Each Tuesday during the NCAA tournament, former Xavier and Virginia coach Pete Gillen, a New York native and CBS College Sports Network analyst, will share his March Madness thoughts with Steve Serby.
That was the most exciting first weekend in a long, long time. So what if my bracket has more holes in it than swiss cheese? Hey, at least I still have three (Ohio State, West Virginia and Syracuse) of my Final Four teams alive!
EAST
CORNELL-KENTUCKY: The Kentucky players before the game are gonna be talking about which NBA city they’re gonna be playing in next year.
The Cornell players are gonna be talking about the Gross National Product of Uruguay.
Cornell has a shot — by hitting its threes and bringing Kentucky’s big guys away from the basket with its 2-3 high offense and driving on ’em. I think Cornell doesn’t play a lot of zone, but I think Steve Donahue should definitely use it — Kentucky’s not patient and it slows down John Wall a little bit.
Villanova played “The Perfect Game” against Georgetown in 1985 — Cornell will have to play a near-perfect game — there was no shot clock then, as you recall. I have to pick Kentucky with all its athletes in a high-scoring game.
WEST VIRGINIA-WASHINGTON: West Virginia’s frontline is the difference.
WEST VIRGINIA-KENTUCKY: Kentucky’s got the most talent in the Tournament. But the Wildcats are a little volatile. Bob Huggins will change defenses on ’em and the 1-3-1 trap will give ’em trouble and get ’em out of rhythm. John Calipari’s Achilles heel now is their zone attack. I’m picking West Virginia by one or two points.
SOUTH
DUKE-PURDUE: God must be a Duke fan — it’s got the easiest road to the Final Four. Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” had a tougher time going down the yellow brick road. (Brian) Zoubek’s playing great now, (Jon) Scheyer’s a great shooter, and Purdue doesn’t have enough firepower without (Robbie) Hummel.
BAYLOR-ST. MARY’S: St. Mary’s has not played a big man yet. The doctor slapped Ekpe Udoh on the rear end to help him breathe and the first thing he said was, “Rebound.” Baylor has one of the best backcourt tandems (Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn) in the country, and Baylor’s size is gonna slow down Omar Samhan.
DUKE-BAYLOR: Duke’s been on the big stage, it’s been eating caviar and filet mignon and drinking champagne. The homecourt advantage should help Baylor, but Duke has the size to bang with it and a little bit more offensive firepower.
MIDWEST
NORTHERN IOWA-MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans’ best player, Kalin Lucas (Achilles), is out. Northern Iowa, it’s like Rocky, it doesn’t look real good but it wins. I was in a bar in Milwaukee and I almost choked on my bratwurst when it beat Kansas. Its confidence is growing. The dream moves on. I’m picking the upset.
TENNESSEE-OHIO STATE: Bruce Pearl sometimes wears an orange jacket and orange suspenders — he better wear a helmet this game, he’s in trouble. A good big man can give Ohio State trouble, and (Wayne) Chism’s a good big guy. I think Ohio State has the best shooter in the Tournament — Jon Diebler is an unbelievable jump-shooter.
NORTHERN IOWA-OHIO STATE: Ohio State’s on a mission. Northern Iowa will scratch and claw, but Ohio State has the best player in the tournament in Evan Turner.
WEST
SYRACUSE-BUTLER: Butler is very atahletic, but it’s not a great shooting team. The Syarcuse zone will be too much for it to handle. So will Wesley Johnson and Andy Rautins.
XAVIER-KANSAS STATE: Xavier’s Jordan Crawford is one of the top players in the Tournament, but Kansas State might have the best pair of guards in the country (Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen). Frank Martin’s doing a great job, he’s very emotional — he cries when supermarkets open. I cry when they close.
SYRACUSE-KANSAS STATE: The zone will slow down the Kansas State guards. Even if Onuaku doesn’t get back, ‘Cuse has enough weapons with Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph. Kansas State doesn’t have enough frontline scoring to beat Syracuse.