Must See Sports, Third Weekend of March 2011 – Special NCAA Tournament Edition, Friday

Hopefully, you did not partake in too much green beer yesterday. Three regions (East, West, Southwest) are in action today in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. These games may be worth watching for you bracket guys out there. Good news! Tomorrow is Saturday. so you can spend the whole weekend watching the tournament without hiding from the boss!

Friday, March 18


East Region

(8) George Mason Patriots vs (9) Villanova Wildcats (1:10 CDT, TNT)

The Cinderellas of the 2006 Final Four take on the enigma of the Big East in 2011. I think Villanova’s Jay Wright is an excellent coach. I think Villanova point guard Corey Fisher is a money player. I think his partner in the backcourt, Corey Stokes, is one of the better shooters in college. The problem is that, in the past month, the Wildcats have had trouble putting it all together in the form of a win, falling to 9-9 in the Big East by the end of the regular season and not having won a game in a month when they barely slipped by lowly DePaul.

George Mason, regular season champions of the Colonial League, are led by guard Cam Long (15 PPG, 5 RPG, 3 APG) and forward Ryan Pearson (14 PPG 7 RPG). George Mason is a team that takes high percentage shots and is always a threat from behind the arc. All of this factors in to why they are a slightly higher seed.

Villanova was ranked for most of the season, in part, because they have more total talent than most teams, including the Patriots. I think talent wins out and Nova snaps out of their funk against this mid-major opponent. The prize for the winner of this game: they get to become cannon fodder for the #1 overall seed in the tournament, Ohio State.

Advantage: Villanova

Nova coach Jay Wright was criticized for defending his team during its slide. This is what he looks like in a suit. Would you criticize him to his face? 1

West Region

(5) Arizona Wildcats vs (12) Memphis Tigers (1:45 CDT, CBS)

There was a “12-5” upset yesterday, when Richmond beat Vanderbilt. I think that this matchup has the potential for the same. I am a bit perplexed that Memphis fell all the way to a 12 seed. Arizona is getting a tougher opponent than the seeding may indicate. Memphis is a tough defensive team. When your second leading rebounder (as well as leading scorer), Will Barton (12 PPG, 5 RPG), is a member of your backcourt, you typically have a defensively oriented team. They will need the defense to compensate for mediocre shooting and limited shot range.

Arizona, the Pac-10 regular season champion, and its stud sophomore forward Derrick Williams (19 PPG, 8 RPG) will go as far as Williams can take them. Williams is the only Wildcat averaging double digit scoring. If Memphis can contain Williams, with its defensive approach, it may have a chance to pull off the “12-5”. The Tigers have wins over LSU, Central Florida, UAB, and Gonzaga this season and have faced Kansas and Georgetown. Memphis is not unaccustomed to tougher and/or major conference competition. Still, they need to stop the high scoring Wildcats and Williams to survive and advance.

Advantage: Arizona

Derrick Williams 2

(7) Texas A&M Aggies vs (10) Florida State Seminoles (3:10 CDT, TBS)

The Aggies got off to a very hot start this season before cooling off, some, when Big XII competition began. The Seminoles scored a signature win against Duke, demonstrating that they can compete with elite opponents. Something has to give so that someone can spar with #2 seed Notre Dame in the third round.

Forward Khris Middleton (14 PPG, 5 RPG, 3 APG) is the Aggies’ main man. He will have to be a major factor in this game. The Aggies get very little support from their bench. They are not a high scoring team. This means they can ill-afford to allow Florida State to gain any substantial lead or build early momentum.

The Seminoles are a solid defensive team and do not win by scoring a lot of points, either. I think that any chance Florida State has, however, will depend on whether or not their best player, forward Chris Singleton (14 PPG, 7 RPG, 2 steals PG, 1.6 BlkPG) can play today and is effective. His status is still unknown. Singleton has not played in the past month after breaking his foot in February.

Even if Singleton plays, the question is begged: how well could he play? Texas A&M should be able to take advantage. I like the Aggies in this one.

Advantage: Texas A&M

Maybe Chris Singleton could "recover" after a motivational visit from Jenn Sterger (I knew I could find an excuse to slip her in the Hat Trick one more time)! 3

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1) image from vuhoops.com
2) Image from arizonawildcats.com
3) image from bleacherreport.com