What to watch for Friday in the NCAA Tournament
What to watch for today in the NCAA Tournament:
■ TOP BILLING: It can be argued that No. 5 Northern Iowa and No. 12 Wyoming both were a bit underseeded by the selection committee. The good news for fans is they end up meeting today at Seattle in what should be a highly competitive game. Wyoming started to look like the team it was early in the season during the Mountain West tournament as Larry Nance Jr. continues to work his way back to full strength from a bout with mononucleosis. The Cowboys play tenacious defense and will give the Panthers fits on that end of the floor. Northern Iowa (30-3) is just as capable of locking down defensively. Scoring could be at a premium in this game that will produce a dangerous team for the rest of the bracket. One key battle will be on the glass. Northern Iowa is one of the worst rebounding teams in the nation and that weakness will be seriously tested.
■ SLEEPING GIANT: Kansas finds itself in its customary position of entering the tournament with a high seed. This year’s team doesn’t carry the usual expectations of Jayhawks squads of the past, however. Kansas limped into the tournament and will play New Mexico State short-handed. Freshman Cliff Alexander didn’t even make the trip as he continues to deal with possible eligibility issues. Junior Perry Ellis is dealing with a knee injury. He’s expected to play, but has not had his typical explosiveness in the two games since returning. Experts all over the media are predicting an early exit for coach Bill Self’s team. Perhaps that’s the motivation it needs. Kansas has a history of getting bounced much earlier than expected. The opposite could hold this year.
■ HELLO OLD FRIENDS: San Diego State senior Dwayne Polee might be able to help his coaches with the scouting report for today’s game against St. John’s. Polee played 33 games as a freshman for the Red Storm before transferring back to the west coast. He even played an NCAA Tournament game for St. John’s in 2011, a loss to Gonzaga in Denver. Polee might not have a lot of friends on the other sideline, however. The Red Storm were a senior-dominated team that season and have an entirely new roster now. That roster is not complete entering the postseason, though. St. John’s junior Chris Obepka, its best post player, is suspended and will not play.
■ WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THIS BEFORE? It was only two seasons ago that 12th-seeded Oregon bounced No. 5 Oklahoma State in the round of 64 with a 68-55 victory. That was part of a tough stretch for the Cowboys, who haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2009. This year’s version is a bit of an enigma. The Cowboys swept Texas and Baylor, while losing to Texas Tech and TCU. Le’Bryan Nash is a tremendous player, but the Dallas native won’t even be the best player from Texas on the floor. Houston native Joe Young, the Pac-12 player of the year, can score from anywhere on the floor. He is fun to watch as long as you’re not a Utah fan. Young beat the Utes in the Pac-12 semis with a long, buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
■ SEEDING SUCCESS: The selection committee always takes a great deal of criticism and much of it is warranted. There’s usually a bunch of laughter coming from Las Vegas when the numbers come out and a few lower-seeded teams are favored to win in the opening-round games. That’s not the case today, however. All 16 teams with better seeds are favored to win.
■ UPSET ALERT: Thursday was not a good day to be a No. 3 seed, particularly those from the Big 12. Baylor lost on a long 3-pointer by R.J. Hunter in the closing seconds and Iowa State fell victim to some big shots by Alabama-Birmingham in the final minutes. ACC champion Notre Dame survived against Northeastern, but barely. Today, it’s Oklahoma’s turn to try to avoid a shocking loss when it plays Albany. Lon Kruger’s team enters the game as a 12.5-point favorite. The Sooners will have to overcome one of the true feel-good stories of the tournament. Peter Hooley hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the America East championship game as the Great Danes beat Stony Brook. Hooley, Albany’s best player, missed eight games during the regular season to return to Australia to be with his ailing mother. She died of cancer on Jan. 30.
■ TRENDY DOGS: Before selection Sunday, there probably weren’t a lot of people that even knew the University of Buffalo had a basketball team. Today, it’s tough to find someone not picking the Bulls to beat West Virginia. Even President Obama picked the Mid-American Conference champion to pull the upset when he filled out his annual bracket on ESPN this week. Obama cited coach Bobby Hurley as the main reason for his selection. “He was not a big guy, but he was tough and scrappy. That’s reflected in his team; they play great D so I’m going to pick them,” Obama said. Hurley can probably have his pick of available jobs should he prove the president prophetic.
