The NCAA men’s hoops tourney resumes again tonight, with the East and West regional semi-final matches.
Wisconsin-Syracuse: The Fab Melo-less Orange meet their biggest challenge to date in the tourney. Both teams have quality defenses. If Wisconsin is to beat Syracuse, it probably needs accurate three-point shots combined with a balanced inside-outside attack to keep Syracuse’s defense guessing. If Syracuse is to beat Wisconsin, it might want to force turnovers and be prepared to leverage its bench quickly.
Cincinnati-Ohio St.: Cincy has a guard-heavy lineup and won late-season/conference tournament games against four better seeded Big East rivals. They’re quick, too. Whether that’ll be enough to compensate for OSU’s superior size and rebounding ability will likely be a key factor.
Florida-Marquette: Florida is a hot-cold team. Marquette likes to create opportunities, especially turnovers. If Florida can hit its threes and limit its turnovers, it could be the Gators will pick the Golden Eagle carcasses clean. The Marquette defense, if it can hold Florida to about 35% from the floor in the first half, likely paves the way to a berth in the Elite Eight.
Louisville-Michigan St.: In my view, this is the first matchup between two teams that could go all the way. Two of the toughest coaches in the game today, Rick Patino of L’ville and Tom Izzo of MSU, have at it and the sidelines could be just as entertaining as the court play. Patino is frenetic, push-the-envelope and Izzo is adaptable, tough-it-out. If you’re going to watch only one game this evening, this would be my recommendation.
UPDATE:
Leading ATiM Rocks brackets benefiting from a win (by team):
- Wisconsin: USF Baby, Moderately Yello, Michi#2
- Syracuse: ashot, Blade Warriors
- Cincinnati:
- OSU: USF Baby, DogJS, Moderately Yello, MIA#2, Blade Warriors
- Florida:
- Marquette:
- L’ville : MIA#4
- MSU: USF Baby, DogJS, Moderately Yello, MIA#2, ashot, Michi#2, Blade Warriors
So if any other bracket favors the likes of Florida or Cincy, or even L’ville, it can make up some serious ground with a win.
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