2010 NCAA Tournament: Regional Semifinals, Day 1

EAST REGION

Carrier Dome
Syracuse, NY
#12 Cornell Big Red (29-4, 13-1 Ivy) vs.
#1 Kentucky Wildcats (34-2, 14-2 SEC)
The fact that Kentucky gets Cornell makes this game easy to analyze. No one doubts John Calipari’s ability to coach, recruit or break the NCAA rules. Emphasis on the last of the three. But the man can still coach. If I’m Big John, I look at my team and I look at Cornell. I run up and down the court on every possession. If Kentucky is suckered into a half-court game against this team, then something is seriously wrong. Calipari should use his four potential lottery picks to run Cornell off the court. And for those who think Cornell may have a home-court advantage since they are less than an hour from Syracuse, I would caution against that assumption. Kentucky travels for basketball, and travels well. Probably better than any other school in the country.
Pick: Kentucky 84, Cornell 66

#11 Washington Huskies (26-9, 11-7 Pac-10) vs.
#2 West Virginia Mountaineers (29-6, 13-5 Big East)
Everyone seems shocked about Washington, but there’s no reason to be. The Pac-10 played much better basketball in February and March than anyone gave them credit for. Since all the experts had written off the conference in January, no one bothered to pay attention. The Huskies have two dynamic scorers in Quincy Poindexter and Isaiah Thomas. Combine them with several very good role players, a good coach in Lorenzo Romar and you have yourself a pretty good basketball team that underachieved for the first four months of the season. UW has been clicking for the past few weeks, and they’ve already beaten a Big East team in this tournament.

As for West Virginia, the Darryl Bryant may be addition by subtraction. Bryant’s been starting recently for WVU, but he really doesn’t fit in to the overall scheme of scumbag Bob Huggins (Huggins, Ratface, Calipari, Bruce Pearl…even Jim Boeheim has been known to pay a player or two. It’s scumbag central in the Sweet 16. All we’re missing is Jim Calhoun. Thank goodness coaches like Tom Izzo and Romar are still around). Without Bryant, it will be easier for Huggins to figure out his rotation. It just seemed like too many guys weren’t getting enough playing time for Queers with Bryant in the lineup. Huggins may run into a problem if Joe Mazzula can't stay out of foul trouble and cause WVU to lose depth in the backcourt. Otherwise, I don't think the injury will be much of an issue.

Anyway, this one will probably go WVU’s way. They have the defensive mindset to shut down or limit Poindexter and Thomas. Without those two firing, the rest of the team kind of withers. And you can be sure the NCAA is going to keep trying to set up the Calipari-Huggins Elite 8 before a Calipari-Ratface Final Four.
Pick: West Virginia 67, Washington 59

WEST REGION

Energy Solutions Arena
Salt Lake City, UT
#5 Butler Bulldogs (30-4, 18-0 Horizon) vs.
#1 Syracuse Orange (30-4, 15-3 Big East)
After losses to Louisville and Georgetown emptied the Syracuse bandwagon a little bit, two commanding wins in the NCAA Tournament have filled it back up. Oh my God, the 2-3 zone is back! Boeheim is a genius! He has this team believing in defense! Yuck. My question is when is Syracuse going to face an actual team? For all the complaining done about Duke’s easy road (and yes, that road is still ridiculously easy), Syracuse could potentially play Vermont, Gonzaga, Butler and Xavier (obviously KSU will have something to say about that) to reach the Final Four. Even though three of the best mid-major programs are on that list, they’re still mid-majors. I don’t think I ever seen an easier road to the Final Four than that potential path. If the Muskies pull an upset, that’d be an absolute joke.

Meanwhile, Boeheim pulled a fast one on the tournament committee. After Arinze Onuaku was injured against Georgetown in round three of the eight round Big East Tournament, Boeheim and the Orange immediately went into spin mode. Knowing that Cuse wouldn’t play again until the tournament, Boeheim said that Onuaku has a knee strain. Anyone watching the game knew that was total B.S. Viewers could hear an audible pop when Onuaku came down funny. His own teammate was even overheard saying to the doctors that he heard a pop. But no one could argue with the report since the Orange wouldn’t play again for another week. Boeheim figured if the committee knew how serious Onuaku’s knee injury was, the Orange would be stripped of a potential #1 seed and be destined for a Purdue-like fate (especially since the team only has six other capable players). So for the days leading up to the selection show, the reports from Syracuse were that Onuaku would be fine and would likely play in the first round game. But all of a sudden, less than 24 hours after the selection show and after the #1 seed was secure, Onuaku was pretty much ruled out for the first weekend’s games. Very dirty move by Boeheim. As you can see, lying about the severity of a player’s injury has affected the draw positively for Syracuse. Congrats Orange fans, your coach is officially a douche bag.

Whether Onuaku plays or not, Syracuse should have no problem getting by Butler. The Bulldogs looked simply average against UTEP and Murray State. Now they have to face a team with more talent. I don’t expect this to be close after halftime.
Pick: Syracuse 74, Butler 62

#6 Xavier Musketeers (26-8, 14-2 A-10) vs.
#2 Kansas State Wildcats (28-7, 11-5 Big XII)
I know I had KSU in my Final Four, but until last weekend, I wasn’t really sold on the Wildcats. Their efforts against North Texas and BYU really impressed me. Unlike most high seeds, they didn’t fool around at all with their first round opponent. Then after a back-and-forth first ten minutes against BYU, the Wildcats put them away rather easily. I’m still not sure this team can rebound against an equally athletic team, and I’m not sure what will happen to this team if they get into a 40-minute game, but I’m feeling a whole lot better about that Final Four pick right now.

Xavier continues to roll along. I’m convinced you could pluck someone off the street and they could somehow get Xavier to the Sweet 16. This team seemingly changes coaches every season and doesn’t miss a beat. Jordan Crawford, who would be playing for Indiana right now if it wasn’t for Kelvin Sampson, may be the best player left in this tournament not named John Wall. Seriously, if you didn’t get a chance to see Xavier last week, do yourself a favor and check out this game. He only has 55 points in two games so far. Crawford is far better than anyone on Kansas State’s roster. I doubt that anyone on the Wildcats has the discipline to stay with him for 40 minutes. I also doubt that Crawford’s teammates will be able to help him any in critical situations. I’ll take the more complete team here.
Pick: Kansas State 76, Xavier 71