Final Four thread

Exactly what Buck said. Living on the west coast, I've seen the majority of UCLA's games and they play that way nearly every game. The games they've slipped up on were on the road at Oregon (lost by 1) ... on the road at West Virginia (without Collison) ... at Washington (after they had already clinched the Pac-10) ... and Cal (first round of the Pac 10 tourney).

I've said all along, the reason Ben Howland's teams do well in the tournament is because they're used to playing with tournament-style intensity on defense the entire season, while most other teams have to raise their level of play. Last year's UCLA team really had no business in the title game, but they were so prepared they clawed their way into the title game.

This year's team is a lot better. Collison is running the team better than Farmar (which surprises me a lot); Josh Shipp is able to play this year against Florida and will help tremendously against Quincy Brewer, who murdered the Bruins last year. Mata and Aboya are tough around the basket. The key is if Afflalo comes out aggressive, like he did against Kansas.

 

I still haven't seen the brackets, but it's kind of sad that they put UCLA and Florida on the same side instead of having a potential title-game rematch. That would've been sweet.

 

Hey newbie ... nice D_B! Your first one, right?

 

I'll stick with my lucky-ass money bracket...

Florida over UCLA (though a Bruins' win wouldn't shock me)

Georgetown over Ohio State

Florida over Georgetown

 

Yeah, especially because last year's game was such a classic.

 

They play good defense, for sure, but the key is not allowing the Bruins inside your head. Because KU missed about 15 layups last night, which would have made a huge difference.

 

HOYA PARANOIA......CATCH IT.

 

Yes! That means I can watch one half of basketball. Thanks job!

 

Florida beats UCLA
Ohio State beats Georgetown (though, not sure Oden can handle Hibbert)

Florida beats Ohio State











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That's what has bothered me over the last couple of Final Fours. The best game is the early one and the dog game is the late one. I would rather have OSU/Georgetown as the late game. Everyone will be pining for the bars and skipping out on going to the movies to watch this one.

 

How do you figure OSU vs. Georgetown is the marquee semifinal? Florida and UCLA is a rematch of last year's national title game with this game figuring to be a lot closer than the title game. And, for storyline purposes, you have Florida's quest for a repeat vs. UCLA's storied program in search of a record 17th national title.
I think OSU vs. Georgetown is gonna be a great game, but the right game is going on last.

 

Not sure why it should be, with UCLA giving up so much more size inside this time.