Sweet Sixteen: Questions without Answers...yet (Part I)

Upcoming will be two days and four posts.

You might hear more from me - or Pay - otherwise; however, I'm going to ride my tournament momentum and address a few issues on the upcoming weekend of regional semi-finals and finals.

Midwest = Mid-day Monday (aka BELOW)
West = Late Monday

East = Early Tuesday
South = Mid-to-late Tuesday

Midwest Region:
#9 Northern Iowa vs. #5 Michigan State

Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Northern Iowa QUESTION: Michigan State is battle tested. While Kalin Lucas' health is far from stable, that can't matter to the Panthers. Question is: how do the Panthers avoid a slow start, in both halves, and get this game closer to being in the 70s than the 50s?


Northern Iowa X-FACTOR: This team is ridiculously well-coached. They value possessions, aren't intimidated by the number of All-Americans on another roster, and have the STONES necessary to make clutch shots. They won't underestimate the Spartans. Count on it.

Panther I'm Watching: Ali Farokhmanesh. Aka STONES. As if there was any doubt, right? If you want to become the next Stephen Curry, a letdown can't occur here. Early shots may go in or out, but it's play down the stretch that will determine if his name becomes one of second-weekend folklore or another first-rounder who only gets 15 minutes of fame.

Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Michigan State QUESTION: With Kalin Lucas likely OUT and Chris Allen relegated to going 4 minutes due to injury against Maryland; question is, does Michigan State have enough scoring power for 40 minutes of basketball?

Michigan State X-FACTOR: I know it seems repetitive, but one of the reasons I picked Michigan State to BEAT Kansas (and will Northern Iowa, I think) is Tom Izzo. Players have to execute, and Izzo may be the best pure coach left in the field. In 15 years at East Lansing, Izzo has a national championship (200) and is one away from a half-dozen Final Four appearances. He will have his team prepared and pumped, regardless of who is on the roster. Michigan State converted on a late possession due to the talent of their players and the preparation done by their coach. Key word, as always, for Izzo: focus.

Spartan I'm Watching: While plenty of eyes will (justifably) be on PG Korie Lucious, I'm going to watch and see how Raymar Morgan, a frontcourt senior, handles a lot of big bodies and attention in the paint. If he can attack the glass, while staying out of foul trouble, Sparty has a much better chance to punch their ticket to the Elite Eight.

#6 Tennessee vs. #2 Ohio State

Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Tennessee QUESTION: A lot of people easily dismissed the Vols several times this season. Myself included. After the dismissal of star Tyler Smith, it was way too easy not to do so. Even if they beat Kansas and Kentucky (both at home), they also suffered losses to Georgia and USC. Nevertheless, Bruce Pearl has the Vols in the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in four years. Question is: can the Vols finally break through to the Elite Eight after previous letdowns?

Tennessee X-FACTOR: Statistically speaking, the box scores from the Vols' first 2 games don't leave much to be desired. They didn't shoot lights out, take care of the ball particularly well, hit a ton of 3s, or dominate the boards. Nevertheless, they go 10, and sometimes 11, deep. Can the Vols use their depth to pluck a primary scorer or defender to give the Buckeyes fits?

Volunteer I'm Watching: I've been talking about Wayne Chism for years, so I won't stop now. If Tennessee can establish a presence inside, that won't force Hopson or Prince to go basket-for-basket with Evan Turner (who can light up a stat sheet). Chism must avoid chippy fouls and convert inside 8-feet. Easier said then done for the inconsistent senior.

Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Ohio State QUESTION: Evan Turner is the heart and soul of this team. Duh. Even when he's not at his best making shots, he can pick apart opponents by drawing double teams (or more) and rebounding the ball extremely well at his position. Question is: how good can Ohio State be in this tournament when Turner puts everything together?

Ohio State X-FACTOR: Thad Matta is a proven postseason entity. Bruce Pearl is as well...but to a lesser extent. Pearl has done the best job of his career (thanks for the insight, Pay) this season. The same might be said for Matta. While he's reached a National Championship before, he's balanced riding a star player (Turner), who was injured for 2 loooong weeks, and helped develop considerable talent alongside him. If you had Ohio State contending for a national championship back in late 2009, you're smarter than I am.

