Who are your Sweet 16 teams at this moment?

[Senser81]

Field hasn't been determined and brackets haven't been set...but who do you think you'll be picking for the Sweet 16 (in general)? Who are your 1st weekend upsets?

Here are some of my Sweet 16 teams...

St Louis - have been impressed by them, sleepah pick

VCU - would not pick against them

Duke - two scorers = too much

Kansas (?) - I always pick them wrong. When I think they are good, they lose in the 1st round. When I pick against them, they go far.

Indiana - I see them losing in the Sweet 16, but I like Crean as a coach.

Michigan - Similar to Indiana. Not a great team, but Beilein is a good coach.

Louisville - I think they are the strongest Big East team.

G-town - could be an early casualty

Marquette - underrated

Ohio State - I think they will peak in the NCAAs

Michigan St - same as Ohio State

Florida (?) - an SEC team has to make it, right?

UCLA (?) - a PAC10 team has to make it, right?

Miami,FL - I think they are Final Four material


Upsets:

Gonzaga - just don't think they are a strong 1 seed

Pitt - Lundardi has them as a 5-seed...perfect for the typical 12-seed upset

New Mexico - overrated coach, overrated team

UNC - how are they even in?

Syracuse - offensively challenged, could be a 1st round upset

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Indiana, Michigan, and Miami (in that order) are the best teams i've seen this year. Of the three, I think Miami is the most likely to lose early. I don't see Indiana or Michigan getting knocked off in the early rounds, and think they are locks for the Sweet 16.

The rest? Who knows. The top 5 Big East teams (Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse, Pitt) all play incredible defense...and all 5 have serious trouble scoring. Chicken or egg? Otto Porter is the only big time elite player on any of those teams. Syracuse looks terrible, Pitt can't shoot, Louisville gets shaky gaurd play (which is scary in the tournament) because Peyton Siva stinks this year, Marquette plays ugly, and Georgetown goes through brutal stretches where only Porter can score.

I have no read on Gonzaga. Their league is better than people think (BYU & St Mary's, who they beat three times, are very good), but I still don't know what to make of them.

It will be hard to pick against Duke & Kansas in the early rounds. I'd call them locks for the Sweet 16.

So I have four locks - Indiana, Michigan, Duke, Kansas. That's all i'm comfortable with. Crazy season.

 

[NAHSTE]

Peyton Siva has to be like 29 years old at this point, no?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Peyton Siva has to be like 29 years old at this point, no?

Definitely one of those guys who never seems to graduate. Seems like he was tossing lobs to Pervis Ellison in 1984.

 

[Pitty]

Indiana, Michigan, and Miami (in that order) are the best teams i've seen this year. Of the three, I think Miami is the most likely to lose early. I don't see Indiana or Michigan getting knocked off in the early rounds, and think they are locks for the Sweet 16.

The rest? Who knows. The top 5 Big East teams (Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse, Pitt) all play incredible defense...and all 5 have serious trouble scoring. Chicken or egg? Otto Porter is the only big time elite player on any of those teams. Syracuse looks terrible, Pitt can't shoot, Louisville gets shaky gaurd play (which is scary in the tournament) because Peyton Siva stinks this year, Marquette plays ugly, and Georgetown goes through brutal stretches where only Porter can score.

I have no read on Gonzaga. Their league is better than people think (BYU & St Mary's, who they beat three times, are very good), but I still don't know what to make of them.

It will be hard to pick against Duke & Kansas in the early rounds. I'd call them locks for the Sweet 16.

So I have four locks - Indiana, Michigan, Duke, Kansas. That's all i'm comfortable with. Crazy season.

Top 10 in offensive efficiency, 1st in the BE in field goal %.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Top 10 in offensive efficiency, 1st in the BE in field goal %.

I don't care about layups. Can't throw it in the ocean from the outside. Not a single range shooter who scares you, not a single 3 point shooter over 40%. Bottom quarter of the league in three pointers made, ahead of the likes of DePaul. Pitt isn't beating anybody from the outside, it's not what they do. Only Marquette poses less of a threat from the outside. Marquette is like a poor man's Pitt, I have no idea how they've put up such an impressive record with such shooting ineptitude, but that's really the story with all of these teams.

 

[Pitty]

I don't care about layups. Can't throw it in the ocean from the outside. Not a single range shooter who scares you, not a single 3 point shooter over 40%. Bottom quarter of the league in three pointers made, ahead of the likes of DePaul. Pitt isn't beating anybody from the outside, it's not what they do. Only Marquette poses less of a threat from the outside. Marquette is like a poor man's Pitt, I have no idea how they've put up such an impressive record with such shooting ineptitude, but that's really the story with all of these teams.

I'm not saying that Pitt has a great chance to make the Sweet 16 this year, in fact I'd say they are more likely to bow out in the second round, but to say they can't shoot is a laughable and poorly researched statement. They don't have a single guy who shoots over 40% from long range, this is true, but they do have 5 players shooting between 35-40% who attempt two or more 3 point field goals a game. So answer this for me, would you rather have one shooter around 41% from deep who is a liability on defense because of his tired and worn out legs, or would you have 4 players shooting around 36% who can be interchanged throughout the game and kept fresh? Also, I like how you conveniently decided to leave out the fact that Pitt is third in the BE in 3PT% when mentioning that they "couldn't throw it in an ocean".

