August 4th, 2009 at 11:53 PM ^
It's a great tournament! Guaranteed 3 games, for the most part it's fairly solid competition.
Craziest Looking Bracket Ever!
That is quite a bracket. The flow of games was kinda intuitive, but I had to work a little to figure out the final placings (1st, 2nd, 3rd...). The 3rd place finisher will have gone 1-2, while the 4th place team will be 2-1.
Yea I think thats retarded. How does the loser of the 3rd place game not take 4th place?
August 5th, 2009 at 12:15 AM ^
We should be the favorite, although that Creighton game could be tough. FSU could also be challenging, given that they're essentially playing at home.
It's so weird to talk about M basketball being the favorite.
what about marquette? would they be considered the favorite?
First game--Creighton. Replacing their stud shooter Booker Woodfox. He was in the Salim Stoudamire, JJ Reddick mold as shooting goes. But, you can never discount Altman's squads. His team has been to the postseason every year he has been in Omaha. They will come in with confidence and good defense.
Marquette/Xavier---Lets say UM wins. They take on the winner here. It will be Xavier. No offense to marquette, but they are replacing the best guard trio in the Big East. They are rebuilding. Xavier will be a NCAA tourney team. They have a kid who kinda, sorta dunked on The Chosen One. Honestly, Xavier/Michigan may be a coin flip.
Florida State or Baylor will come out of the other side. BU does have to replace the winningest senior class in school history, but they also return a lot of fire power. FSU has to replace all world Toney Douglass, but man oh man, do they have a lot of size. A couple agile, seven-footers will be in their rotation. Plus, they will have the best freshmen in this tournament in the Spears kid, who is one the top shooting guards in the 2009 class. Hopefully, if they go head to head, Darius Morris will change people's minds about who the best frosh at the Old Spice will be. I like the Noles this year, they've brought in a lot of talent the last couple of years and Leonard Hamilton team's are known for aweseom defense.
In the end, the OSC does not look as great a field as the last two seasons, but all these teams have possible high ceilings. Most of these teams will be in bubble contention, so if Michigan does well or even wins, they will control their own fate as far as March goes.
Cant wait. I'll be in Tampa for this weekend. I might make the drive to Orlando to catch some action.
Go Blue!
Don't overlook Creighton. Altman always has his teams ready to play- and MVC teams only get so many chances to upset one of the big boys... early in the season is the best time for that too...
Hopefully we will be fine since we have 4 starters back and over 90% of our scoring from last year (if my math is right...)
I didnt realize how many players Marquette lost.... Xavier lost there top 3 or 4 scorers as well.... I'm sure they will have a solid team, as they usually do, but UM does have a good shot at this tournament
August 5th, 2009 at 10:41 AM ^
I'll be there this year and looking forward to a possible championship matchup against EKPE UDOH and those Baylor Bears.
Can you imagine our team with him still on it?!
August 5th, 2009 at 11:25 AM ^
our schedule is EXCITING this year. Obviously, there are plenty of Big 10 match-ups to get pumped for (MSU). But UConn, Kansas, and the Old Spice make this season one to get up for!
I live in Orlando. I'm there!