Because the match-up favors the reigning champs: Florida 63 - UCLA 60
Georgetown (2) vs. Ohio State (1)
The battle of the big men. Two 7-foot centers in Ohio State's Greg Oden and Georgetown's Roy Hibbert are catching all the headlines; however it's the point guard play that makes each of these teams what they are. Ohio State freshman ball-handler extraordinaire Mike Conley Jr. is the straw that stirs the Buckeyes' drink and Georgetown's Jonathan Wallace and his long-range bomb threat stretches team's defense, thus far to the breaking point. But the pre-game hype around the big men is justified on one sense; whichever one of the two manages not to get into foul trouble should help their team to victory. This tournament this far the freshman Oden looks to be the most likely to be spending serious time on the bench.
Because the young guy hasn't learned to keep his nose clean: Georgetown 75 - Ohio St. 66 In the finals experience will count and Florida will become the first repeat champ since Duke did it in 1992 …and then Coach Donovan will become one of the uber-rich in Kentucky.
Will that make Florida the best team in the tournament?
Nope.
Two No. 1 seeds and two No. 2 seeds entered this year's Final Four, making it the least upset-able tournament in 14 years. That means the committee has been the most successful team by far in the tournament. All those power-ranking charts, strength-of-schedule statistics and player ratings have produced a Final Four that demonstrates that it picked the right teams and had them correctly seeded.
Impressive. I guess next year my strategy will be to rely on them getting it right again… which will result in me ripping up my bracket sheet next year as well.
It's enough to drive you… well… you know.
Cheers and good luck with your picks - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
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