by Jasper67 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:42 pm
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.