Miami doesn’t have the most storied basketball program. But the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee was living in the past when it gave the ACC regular-season and tournament champion a No. 2 seed and sent it to Austin, Texas.
Knowing Miami coach Jim Larranaga, the former Archbishop Molloy star, he’s going to use that as motivation.
Take heart, Miami fans. This is the easiest region. We’ll see you in the Elite Eight against Indiana.
BEST PLAYER: Indiana shooting guard Victor Oladipo (pictured) does a little bit of everything, is a lock-down defender and does it with a passion that makes old-timers smile.
UNSUNG PLAYER: Khaliff Wyatt of Temple is the quintessential Philadelphia-area guard — hard-nosed and aggressive. He has made 188 free throws, 188 field goals and an unknown number of stinging comments to officials and opponents.
BEST SECOND-ROUND MATCHUP: No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Bucknell: The dangerous Bison have a legit big man in Mike Muscala. The Bulldogs must bring their physical defense.
SECOND-ROUND UPSET WATCH: No. 14 Davidson over No. 3 Marquette: If you’ve ever seen a Bob McKillop team play, you know how dangerous the Wildcats are. If it’s close late, Davidson is an 80 percent foul-shooting team.
BRACKET BUSTER: Fran Dunphy, the coach of No. 9 Temple, is as good as it gets, and in Wyatt he has a player who can dictate a game.
SHOOTER’S TOUCH: You don’t want to get into a shootout with top seed Indiana, the nation’s second-highest scoring team. The Hoosiers, led by top marksmen Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford, are near the top nationally in 3-point shooting (third), field goal shooting (seventh) and free-throw shooting (35th).
DEFENSE WINS: Jim Boeheim’s notorious 2-3 zone can be even more daunting against teams that have never seen it. Fourth-seeded Syracuse is sixth in field-goal defense, fourth in blocked shots and 15th in steals.
CHAMPION: The Hoosiers were No. 1 going into the season and won the regular-season crown in the Big Ten, the nation’s toughest league. Coach Tom Crean and Indiana have been building to this since going 10-21 in the 2009-10 season. The seniors will remind their teammates of the road they have traveled.