Three Man Weave: NCAA Men’s Basketball West Region Preview

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

Music to listen to: Ghetto Manifesto by The Coup

-Michigan isn’t far away from returning to an elite level.  I don’t know if it was the Fab Five special on ESPN, Jalen Rose throwing around the term “Uncle Tom” like its the 1970’s, seeing Duke and Michigan together in an important basketball game, seeing the Wolverines go back to the black sneakers, black socks combination or something else but I don’t think fans in Ann Arbor are too far away from seeing their team make an Elite Eight or even a Final Four.

Michigan has always had the recruiting talent pool to be a top-20 team, whether its getting players from Detroit, the Midwest region or anybody who has any idea who Chris Webber is.  Kids will always want to go to Michgan if the Wolverines have their act right and I think they do with John Beilein as head coach.

-Memphis intrigues me.  You look at the Tigers and you see the talent of a squad that can be a top-20 team but than they perform and underachieve.  There’s no reason that Memphis shouldn’t only be the best team in Conference USA, but a top national program.  The loss to Arizona by two points in the second round of the tournament was indicative of their season.

-Why doesn’t Penn State have a better men’s basketball program?  You would think that the school and resources of Penn State would have more success than it has.  Do you realize that Penn State has been to FOUR NCAA Tournament appearances since 1991 and this year was the first one since 2001?  Do you also know that the last Nittany Lion selected in the NBA Draft was Calvin Booth in 1999?

That’s unacceptable for a program that has money, a national following, plays in the Big Ten, has a modern arena that holds more than 15,000 spectators, etc.

Hopefully for Penn State fans this appearance can be the start of something better.

-Texas disappoints again.  The Longhorns are the super-sized version of Memphis.  Texas has national championship talent but Sweet 16 execution and coaching.  It can be argued that no coach has done more with less this past decade than Rick Barnes.

On to the matchups:

Duke vs. Arizona: This contest is an unfortunate reminder of the 2001 National Championship contest for Wildcat fans such as myself.  Darn you Mike Dunleavy, Jr.!

Anyway, with the emergence of Kyrie Irving for Duke, its going to be difficult to beat the Blue Devils.  The best hope for Arizona is for Derrick Williams to have a monster game and for Duke to fall in love with the three-point shot and miss many of them.

Duke’s defensive pressure on Arizona guards along with solid defense will lead to a relatively easy victory for the Blue Devils.

Winner: Duke

Connecticut vs. San Diego State:  Don’t let the first two San Diego State contests in this Tournament make you think that the Aztecs are overrated.  They’re a good team that has the capability to make a Final Four.  Furthermore, playing in nearby Anaheim, Calif. will give them a home advantage over Connecticut in this contest.

However,  I’m taking the Huskies.

Connecticut has the best player on the floor in Kemba Walker who will have days of rest so he won’t be tired during the contest.  Furthermore, the front court advantage that San Diego State usually has will be negated by the young and athletic bigs of Connecticut.

I just don’t think that the Aztecs can score enough points to hang with UCONN.

Winner: UCONN

Region Champ:  Duke

In another rematch of a National Championship contest,, the Blue Devils guards will overwhelm Connecticut and win an entertaining contest.