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March Madness Prospects
The top half of the Eastern region contains 4 teams, North Carolina, Texas, Marquette and Michigan State, all of which have reached the Final Four since 2003. Two other teams, Arkansas and Georgetown, have won National Championships in the course of the last 25 years.
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March 13, 2008 (FPRC) -- North Carolina is a favorite among sports fans in the East region. However, a 2nd round match up against the Marquette Michigan State winner and a possible 3rd round match up against Texas could eliminate Roy Williams' chance of a 2nd title in 3 years.
It might be easier for the Georgetown Hoyas to get to the Elite Eight. Princeton offense, John Thompson, keeps the Hoyas shooting percentages high and their opponents' point totals low by passing the ball around the perimeter and running the clock down. The Hoyas also have Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green on their side.
Georgetown won the East regular season and Tournament and will enter the NCAA field winners of 15 of their last 16 games. Eight of those games were against teams that are in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas will be competing against the winner of Texas Tech-Boston College.
USC will play against Arkansas in what could possibly be the best first round game of the tournament. USC took the college basketball season by storm this season signing O.J. Mayo, opening a brand new arena and finishing a tie for 3rd in the Pac-10.
The Cougars, who beat Kansas at Phog allen Field House last December, won 3 times against Washington. The Trojans had 2 losses to rival UCLA by 6 points. They'll play against an Arkansas team who got into one of the lasts spots in the field by making the Southeastern Conference Tournament finals. Georgetown will most likely win the East region and go to the Georgia Dome as one of the four best teams in college basketball.
The Western region of this year's NCAA Tournament could be an interesting first rounds. Virginia Commonwealth University will play against Duke who lost 3 of their last four games coming into the big dance. They are definitely not playing their best basketball this year so far. Virginia Commonwealth University seems to be much more experienced and might be able to pull off a first round upset and send the Blue Devils.
Virginia Tech lost the last two games of their regular season and to North Carolina State in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament last weekend. It is questionable at this point as to whether or not Virginia Tech can get themselves into the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight?
Pittsburgh has also been underperforming in the NCAA tourney. If their opponents can put Aaron Gray into foul trouble early like Georgetown did in the Big East final last weekend, then any of the teams have a chance of beating the Panthers.
Kentucky lost to UCLA and Florida, but you never know if they can pull it together under the pressure. With the possibility of Tubby Smith losing his job, the Wildcats might find a way to win a few games.
Kansas had a good season winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament against Kevin Durant, but look it might night last by the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight if they're up against Virginia Tech or UCLA. Kansas is young with all four of its top scorers listed as underclassmen and that alone will be hard to overcome.
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Keywords:
March Madness, basketball, sports
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