The Elite Eight That Will Make Up The Final Four Come March
The rollercoaster that is college basketball will surely toss a few twists and turns that will derail some heavy favorites over the next few months, but here goes our predictions of the Elite Eight who will be there in March.
California 8 Mike Montgomery’s sophomore season directing the Golden Bears will be a fruitful one with a real shot at not only a PAC-10 title, but a trip deep in March Madness. Four returning starters, all seniors, include sharp defender Patrick Christopher at one guard and offensive stalwart Jerome Randle at point, both of whom were All-PAC-10 selections. Interior defense will be their testing point, but scoring should not be an issue, especially from beyond the arc where Cal led the nation at 42.7%.
7 Villanova In looking to return to the Final Four, the Wildcats went to Africa to score a raw big man by the name of Mouphataou Yarou, a 6′ 10″ freshman forward from Benin. Coach Jay Wright’s hope is that his new find will block and board while his steady backcourt of Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds (the only returning starter) provides most of the offense.
6 Washington With half of their conference losses coming from Cal, the Huskies know their road to repeating as PAC-10 champs will go through Berkeley. Their key is the squad’s two-time most improved player winner, 6′ 6″ forward Quincy Pondexter. He averaged 15.4 points and 6.6 rebound last year.
5 North Carolina The Tar Heels will have just one starter returning from their national championship run (forward Deon Thompson) last year. Proving they still belong among the elite will come during a two-and-a-half week span in December when they face three giants- Michigan State, at Kentucky and at Texas. If they succeed there, it will go a long way to boost the confidence of the young team with two sophomores in the starting lineup.
4 Kentucky A lot of added attention to an already high-profile program will take place this year as John Calipari takes the helm for the Wildcats who played just .500 ball finishing fourth in the SEC. Unsurprisingly Calipari produced the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class that will include three freshman starters. Guards Eric Bledsoe and John Wall will jump right in along with 6′ 11″ DeMarcus Cousins. The highly touted Wall has the potential to skip to the NBA after one season, but a trip tot eh Final Four would make it all the sweeter.
3 Texas Entering his 12th year as the Longhorn coach, Rick Barnes is counting on youth in the backcourt to get him deep into March. Freshmen J’Covan Brown and Avery Bradley will share guard duty with former McDonald’s All-American Jai Lucas (son of former NBA veteran John Lucas) who transferred from Florida where his skills earned him an All-SEC freshman award. Another freshman, Jordan Hamilton will start at forward. The frontcourt is strong with seniors Damion James and center Dexter Pittman averaging double figures in scoring and solid in the rebound game. If they hope to capture the Big 12 title, the Longhorns will have to prove it to Kansas, to whom they’ve lost the last 5 of 6 to, when they meet in early February.
2 Kansas While the Longhorns have a young, but potentially dynamic backcourt, the Jayhawks have perhaps the best group in the nation with Sherron Collins, Tyshawn Taylor and Xavier Henry collectively with no real shortcomings. Certainly the aforementioned February 8 matchup at Texas will be a fun one to watch and clearly a telling point as to who really is Final Four material.
1 Michigan State Motivated by the memory of losing in the Final Four in Detroit last year, the Spartans, with a healthy Raymar Morgan slashing his way through opposing defenses, coach Tom Izzo has every reason to believe, like Morris Peterson did for him in 2000, that his versatile forward will help bring Michigan State the national championship. Where the squad is mentally will be tested when they get a chance to take some measure of redemption losing to North Carolina in the title game at their “homecoming” last year as they head up to Tobacco Road to play the Tar Heels December 1st.
