Michigan will finally claim a second national title
Well here it is, March Madness is upon us and there are no area teams anywhere to be found.
Pitt Panthers?
The only drama late in their losing season was whether Pitt would eat Jeff Capel’s contract or not. He’ll remain. Next season will be his last, though, if a solid recruiting class doesn’t produce an NCAA tournament team.
West Virginia?
The jury is still out on Ross Hodge but the Mountaineers were a bit of a disappointment. I will give Hodge credit for accepting the bid to the Crown tournament to get his players another game in or two. It seems the “in” thing to do now for a lot of the power conferences is pout and say no to the NIT or anything other than the NCAA tournament. Why not play another game?
Penn State?
Mike Rhoades squeezed a few competitive efforts out of the Nittany Lions, most notably a 71-69 home win over Iowa, but they mostly faded after their easy early-season schedule was done. They went 4-19 after an 8-1 start. Finishing with a winning record somehow next year would be a major accomplishment.
So onto actually good teams who’ll be competing for the NCAA national championship:
EAST
It’s very interesting that the committee put the top two teams from the Big East – St. John’s with Rick Pitino and UConn with Dan Hurley – in the same bracket. That conference was a bit weaker than usual this year but it is top heavy with those two teams who are both serious Final Four threats.
Maybe it’s my old Pitt roots but I think the Big East is always formidable. I see St. John’s taking out No. 1 overall seed Duke and UConn defeating Michigan State and veteran coach Tom Izzo to set up a fourth meeting between the Red Storm and the Huskies. Pitino has gone 2-1 against Hurley but the last two have featured complete opposite results with UConn winning by 32 late in the regular season and St. John’s winning by 20 in the Big East final.
It’ll be surprising St. John’s winning for the third time between the two as Pitino earns one last trip to the Final Four.
WEST
Arizona is the top seed and clearly deserves that distinction and Purdue is a solid No. 2 seed. The Boilermakers will take out Missouri and Gonzaga on their way to a clash with the Wildcats, who will breeze past Utah State and Wisconsin, although the Badgers will upend John Calipari and SEC tournament champion Arkansas in the second round.
Purdue showed me a lot in knocking off Nebraska, UCLA and Michigan on their way to claiming the Big Ten tournament.
I’m going with the Boilermakers in an upset over Arizona and onto Indianapolis for the Final Four.
SOUTH
Top-seeded and defending champion Florida stumbled a few times early but finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country. The Gators were on a 17-1 streak until getting blown out by Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament semifinals.
Florida is set up to get revenge against the Commodores if the two can reach the Sweet 16 and I think they both will. But … underrated Vandy will bump off coach Todd Golden’s team again.
Illinois will prevent Houston from repeating as a Final Four team but the Fighting Illini, who went 4-5 over the last nine games, will also fall to the Commodores.
Vanderbilt surprisingly punches its ticket to Indianapolis.
MIDWEST
Michigan is the top seed and, though it may have a bit of a test with St. Louis, the Wolverines will make the regional final fairly easily, beating Cinderella Akron along the way.
One of the best games of this region will be in the second round when second-seeded Iowa State meets a Kentucky squad that had an unimpressive regular season but could be dangerous in the tournament. I see the Wildcats putting up a valiant effort but the Cyclones will prevail and then will battle past Virginia to get a shot at the Wolverines.
Michigan will be the lone No. 1 seed to reach Indianapolis.
FINAL FOUR
Vanderbilt will top St. John’s and keep Pitino from making a fourth appearance in the national championship game. Purdue and Michigan will meet again after the Boilermakers prevailed in the Big Ten tournament final 80-72, handing the Wolverines only their third loss of the season. Michigan gets revenge and then rolls past Vandy to claim its second national championship and first since 1989.
COACHES PREDICTIONS
Following is a sampling from area high school coaches on their Final Four choices with their predicted champion in CAPS. Arizona is the overwhelming favorite of the group with 12 of the 20 picking the Wildcats to win it all.
Rob Kezmarsky, Uniontown boys: Duke, Houston, ARIZONA, Virginia.
Sara Larkin, Geibel Catholic girls: Iowa State, Duke, Illinois, ARIZONA.
Brandon Lawless, Jefferson-Morgan boys: Duke, Illinois, Arizona, MICHIGAN.
Cornelious Nesbit, Belle Vernon girls: Michigan State, Florida, ARIZONA, Michigan.
Joe Hough, Brownsville boys: St. John’s, NORTH CAROLINA, Arizona, Michigan.
Ben Brudnock, West Greene girls: ARIZONA, Michigan, UConn, Houston.
Joe Salvino, formerly Monessen boys, Belle Vernon boys: DUKE, Houston, Arizona, Michigan.
Elizabeth Trump, Beth-Center girls: Duke, Houston, Arizona, MICHIGAN.
Spencer Macke, Albert Gallatin boys: Duke, Houston, ARIZONA, Iowa State.
Dierre Jenkins, Uniontown girls: KANSAS, Houston, Arizona, Michigan.
Ian McCombs, Carmichaels boys: St. John’s, Illinois, ARIZONA, Michigan.
Shandon Marshall, Albert Gallatin girls: Michigan, Duke, Cal Baptist, ARKANSAS.
Mike Juliano, Waynesburg Central boys: Duke, Houston, ARIZONA, Michigan.
Brandi Sutherland, California girls: Duke, Illinois, Arkansas, MICHIGAN.
Billy Becker, West Greene boys: St. John’s, ILLINOIS, Arizona, Michigan.
Bronson Mickens, Connellsville girls: Duke, Houston, ARIZONA, Michigan.
Mark Katarski, Mount Pleasant boys: ARIZONA, Duke, Michigan, Houston.
Rick Hill, Laurel Highlands girls: Michigan State, Houston, Michigan, ARIZONA.
Kris Adkins, Mapletown boys: ARIZONA, Duke, Michigan, Houston.
Chuck McCutheon, Geibel Catholic boys: Duke, Florida, Michigan, ARIZONA.
Rob Burchianti is sports editor of the Herald-Standard and can be reached at rburchianti@heraldstandardcom.