Buckeye I'm Watching: Jon Diebler shoots 3s. A lot of them. He also shoots 3s a LOT better at home than he does on the road or at neutral locations. Against UCSB he was lights out (7-12), despite being under the weather. Against Georgia Tech he was an admirable 4-10. If he can find a similar touch - that is, over 40% - and is able to hit 5+ shots from behind the arc, it will open up massive lanes for Evan Turner and David Leighty, causing havoc on the Tennessee interrior defense.

See you all later tonight for the West regional...

Week in Review: Ides of March...Madness

Been a busier week than usual here at PHSports.

First off, check out the NEW POLL top right of the page. Vote on!!!!

Picture of the Week: Wesley Johnson flying high against the Zags

Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Let's check in on what transpired...

1) Pay posted his final bracket projections.
--> As always, job well done. 64 of 65 teams.
--> Pay's reflections can be found HERE.

2) I reflected upon Fab Five Memories and highlighted some potential for the week ahead.

3) Running commentary resumed. Highlights below...
--> Thursday
--> Friday
--> Saturday (I and II)

4) Kansas BUSTED some brackets with their loss on Saturday.
--> STONES: thy name is Ali Farokhmanesh.

5) Syracuse was impressive early Sunday afternoon.

STONES: Ali Farokhmanesh Edition

Brackets BUSTED: Rock, Chalked Edition

Courtesy: CBS

Courtesy: CBS
[Kudos to the folks at CBS for posting this via YouTube quickly and efficiently.]


So...how much did your bracket suffer after one of the NCAA Tournament's most memorable shots???

Brackets BUSTED: Rock, Chalked Edition

So that happened. Rock, Chalk-nation just got a case of STONES!!!

Countless expert and novice brackets had Kansas winning it all.
So much for that.
Maybe my Georgetown pick wasn't so awful after all...
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

#1-overall seed Kansas was given an early exit, on Saturday of the opening weekend, by the 9-seed Northern Iowa, losing 69-67. More than just the Midwest "Bracket of Death" is shaken up now.

Although somewhere, Evan Turner is smiling a little bigger.

Hopefully, you saw the game. Assuredly, you'll see a detailed break-down of how things went down. Nevertheless, here's the 1 fact you need to know. STONES!

It took serious STONES for Northern Iowa's Ali Farokhmanesh to drain a wide-open 3 with 34 seconds remaining. With his team up 1 and the Jayhawks completely locking down the in-bounds attempts of the Panthers, a cross-court pass to Farokhmanesh left him wide open and behind the arc. Instead of waiting to be fouled or passing the ball to a teammate to help kill time, Farokhmanesh turned and drained the deep 3, clinching (by far) the tournament's biggest upset.

The announcers weren't the only ones in the building completely stunned at the shot attempt. I won't repeat the words I uttered. But funny thing is, I knew it was going in. So did Farokhmanesh, obviously. STONES!

I've getting too repetitive, but I can't stress enough that taking that shot takes incredible STONES. You know you are going to make it when you put up a shot like that. No need to pass to a teammate, attack the hoop (they had a 2-on-1 advantage), or wait to be fouled and go to the charity stripe. Show your STONES, drain the 3, and become another highlight in tournament (and of course, Northern Iowa basketball) history.

KU will still be loaded. Nevertheless, this one will sting for quite some time.
This was a LOADED roster and a clear-cut national title contender all season long.
Brackets across the nation...shattered.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

A few other quick notes...
-Bill Self has a ring, but I still question this guy's coaching ability. He isn't in the class of the elite coaches...not yet.
-Sherron Collins was awful today. He knows it, too.
-Cole Aldrich isn't come back to Kansas. Don't pretend he will Jayhawk-nation.
-Something tells me Xavier Henry is 1-and-done as well. DraftExpress.com has him projected to be in the lottery.
-Northern Iowa is don't yet. This team is too well coaches and too gritty to stop now. -All of the 1-seed (even that one in the West I love) are on notice now.

What I'm thinking now??? Can Ish Smith hit open shots and keep Wake in contention to pull off another major upset? In the tournament, these things happen in pairs, not 3s.

Note: Running commentary isn't going anywhere tonight. I'll check in at HALFTIME of the Kentucky/Wake Forest game. BYU/Kansas State is also ongoing.