I know your Pitt hate runs deep, but at least look at the team's statistics before making asinine statements. They are in the bottom quarter of made field goals and three point field goals solely due to the fact they have one of the slowest tempos in all of college basketball, currently sitting at 338th in the country. If you want to criticize the slow tempo of their play, fine, that's understandable as tournament play is much more frantic than the regular season, but because they make 7 less threes per game than Creighton means jack shit.

 

[Senser81]

I know your Pitt hate runs deep, but at least look at the team's statistics before making asinine statements. They are in the bottom quarter of made field goals and three point field goals solely due to the fact they have one of the slowest tempos in all of college basketball, currently sitting at 338th in the country. If you want to criticize the slow tempo of their play, fine, that's understandable as tournament play is much more frantic than the regular season, but because they make 7 less threes per game than Creighton means jack shit.

I would assume that, on the face of it, it means that Creighton is starting the game with 21 more points than Pitt. Pitt is also a terrible free throw shooting team.

 

[Pitty]

I would assume that, on the face of it, it means that Creighton is starting the game with 21 more points than Pitt. Pitt is also a terrible free throw shooting team.

At least you said something that is actually true, despite the first half of that statement making 0 sense.

 

[Senser81]

At least you said something that is actually true, despite the first half of that statement making 0 sense.

7 X 3 = 21


Is it me? Its him, right?

 

[Pitty]

7 X 3 = 21


Is it me? Its him, right?

It's you, not understanding how per game statistics work and making bad assumptions. Because Creighton makes 14 threes against the stout defenses of the MVC doesn't mean anything when they play REAL teams.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Your 16 is way too chalk IMO .. there is bound to be a few upsets in there.

Obviously this is really hard to gauge without a bracket too. Especially since some mid-majors may get favorable draws and others may get shafted.

Some potential double digit seeds who could crash the Sweet 16:
- South Dakota State (Nate Wolters is the most underrated player in the country IMO)
- Colorado (They can rebound and defend, offense is erratic but when they're on they have given good teams fits)
- Louisiana Tech (Assuming they win the WAC tourney.. they're a dangerous team likely to land in the 12 or 13 spot)
- Boise State (They may get placed in Dayton to play into the 5/12 game)
- Akron (Even though they play in the MAC, still a very good team.. with some shades to another MAC school who made a run several years ago - Kent State)
- Wichita State (I think they'll be underseeded, maybe even a 12.. but they were a solid team in a pretty tough conference)

 

[Senser81]

It's you, not understanding how per game statistics work and making bad assumptions. Because Creighton makes 14 threes against the stout defenses of the MVC doesn't mean anything when they play REAL teams.

And I like how Pitt can shoot 80% from the field in their two games against DePaul, then struggle to crack the 60pt mark against the rest of the Big East.

 

[Rudi]

Colorado State will make the Sweet 16.

 

[Pitty]

And I like how Pitt can shoot 80% from the field in their two games against DePaul, then struggle to crack the 60pt mark against the rest of the Big East.

Pitt has failed to hit 60 twice this season, and one was a win. I'm not going to explain tempo again since I did it literally 6 posts ago. Bad troll is bad.

 

[Senser81]

I am highly annoyed by Jamie Dixon, but I don't think even he is such a terrible coach that he would hold back an alleged sharpshooting team with such a slow tempo...especially when "keeping games close" never really works in Pitt's favor because they are such a horrible free-throw shooting team. I would assume that Pitt's high FG% is due to their deliberate offense and lack of outside shooting (hence less outside shots taken), as opposed to having 5 Kevin Durants on the floor. This point is strengthened further by Pitt's inability to score points...you know, the type of thing a good shooting team would do. This is JMO, but then again, I have a brain.

 

[Senser81]

Colorado State will make the Sweet 16.

You're a fucking joke, dude. Eat shit.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I am highly annoyed by Jamie Dixon, but I don't think even he is such a terrible coach that he would hold back an alleged sharpshooting team with such a slow tempo...especially when "keeping games close" never really works in Pitt's favor because they are such a horrible free-throw shooting team. I would assume that Pitt's high FG% is due to their deliberate offense and lack of outside shooting (hence less outside shots taken), as opposed to having 5 Kevin Durants on the floor. This point is strengthened further by Pitt's inability to score points...you know, the type of thing a good shooting team would do. This is JMO, but then again, I have a brain.

This.

Pitt is not a good shooting team. They play slow, grind you, and try to take high percentage shots. Pitty knows this. This is why I said earlier, I don't care about layups. I'm talking about long range shooting, which is obviously not a Pitt strength. Not a single 3-point shooter over 38% or so, bottom quarter of the league in both 3-pointers made & 3-pointers attempted. Woodall is a decent shooter, and they have a few guys who are 'ok'. Nobody who scares you. Dixon doesn't even want them taking 3's for the most part (which is reflected in the total attempts & made), which is to his credit.

I mean, just watch them play. They don't run sets to get 3's, and when they do take them it's usually in transition or at the end of shot clocks. I don't even think Dixon himself would call jump shooting a team strength.

 

[SuperKevin]

I really do not like Michigan in the tournament. They are prone to falling into long periods of chucking up awful shots. I think they are going to get bounced early

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

And to the point of Pitt being #1 in the league in FG%:

Ben Standig ‏@BenStandig
Hey, Mike Patrick, here's a reason why the Big East has become littered with teams playing zone D: Nobody can shoot.