Case of the Wildcat: Part 2

Arizona:  The good stats,

Scoring: 17th, (78.4 pts)

FG %: 17th, (.480)

13th in Offensive Efficiency

20th in FT%

14th in RPI

the “mediocre-average” stats

103rd in Assist/To ratio

80th in Defensive Efficiency

204th in Rebounding

Zona has only bad loss for the year.  A 1 point loss at Oregon State on Jan 2.  Their other 3 losses (Kansas, BYU, and Washington) aren’t so bad when realizing the context of those losses.  Derrick Williams is a beast.  At 19.7 pts, 8.1 reb, and a .631 FG% he is a darkhorse for a National Player of the Year.  Completing the roster, they have in essence a solid 10 man rotation, with compatible contributors (Solomon Hill, Kyle Fogg, Lamont Jones).  They are all adequate players that seem to round out the central focus of Zona’s offense: namely, Williams.  Sean Miller has this team on a resurgence and a Sweet 16 is more than possible.  I think they could get knocked out by a more efficient team who force the other Wildcat players to beat them.  That being said, it seems as if as Williams goes, Arizona goes.  But they shoot well…and if a couple of other players can emerge in the tournament, they could be one of those teams that could mirror an ’03 Syracuse team.  #4 seed, freshman leading them (a la Carmelo) to the Promised Land in a plethora of upsets.  Team Knight.

 

Kentucky:  There is a lot to like about this team.  I prefer this year’s squad over last year’s squad in terms of efficiency.  They rank 14th in offensive efficiency and 20th in total rebounds per game.  They rank 3rd in the nation in blocks/steals per game, 14th in 3 pt %, 17th in Strength of Schedule RPI rating, and are respectable in other key categories: (61st in TO/AS ratio, 65th in Defensive Efficiency, 100th in FT%).  This team is clearly not as talented as last year’s, but due to a reasonably tough schedule and an accomplished (albeit, cheating) coach, they have the makings of a potential final four team.  But that won’t happen.  Highly skilled players with little experience as a group rarely do well in the NCAA Tournament.  I could picture as high as an Elite 8 if the bracket gods are good to them.  Their offensive scheme, to me, seems to feature a little bit too much isolation, relying on guards Knight and Liggins to take defenders one on one.  Add in the fact, that they essentially play only a 7 man rotation, depth is hard to compensate for in a highly paced March.  They look so much like an NBA team.

Makes sense, considering half of them will be probably be there next year.  Major quality players with minor experience among the majority of them, formulate into a team worthy of a run, but not the chops to cut down the nets.  Calipari’s recruiting will make it hard to compete for national championships year in and year out.  Too much balance is lacking.  Team Knight.

2/12/11 NCAA Predictions

2/12/11  Predictions

 

Syracuse   72      Louisville   76

Notre Dame   82       South Florida   68

Kentucky   73     Vanderbilt   75

UNC   77          Clemson   72

Maryland   75      Boston College   70

Texas A&M   71      Texas Tech   67

Oklahoma   64      Missouri   76

LSU   63           Arkansas   72

Ohio State   70      Wisconsin   74

Virginia   58      Florida State   68

Indiana   67      Michigan   65

Ole Miss   72      Alabama   78

Baylor   66       Texas   79

Iowa State   67      Kansas   84

Tennessee   71      Florida   72

Pittsburgh   73     Villanova   76

 

The Deepest Lowe

It is not  imperative for an educated man only to distinguish emotion or rather, emotion-”less” upon a face and in a person’s eyes.  Well such is the reality of one ACC Head Coach.  Sidney Lowe does not look like a man sold out to his passion of basketball.  I have no doubt that he loves the game, developing talent, leading young men, and NC State.  But any previous fire has been hosed down.  He won 20 games his first season in ’06-’07, and the future looked bright with a handful of McDonald’s All-Americans and other highly recruited players, but things have never really taken off.  He has an 83-73 overall record in 5 seasons, but even worse, a 22-51 conference record.  You don’t have a 22-51 conference record in the North Carolina Triad of schools.

Like football in the SEC southern domain, to the state of North Carolina, basketball is life.  What other 3 schools in the US have a combined 12 National Championships and countless NCAA Sweet 16′s and Final Fours between them…all the while, with a proximated distance of less than 15 or so miles between each school?  Throw in Wake Forest, who’s had great successes and tradition of their own, with alum consisting of Josh Howard, Mugsy Bogues, Randolph Childress, Rodney Rogers, and oh yeah… Chris Paul and Tim Duncan.

