2010 NCAA Tournament: Regional Semifinals, Day 2

SOUTH REGION

Reliant Stadium
Houston, TX
#4 Purdue Boilermakers (29-5, 14-4 Big Ten) vs.
#1 Duke Blue Devils (31-5, 13-3 ACC)
Well, the bracket is all clear for the Devils. The little resistance that was here was eliminated with indifference (Villanova) and with a poorly-officiated game (Texas A&M). Baylor is a nice team, but they simply don’t have the postseason experience to get by the Dookies, and they may not even get by St. Mary’s. Purdue really shouldn’t have gotten this far, and they certainly don’t have anyone to matchup with White Stiff and the Dumblees. So that pretty much sums up a bracket that was Dook’s for the taking to begin with.

For all those who think that this was no conspiracy, just a terrible job by the selection committee, better wake up. A few posts ago, I posted this article. While most of it is conjecture, there is definitely some truth behind it. Dook’s two games so far have been played in primetime. The broadcast team sent to Jacksonville to cover those two games was CBS’ A-team of Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg (Personally, I think those two are terrible together…but CBS doesn’t think so. I would much rather listen to Gus, Lundquist, Brando or Harlan). Traditionally, CBS has sent Nantz to the first round site of the overall number one seed. They usually don’t send their top broadcasting unit to a site with the “third” #1 seed, Wisconsin-Wofford, Temple-Cornell and Louisville-California. Heck, CBS doesn’t even know that California has their own team. I'd be surprised if they could locate Berkeley or the state of California on a map. The Jacksonville sub-regional may have been the least entertaining of the eight. It would have made more sense for Nantz to go to Oklahoma City, where Kansas, Kansas State, Florida (two-time defending champs not too long ago) and Jimmer Fredette were waiting. It would have made more sense to send Nantz and Kellogg to Buffalo, where Syracuse, Big East Champ West Virginia, Clemson, Missouri, Gonzaga and Florida State were all playing. But CBS decides to send Nantz to Jacksonville. Now CBS is sending them to Houston, when either Salt Lake City or Syracuse are better regionals. So you tell me…did the committee just make a serious blunder putting the brackets together, or did CBS and the NCAA make a conscious effort to protect their one “commodity” and make more money in their next contract at the expense of a fair tournament?
Pick: Duke 65, Purdue 54

#10 Saint Mary’s Gaels (28-5, 11-3 WCC) vs.
#3 Baylor Bears (27-7, 11-5 Big XII)
Everyone is stunned by the Gaels entry into the Sweet 16. Don’t be fooled, this is a very good team. This team reminds me of the Gonzaga squads of the mid-to-late 90’s that were always overlooked and always pulled at least one upset. The Gaels win over Richmond really doesn’t qualify as an upset; even I picked it. Seeing how Villanova played in the last three weeks of the season, I’m not so sure it’s a huge upset that Saint Mary’s beat them either. The Gaels have certainly earned their way to this position. By the way, does anyone else think Omar Samhan looks exactly like Jordan Williams, or is it just me?

This is exactly the kind of team that can give Baylor fits. The Gaels are led primarily by upper classmen. They’ve played five teams outside their conference that made the tournament, and won four of those games. They also had to play Gonzaga three times this year, and won in the WCC Tournament final when it really counted. This is a veteran team that’s been tested and won’t be intimidated playing against a team from the Big XII. On top of that, Baylor has fooled around with Sam Houston State and Old Dominion, two teams that aren’t nearly as good as Saint Mary’s. The Bears should have enough talent to escape, but expect this game to be very close since Ekpe Udoh is the only answer for Samhan inside, and he’s not a physical big man.
Pick: Baylor 68, Saint Mary’s 65

WEST REGION

Edward Jones Dome
St. Louis, MO
#6 Tennessee Volunteers (27-8, 11-5 SEC) vs.
#2 Ohio State Buckeyes (29-7, 14-4 Big Ten)
I think this will be the dud game of the night on Friday. Tennessee has played San Diego State and Ohio so far, while the Buckeyes were at least tested in the 2nd round against a taller Georgia Tech team. Tennessee looks a lot like OSU on paper, except with less talent. All the experts like to focus on the Buckeyes' Evan Turner, and that’s fine. Turner is an outstanding player. But don’t forget guys like Will Buford and David Lighty. Lighty played tremendously when Turner was hurt earlier in the season, and the big three for OSU have all been clicking since the calendar flipped to March.

Again, on paper, this appears to be a mismatch. Tennessee doesn’t shoot, score or rebound as well as Ohio State. They don’t play defense as well as Ohio State. They haven’t gone through a conference ringer like Ohio State. 11-5 in the SEC wouldn’t really intimidate me. The Vols barely beat SDSU, then had the bracket collapse so they could advance to the Sweet 16. All signs point to a relatively big OSU win.
Pick: Ohio State 74, Tennessee 60

#9 Northern Iowa Panthers (30-4, 15-3 MVC) vs.
#5 Michigan State Spartans (26-8, 14-4 Big Ten)
I’m still sort of stunned by Maryland’s loss to Michigan State. Probably hasn’t set in yet. I’ll say this about the game: the better team won. At least the better team on that Sunday. Michigan State outplayed Maryland for 35 minutes. It took two injuries to key Spartan guards to allow the Terps to comeback. Greivis Vasquez played an amazing game, and almost won the game single-handedly. And I’d certainly rather Maryland go out like that, to a classy team with classy coach, then to get down double-digits and roll over, like Georgetown or Villanova. Still, the buzzer-beater ending was a little too much to take.

I don’t know what Tom Izzo is going to do without Kalin Lucas and Chris Allen (who still may or may not play). If the end of the Maryland game was any indication, the Spartans may have a hard time handling the ball and may be at a severe disadvantage in the backcourt. If you didn’t notice, Ali Farokhmanesh has been killing it in the tournament…just ask a Kansas fan if you can find one. Along with fellow guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe and potential future NBA-center Jordan Egleseder, the Spartans may actually face mismatches all over the court. But, if I’ve learned one thing over the years, and anything from last Sunday, it’s that you never count Tom Izzo teams out in the NCAA Tournament. Especially not one that has plenty of talent even without Lucas.
Pick: Michigan State 71, Northern Iowa 64