Elite Eight Picks

Tomorrow, the first two Final Four tickets will be punched. A lot of interesting story lines and I hope for good games. Generally, the Elite Eight tends to bring second-tier games compared to the ones we have had in the past weeks. I hope for the best especially since the Law of Gus will be in effect.

8.) Butler v. 2.) Florida- Common sense would tell you take Butler because they always find a way to win. One thing that is beginning bother me is the consistent praise by the national media like they are the little brother of the NCAA.

Nope, they are a top 20 program and expectations should be set. Matt Howard isn't stopped by anybody and it seems Andrew Smith will be okay to play Saturday. I see Chandler Parsons being a huge matchup disaster for the Bulldogs because Howard will have to go inside against Alex Tyus who will also be a problem.  I think the guards are pretty even both sides, but Parsons ends up being the difference. UF 70-65

5.) Arizona v. 3.) Connecticut- Deron out of Jersey made a mention how this Wildcat team reminds him of the 1997 team who were not expected to win it all (MY GOD THAT'S MILES SIMON'S MUSIC!!!!). He is right and honestly, anything is possible for the Cats. Derrick Williams is unbelievable and it's hard to bet against guy who is named Mo-Mo Jones. The question is will the Wildcats have an answer for Mr. Walker? Kemba has made everyone look silly in the last 8 games. Kemba needs to keep Jeremy Lamb in the mix if  they want to win this one. But I think this will be a classic. Williams is unguardable right now, I haven't seen enough defensively from Alex Oriakhi to put money on him. The Cats take it late in the second half UA 82-79

-Charlie.

The Good, The Bad, and The Dukies

Before the Sweet Sixteen started, I sat with a bracket that was in the 96 percentile. I started having dreams of getting a 10,000 dollar check from Yahoo! and laugh my way to not having a summer job this year. But Thursday hit me like a ton of bricks. There were some things I liked, but most of it was bad.  Thankfully the Black Rose on Oakland helped me drown my sorrows.

The Good

-Florida deserves all the credit in the world for how they played defense against Jimmer Fredette. It seemed every shot took a ton of effort to get off, and they completely gassed him by the overtime period.

-Since Jimmer is now gone, Derrick Williams is the new face of March Madness 2011.  The only comparison I have for him is a stronger Lamar Odom. He throws down some nasty dunks and can step outside to hit big shots.
-Let's not forget about the Kemba Walker Show, he scored 36 in a win for the Huskies. But like I talked about earlier this week, he got others involved such as Jeremy Lamb who dropped 24. Big time excited for Williams v. Walker on Saturday night.  
-Butler is the better version of Gonzaga, no longer underdogs.

The Bad

-Wisconsin did their usual Badger thing bowing out in the Sweet Sixteen. I know that will upset some Badger fans, but for whatever reasons, they cannot get to that next level. Additionally, this fourth time in five years that they have lost a lower seed. Questions have to start coming out about Bo Ryan. I thought Jordan Taylor forced a lot of shots like last Saturday. Also there is a missing person report out for Jon Leuer in New Orleans because you couldn't find him on the basketball court. This is something I saw on Twitter via the Big Lead about the Badgers recruiting budget, which is unbelievably low and makes more impressive of what they do every year. Think if they increased that by 50 percent. 


-You could tell San Diego State got tight in the final minutes. They couldn't do anything after the technical with 10 minutes left.  It seems like they froze up and didn't create the shots as they had in the first half.
-Jimmer got infected with the SI curse. Now, it understood the curse outweighs the Law of Gus. 

Dukies

-We here at SnoTap told you so. I felt uneasy about my National Champion pick after seeing the chemistry with Kyrie Irving. I wish I would have just went chalk with Ohio State, but now it's up to Kentucky to save my bracket. Eric nailed this a week ago and deserve credit
-Eric also had the comment of the day "Last night was a complete DOY game from Arizona." Agreed, human highlight reel from the Cats. 
-Duke decided to quit. No one can tell me otherwise either. Arizona had this epic run, but Duke did nothing to punch them back in the mouth. If I were one of the Plumlees' I would put Mo-Mo Jones on his ass during this run to show Duke was there.   
-Reminded me a lot of LSU knocking out Duke in 2006, but the Blue Devils were favored more in that tournament.
-Nolan Smith did not look like himself in the last two games, and that sent Duke off the tracks.
-I wouldn't call this a black mark on Coach's K career, but he could have saved this season if he limited the play of Kyrie Irving. It's more his fault than anyone else.

-Charlie.

My Sweet 16 Picks (Southeast/West Region)

The second weekend of March Madness provides great theater because we all wonder if Cinderella's slipper will still fit on Thursday or Friday, and what new storylines will develop for the weekend. Due to the new format being able to see every game, I feel more involved with this tournament than ones in years past. 

West Region

3.) Connecticut vs. 2.) San Diego State- I read an interesting stat via The Big Lead: "UConn Huskies are 0-7 since 1992 in NCAA Tourney games in opponent's state".  That makes me feel uneasy, but did anyone ever consider Kemba Walker?  D.J. Gay will struggle trying to get shots off against Walker for damn sure.  But I worry about who will actually defend Kawhi Leonard on the Huskies. They have a couple big bodies, but nothing at Leonard's level. I feel it will be a pro-Aztec crowd, but I am confident the Huskies will win. The Aztecs have not done anything remarkable, just beat teams they were supposed to. I think Kemba and the crew is on another level.  UCONN 77-68

5.) Arizona v. 1.) Duke- A lot of people do not think Arizona belongs here because of some bad calls in their last game against Texas. But Derrick Williams and his crew does not care. He is an absolute monster, and I do think Duke will have some problems against him. Williams could get the Plumlee brothers and Ryan Kelly into some serious foul trouble. Don't think I missed Coach K's comments about trying to get Kyrie Irving being more involved, which scares me because one of the best coaches is trying to sabotage a National Championship contender. The Dukies will get it together and get a big game out of Seth Curry, just feel it's his time to shine.  DUKE 73-66 

Southeast Region 

3.) BYU v. 2.) Florida- Jimmer got the SI Curse. It sucks when he will shoot about 10 for 32 with 18 points. The Cougars have faced two teams that are very similar to their style of play leading to much success. But now they run into the big bad Gators who are nothing like them. By the way, anyone else find it hilarious that they are a bunch of Mormons roaming Bourbon Street as we speak? What could they do there? Anyways, the Gators have a great combination of size with Alex Tyus and Patric Young plus the guard play of Kenny Boyton and Erving Walker. I believe the Gators will have too much size and speed for the Cougars. Sadly, this is where Jimmer time comes to end.  UF 81-67 

8.) Butler v. 4.) Wisconsin- A white boy wet dream!  Just kidding.  This game could go several ways, and I am stealing this thought from my buddy Ron. He told me last week his wish would be for Bo Ryan to have deep conversation with Rob Jeter about UWM's success against Butler. I personally think the Badgers need to go inside much more than they have been doing in the first two games.  The two biggest things I would like to see if I am a Badger fan would be to get Matt Howard into foul trouble and lock Shelvin Mack down. This will be a complete nail-biter with Jordan Taylor hitting the big shot in the final seconds.  UW 64-62

-Charlie.