Three Man Weave: NCAA Men’s Basketball Southeast Preview

Time to review what we learned from the Southeast Region so far in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and what to look forward to this weekend.

Music to listen to: Basique by Little People

-Butler isn’t a “Cinderella” team anymore:  I know that the Bulldogs were seeded eighth in this region and play in the Horizon Conference but after seeing their run to the National Championship last year and making the NCAA Tournament for the last five years, its a national program.

-Brad frickin Stevens:  He’s 34 years old.  Here’s Stevens’ background according to Wiki:

“Stevens joined the Butler basketball program as a volunteer prior to the 2000–01 season after quitting his job at Eli Lilly and Company. He was promoted to a full-time assistant coaching position for the 2001–02 season. On April 4, 2007, he became the head coach after Todd Lickliter left the university.”

If he finds a way to get Butler back to the Final Four, I was the rights to his future biopic.

-Pittsburgh has to find a way to break though to a Final Four before it can be considered an elite program.  Jamie Dixon is an excellent coach and led the Panthers to eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances, every year he has been the head coach, but more should be expected.

The loss to Butler had a difficult ending but in reality, the Panthers should have won that game.

-Utah State and Belmont weren’t ready for prime time…for now:  Both programs are trying to make the leap from mid-major darling to national program.  Gonzaga has done it, despite this past weak season by their standards.  Butler has obviously made that step.

However, for the Aggies and Bruins, the first round losses to Kansas State and Wisconsin respectively shows that more work needs to be made.

I personally watched the entire Wisconsin/Belmont contest and the talent discrepancy wasn’t as large as you would expect.  The Bruins weren’t hitting shots in the first half and reached a deficit that was too much to overcome.

Both programs have excellent coaches but the growing pains continue.

-Still mad about Utah State and Belmont losing.  You guys messed up my bracket!

-Has Gonzaga gone from unknown to underrated to overrated in a 12-year span.  We all remember the Bulldogs’ Elite Eight run in 1999, they’re only 13-12 in the NCAA Tournament.

For all the coverage that the Zags get, you would have to assume that the record would be better.  Furthermore, in the past two years, they’ve won the first game but lost the second one in each season.

I don’t think Mark Few should be fired or Gonzaga is a bad program.  However, one must be aware of picking the Bulldogs in the future.

-I’m considering this season a mulligan for Tom Izzo and the entire Michigan State program.  Nothing went right for the Spartans this year and losing in the first round by two points to UCLA seemed like the appropriate ending.

On to the matchups:

Butler vs. Wisconsin: This matchup pits two of the ten best coaches in the entire nation against each other.

We’ve know about Stevens’ rise up the ranks but Bo Ryan shouldn’t have to take a backseat to anybody in the nation.  He won four national titles at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville, won three Big Ten titles and has nine NCAA Tournament appearances in nine years with the Badgers.  Plus, he does a mean Soulja Boy dance…

On the court, you will have two efficient offenses in action and will execute on that end of the floor so well, you can make an instructional video out of it.

However, the Badges have a slightly better defense and have the best player on the floor in Jordan Taylor.

Pick: Wisconsin

BYU vs. Florida: The entire nation is excited to see Jimmer Fredette on the national stage and its deserved.  He’s an elite college player who I think will be a competent pro player but that analysis will be for another day.

What worries me about Fredette for the sake of BYU is that he takes a significant amount of their shots.  If he has an off night, I don’t think the rest of the Cougars can cover up the missing offense.

Another thing to consider for this contest is the fact that Fredette will be occupied significantly by guarding Florida’s Erving Walker.  The Gator is a force on offense himself and will work Fredette on that side of the ball throughout the contest.

While Fredette may be the best player on the floor and maybe even score 30 points in the contest, the Gators are simply the better overall team.

Pick: Florida

Region Winner:  Florida

I picked the Gators before the Tournament started and am not changing the choice, even though Wisconsin’s size may be too much for the Gators to handle.