Edit: 3-19-09 @ 1:26am | I’m sending PITT to the Final Four over Duke.
Yep, it’s that time of year! I have to admit, I love NCAA March Madness almost as much as football. This 2009 NCCA Bracket is an exciting one, so below I have my personal bracket and some advice and predictions for this 2009 NCAA March Madness Tournament.
The Demon Deacons are one of our favorites heading into the 2009 NCAA tournament, as Coach Dino Gaudio has this team looking tough. Wake brought back all five starters from last season’s unit and they produced an extremely impressive 24-6 record with tough wins over both North Carolina and Duke. Sophomore Jeff Teague averages 19.4 points per game and sophomore James Johnson averages 14.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Freshman forward Al-Farouq AminuThis heads into the tournament averaging 13.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. The Demon Deacons might be young, but I think Wake can upset Louisville (1) in round three if this 2009 NCAA Tournament.
Looking for an extreme sleeper in the Midwest? Southern Cal. is your team! The Trojans lost O.J. Mayo this year, but the team did some damage without him this season. Southern Cal. beat both California and Arizona State on their way into the tournament, and that win against ASU came in the Pac-10 title game (Southern Cal. was down 15 at the half). Juniors Daniel Hackett, Dwight Lewis, Taj Gibson are huge scoring threats, as is freshman DeMar DeRozan… Oh, and Gibson is a rebounding machine (14.3). If you want a super-sleeper to make it all the way to the final four, or at least the elite eight, this is your team!
I love Missouri coming out of the West. The West is so tough with three No. 1 teams, but I like Missouri’s chances of coming out on top. Memphis is tough… really tough, but I think if there is a team capable of knocking them off before they face off against Connecticut or Purdue, it’s Missouri! Missouri (28-6) has a great scorer and rebounder in DeMarre Carroll (16.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg). Leo Lyons heads into the tournament averaging 14.2 ppg and 6.0 rpg. This team has a ton of talent and has won 11 of their last 13 contests.
Purdue ended the year 24-9. Purdue knocked off Penn State, Illinois and then Ohio State in the Big Ten conference championship, which handed them an automatic 2009 NCCA Tournament berth. This team is young but this unit is on a roll and they know how to score (lead by E’Twaun Moore, 13.8 ppg, and JaJuan Johnson, 13.1 ppg and 5.7 rpg). Southern Cal. and Purdue are basically our biggest sleepers in this tournament when you’re talking No. 5 seeds or higher.
Florida State is a team to watch heading into this tournament. We like Pittsburgh, and we have Florida State losing to Pittsburgh in the third-round of this tournament, but we were tempted to pencil this team into the elite eight. Florida State (25-9) was impressive in the ACC tournament, knocking off Georgia Tech and North Carolina, but they did eventually fall in the championship game to Duke. Toney Douglas is the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and scored 21.1 ppg. Watch out for this team!
Syracuse could knock off Oklahoma in the third-round, as the Sooners have gone 2-4 in their last six contests. This team is ready to rumble after their six-overtime win over Connecticut. Syracuse did fall to Louisville in the conference finals, but they look great and have a tremendous guard in Johnny Flynn (17.5 ppg and 7 apg). Syracuse went 26-9 (11-7) heading into the 2009 tournament – They have what it takes to get into the elite eight, with only Arizona State and Oklahoma standing in their way. Don’t get me wrong, both ASU and Oklahoma are good teams, but I don’t see Syracuse struggling until they face the winner of the North Carolina-Gonzaga match-up.
North Dakota State (26-6) was victorious in the Summit League’s regular-season and tournament titles. This Bison team is returning all five starters from last year, four of which are seniors. This unit can score the basketball, as Woodside averages 22.8 points per game and tosses out 6.3 dimes per outing. Winkelman averages 18.7 points per night and pulls down 7.4 boards per night… Oh, and did we mention that Winkelman is a big-time three-point threat with a career average of 42 percent? Nelson is 43.6 percent from the three-point mark and Tveidt is just as dangerous from that far out. This team is on a seven game winning streak and can shoot the three like no other team in this tournament. This Kansas-North Dakota State game has first-round upset written all over it. Oops, we have North Dakota State heading to the Sweet 16 this year! Upsets are what March Madness is all about!
Feel free to list your sleepers, busts and all other predictions!
FYI, I am going to be making a change in one of the Elite Eight Match-ups… I’m going to pencil in PITT to take out Duke.
Thought I’d toss that out there.
I got blasted in the Midwest, but some of this bracket held strong. In one bracket pool I’m in third or fourth but because I have Wake in my final two, this bracket won’t win.