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Would love to see a Big East team or two roll into the third weekend.

Who has the best chance?

Creighton vs Princeton (then Alabama or SDSU)

UConn vs Arkansas (then UCLA or Gonzaga)

Xavier vs Texas (then Houston or Miami)

I'll vote for two, UCONN and Creighton. Road for Xavier seems a little too tough.

hoops22 wrote:I'll vote for two, UCONN and Creighton. Road for Xavier seems a little too tough.

A 2 seed that finished the season strong, followed by most likely the second overall seed in the tournament. Yeah...

I mean, they could do it, but UConn and Creighton definitely have better paths.

I took UConn. Creighton and Xavier having to face the overall 1 and 2 seeds if they make it past the regional semifinals made it tough for me to take them. Especially Xavier who has the misfortune of being in the region of chalk.

Being realistic here, this is a tournament that was always up for grabs. Houston struggled in its opening game against Northern Kentucky, for goodness sakes. There are simply no dominant teams this year. Xavier is top 4 in the country this year in FG% and top 2 in 3-pt%. When they’re shooting like they were in the first half yesterday, they can beat anyone.

UConn struggled against BE competition because these are the teams who know them best and because we’ve got really smart coaches in this league. They very effectively exploited UConn’s weaknesses, but against the rest of the country they are now 13-0 against the rest of the country, including Alabama. Obviously they too can advance.

Finally, Creighton with a healthy Kalkbrenner has been one of the best teams in the country. They are favored to go to the Elite 8, so they’re just a win over Alabama away from a spot in the Final 4.

Of all years, we should be looking at games which should go down to the wire from here on. It will come down to who can win close games. The Big East teams are well prepared for these kinds of games because of the high level of competition in the league this year. All 3 of these teams are capable of advancing to the Final 4. Or none. I expect a lot of great games. It sure should be fun.

FWIW:

ESPN pundits unanimously picking UConn and Creighton to win, but 2 out of 3 think Xavier will lose. I say screw 'em - let's win all 3.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... et-16-game

2 or 3 in the Elite 8 would be awesome for the conference. Or just 1 who went out on to win it all.

anXUfan wrote:2 or 3 in the Elite 8 would be awesome for the conference. Or just 1 who went out on to win it all.

A title easily trumps 3 teams in the EE (even if one or two of them reach the FF), especially if it's Creighton or Xavier because UCONN already has 4.

I think my Huskies got the horses to go deep. But I wouldn't leave Xavier/Creighton behind either.

Do you guys agree that the Huskies have the easiest path to the F4? (on paper at least)

ecasadoSBU wrote:I think my Huskies got the horses to go deep. But I wouldn't leave Xavier/Creighton behind either.

Do you guys agree that the Huskies have the easiest path to the F4? (on paper at least)

I could make a case for any of the three.

Interestingly, Jays played both Arkansas (W in Maui) and Texas (2 point Loss in Austin) this year. No question, both of you guys can win if you play the way you’re capable.