Five March Madness Questions to Ponder

1) Grade this year‘s men’s bracket?

I’d give it a solid B. Despite the Drexel love, Bruiser Flint’s team didn’t deserve a spot in the field on 65. Too many bad losses and finishing fourth in a mid-major league doesn’t warrant inclusion. With Al Thornton and victories over Florida, Maryland, Duke and Virginia Tech, I believe Florida State was the most glaring omission. The Seminoles played 14 games against the field and have some truly nail-biting losses, most notably two on last-second shots to Boston College and a three-point loss at Virginia. As for Syracuse, it was nice to see the committee punish Jim Boeheim for playing a single road game (at Canisius) before the second week of January.

2) How big is Pokey Chapman’s departure for the Women’s game?

It’s the biggest story in college basketball, Men’s or Women’s, this season. This story can’t get enough media airtime for my liking. We’re talking about a young, successful, female, African American coach and apparently she’s a lesbian to boot. Is there a minority group she doesn’t fit under?

I had the opportunity to meet Pokey (Is there a worse name to have in this situation?) at last year’s Women’s Final Four in Boston. She’s not only a truly gifted coach but a tremendous person as well. But you can’t go all Mary Kay Laterno with your players, there’s no ifs, ands and buts about it. It’s a devastating situation, not only for LSU, which is without a coach and a prime target for an upset in the Women’s Tourney with all the distraction, but for a suspiciously quiet group of feminists who’ve been secretly hoping this would happen to a high-profile male coach for quite some time.

3) Is Duke going to choke again this year?

Gail Goestenkors has taken the torch from Roy Williams, as the coach that’s almost, not quite, always choked the big one, and run with it. In 1999, Duke lost to Purdue in the National title game. In 2004, with a top ranking and the National Player of the Year in Alana Beard, Duke lost in the regional finals to Lindsay Whalen and Minnesota. Last year, the Devils let a double-digit second half lead slip away before losing to arch-rival Maryland in the National Championship.

The past shouldn’t overshadow the masterful job Goestenkors has done with this year’s club. A 29-1 record in quite possibly the strongest conference in the history of  Women’s Basketball. But that singular loss came in an ACC Semifinal to North Carolina State, proving once again that the big one is going to be a very big problem for the Dukies.

Still, playing in Raleigh and Greensboro, it’s pretty much a cakewalk to Cleveland. The question is, can Lindsay Harding, Allison Bales and the Waner’s finish the job?

4) Potential Sleepers

Georgia Tech - Playing the best ball of any team in the ACC until losing to Wake Forest in overtime in the first round of the ACC Tournament. A young team that’s really gelled as of late, winning critical late season clashes with North Carolina and Boston College, the Yellow Jackets have a favorable draw, playing the weakest No. 2 seed, Wisconsin, in the second round.

Villanova - If you’re looking for a one seed to fall on the first weekend, Villanova over Kansas might be the best bet. The Wildcats have three senior leaders in Mike Nardi, Curtis Sumpter and Will Sheridan, and victories over Notre Dame, Louisville, Georgetown and most importantly Texas. You can bet Jay Wright will study the Big XII Tournament Final at some point this week.

Duke - I hate Duke but they’ve got a pretty favorable draw. VCU doesn’t have anyone to match up with Josh McRoberts, Pittsburgh doesn’t score at will and UCLA’s recent struggles have been well documented. This is a Duke team that plays pretty good defense and offensively relies on interior play, as opposed to J.J. Redick’s 3-point touch in previous years. They’ve also beaten Georgetown and seem better suited to playing a Big East, show it down, half court game, that’s proven successful at this time of year.

5) My Final Four

Florida - They’ve turned on the switch. Can they cut down the nets? Though I really like Oregon, I still believe the Gators will be the fourth team, since Duke went back to back in 1991-1992,  to successfully make it back to the Final Four after winning the National Title. The other three? Arkansas in 1995, Kentucky in 1997 and Michigan State in 2001.

UCLA - Getting a two seed wasn’t exactly punishment for losing to Washington and California to end the season. Moving the Bruins out of the West Region would have been. UCLA won’t have to leave California until the Final Four in Atlanta, playing 1st and 2nd round games in Sacramento and the Regionals in San Jose.

Last year, UCLA’s road went from San Diego to Oakland to Indianapolis before losing to Florida for the title.

Ohio State - My head’s telling me to take the Aggies and Acie Law playing at the Alamodome. My heart disagrees. When Texas made their Final Four run in 2003, the Alamo City provided a huge home court edge for Rick Barnes’ club. But the Buckeyes have been the best team in the land since the arrival of Greg Oden, despite playing in a pretty weak Big 10.

Georgetown - I’d love to see a rematch of the Ohio State/North Carolina thriller from the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in November. But Carolina’s road to Atlanta is littered with road blocks. Marquette was underseeded as an 8 and Kevin Durant and Texas in a Sweet Sixteen matchup? As Dukie Vitale would say, “You’ve gotta be kidding me, baby!” Throw in Tyler Hansbrough’s broken nose and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Few teams in the field, Hansbrough/Wright and Oden included, can’t match up man for man with Georgetown’s frontcourt of Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green.