I’ll try and make this quick.
Before I get into picking tonight’s games, I just want to extend a challenge to my fellow FreeCell players out there. It’s my chess. I can play 10-15 games on a slower day. I usually rip through a game in 3-4 minutes. However, I met a game yesterday that took me 45 minutes to an hour. I passed along the game number to a few others, some took 10 minutes, some took just as long, some quit.
Game #32517…if you do it in 5 minutes, feel free to tell me I’m an imbecile. If you take a while, let me know it’s not just me.
As for tonight, the Sweet 16 is just great. The lineup just looks absolutely money. What are we going to call the game of the night? I’m voting Memphis-Texas A&M.
A powerful offense from Tennessee versus an overbearing defense playing just 200 miles from its home (fair?)…it’s all setting up in aTm’s favor.
Like I said in the preview, the Aggiest have lost five of their six games this year by a COMBINED 10 points. I can’t stress that stat enough. This team can play hoops. I think we’re talking the best No. 3 in the Tourney vs. the weakest No. 2.
Before you Tigers get all crazy on me, I know about the 30-3 record. John Calipari has shoved it down my throat. If Memphis is to win this game, it must grab every board, finish every transition possession (none of this alley-oop stuff the Tigers are so good at) and take nothing for granted. Nothing’s coming for free in this one. Because of this I think aTm will win.
As for the other games, I think Pittsburgh is lucky to be in it, the Panthers’ run ends at the hands of their former coach.
Kansas will be too much for Southern Illinois (although I may have said differently in one of my brackets, which we won’t talk about). The Salukis are legit on defense, but this isn’t Holy Cross or Virginia Tech. Kansas can flat out ball.
Finally, Tennessee and Ohio State. What about this 9:57 p.m. tip? Who do they think outside of Columbus and Knoxville will stay up to watch this end? I don’t understand why they couldn’t slide the games an hour back. Whatever.
Will the scare against Xavier be enough to right the ship for the Buckeyes? If Tennessee can get off to a hot start like it did against Virginia, watch out (it was like a buy-one, get one free special on three pointers in the first half). I’m having a tough time picking this game….
Screw it, I’m going with Tennessee.