JK’s Heart/Hate for Championship Week

I thought since there's a little bit of a lull in the action tonight I'd take some time to discuss some of the teams I like and dislike going into the conference championship week.

 

Teams I Heart:

1. VCU - I heart Eric Maynor. He's a smooth point guard. He's got a killer floater. He can bomb from deep or take it to the rack. He runs the team and can control the pace. But most of all, he torched Duke two years ago. He's the type of player that can take his team to the Sweet 16, and he has enough of a team around him to do just that.
   

   
    

2. North Carolina - This is the most talented and deep team in college basketball this year. It seems fairly reminiscent of the 2004-2005 squad that won it all, Lawson = Felton, Hansbrough = May, Green = Jawad, Ellington = McCants, Frazier = that white dude that shot threes (researched: Wes Miller). Maybe the comparison is a stretch but I like the Heels to win it all.
   

   
    

3. Boston College - Ty Rice is my boy (There's a theme here I think). With Ugly Dudley and Bad Tat Dude gone I can begin to embrace the Eagles. Rice has a tendency to show up in the big game and in a big way. They won't go to the Final Four but they can make an upset or two before they bow out.
   

   
    

4. Ohio State - My bro-mance of Big Ten guards (Eric Gordon, Devin Harris, etc.) continues with Evan Turner. He does it all for the Bucks (17, 7, 4). If Turner and Muellens are on and Diebler can hit some shots from outside, THE Ohio State has a team that could make a run.
   

   
    

5. Siena- I was all on the Siena bandwagon after they handed it to UNI in the first half of the bracketbuster game. I like Kenny Hasbrouck, who's an athletic scorer. I don't believe in their inside game, but if they can draw the perfect team, they can score an upset. They played Kansas and Oklahoma State both tough, although they got rolled by Tennessee and Pittsburgh.
   

 

Teams I Hate:

1. Utah- I don't understand how this team has an RPI of 10 considering they've lost to Southwest Baptist and Idaho State. They split the regular season with BYU, UNLV, New Mexico, and San Diego State. I've watched a few games on The Mountain and the Mountain West is a pretty good conference, the only problem is that I can't tell the difference between Utah, UNLV, New Mexico, or San Diego State. Utah isn't any more special than the other red-ish teams from the MWC.
   

   
    

2. Memphis - Memphis is 1-2 against the RPI top 25. According to my latest bracket update, of the top 16 teams only Washington (0-1) has the same or fewer wins against the RPI top 25. When they stepped out of conference they beat 2 tournament teams (Tennessee and Gonzaga), lost to 2 tournament teams (Xavier and Syracuse), and lost Georgetown. This is a good team, just not a great one.
   

   
    

3. Butler - The Mid-Major formula is simple: get a bunch of seniors and juniors that know the system and how to play with each other, get them to work hard, play defense, and shoot from the outside. Butler is missing that first part. They have no seniors and start 3 freshmen. They have one nice win over Xavier, but outside of that their résumé isn't very impressive.
   

   
    

4. Oklahoma - I think people have figured out how to slow Blake Griffin and thus slow Oklahoma. The Sooners do have other parts, but they aren't going far without Griffin. They've skidded down the stretch and had trouble with the better teams. I think the Sweet 16 is the ending spot for the Sooners unless the matchup is just right.
   

   
    

5. The SEC- I'm not usually one for giant overgeneralizations, but everything about the SEC outside of Jodie Meeks sucks.
   

   
    

6. The Pac 10- The Pac 10 has frustrated me every day I try to seed teams. They are just so average. I have the urge to almost have my 8 line be Washington, UCLA, Arizona State, and California. Washington seems to be good but I don't know how impressive it really is to beat up on the rest of the Pac 10. UCLA should be good but they don't show up all the time. Hell, Washington State went on a small run where they beat everyone it seemed. And, remember when Arizona being Arizona meant they where competing for national championships every year. Now Arizona being Arizona means they are fighting to be the last team into the tournament.