Throwing those facts aside for now (although, you can never throw them out) Sidney Lowe has lost his team.  He may have lost it for good after last season’s heartbreaking loss to Florida at the RBC Center.  That started a trend.  He may have lost it well before that fateful game, but it’s gone.  And poor State fans, calling for Herb Sendek’s head,  who by the way compiled a 72-88 conference record, never finishing below 6th in the conference, taking the Pack to 5 straight NCAA Tournaments, with a Sweet 16 to boot.  Meanwhile, Lowe has never finished better than 9th in the Conference and has thus, failed to earn a NCAA bid in 4 seasons (and well on our way for a 5th).  But all that’s hodgepodge.  As an ACC and Carolina fan, lived in the state of North Carolina, with all my family roots in North Carolina, I say the Wolfpack deserve better.  ACC fans, NEED NC State to win.  They have too much tradition and legacy to be left to soak in mediocrity year after year.  Furthermore, it hurts the conference greatly, RPI, among other things.  As a Carolina fan, I admit that as much as I love beating State, it’s un-interesting for me to watch the Heels beat them every single year.  Same with Duke.  The rivalry has softened.  In fact, it’s hard to believe that it has sustained.  The Wolfpack nation need a revival.

Listen Sidney, I love the Red Jacket.  You can recruit, but can you coach?  Can you even relate to the college players?  Ya’ll gotta win.  I’ve never seen a more boring, un-enthused, selfish brand of basketball than I saw during their defeats to Carolina and Duke.  They were essentially playing 1 on 1.  You can’t do that to any team, but especially those two squads.  I don’t know how many times they would pass the ball once or twice, maybe, and take a bad shot or (figuratively) isolate the lane for a puny, helpless, and pathetic drive to the hoop.  There is no offensive or defensive cohesion in that system right now.  No ball movement.  Selfish play.  They don’t box out.  They don’t play defense.  They play like we did in P.E. circa Middle School Era.  Everyone looks lost.  Their attitudes reflect their coach.

So here’s the deal, I’m going to give you 12 candidates to replace him at the end of the season.  I believe these are viable options.  It’s not a bad situation for a coach to go to NC State.  Great fan support, decent amount of history and tradition (not so much in recent years, but nothing that can’t be revived), playing against the best of the best every week.  The University supports the basketball program.  The expectations are as low as ever at this point…You could make the tournament every other year at this point, maybe even stretch that out to once every third year…the fans and school might even be happy for a little while.  After the 5th or 6th year, you couldn’t count on that, but my point being, given the context of NC State Basketball and the direction it could take…is a positive one.  If you’re a coach, mid-level expectations, take them to an NCAA Tournament in 2 or 3 years…pays well, you get to play Duke and Carolina every year…not a bad decision.

Here are the (realistic) candidates I think could help NC State become moderately closer to what they used to be…keep in mind though, just because I said it’s a good situation for a coach to transition themselves to State, doesn’t mean every coach would consider it (hence, Coach K, Calipari, Self, R. Williams, Izzo, Boeheim, etc.):

1.  Billy Gillespie (Kentucky, Texas A&M)    Ok, so he’s got some alcohol demons to demolish, but we all have our problems.  Obviously as a coach, you need to set a higher values and moral example but if he can get healthy, NC State should take the risk/reward on Gillespie.  He can flat out coach.  He coached UTEP out of the doldrums in two season marking the most remarkable turnaround in NCAA History, made Texas A&M a perennial force in the Big 12 in 3 years, and got the Kentucky gig.  It obviously didn’t go as well as expected, but there didn’t seem to be much loyalty by the Wildcat fan base and he was let go after 2 seasons.  He did prove he could recruit, bringing in guys like Patrick Patterson, Alex Legion, Daniel Orton, DeAndre Liggins.  NC State isn’t quite the pressure situation that Kentucky is.  But it’s an opportunity for both sides.  He may even begin to give Carolina and Duke a run for the money every now and then.  Assuming his personal life will get right, he is a top candidate and Raleigh would be a great fit.

2.  Sean Miller (Arizona, Xavier)        I don’t know if NC State is as good of a job as Arizona, but this would be a target.  Miller coached in Raleigh under Sendek from 96-01 before moving to Xavier as an assistant to Thad Matta.  When Matta left for Ohio State, Miller succeeded him and took the Musketeers to 4 NCAA Tournaments with appearances in a Sweet 16 and Elite 8.  In the midst of the Arizona turmoil, he now has them in position to grab the Pac-10 title with a current 20-4 record.  Within 3 months on the job, he hauled in the 12th ranked recruiting class (according to Scout.com), so he’s proven he can recruit as well.  Being tutored by former Pack coach Sendek and current Buckeye, Matta, it becomes an impressive resume that State should not ignore.  He’s familiar with the program, can coach, and recruit.

3.  Vinny Del Negro (LA Clippers, Chicago Bulls)    So State may not have the resources to cash in on Del Negro, but he is a State alum who did a solid job with Chicago and is now doing well with the Clippers, sans Blake Griffin and the resurgence of Baron Davis.  But we all know about the Clippers franchise…always mediocre, with players and coaches essentially a revolving door.  There may be no indication that he wants to get out of that and into something more stable at the Collegiate level, but regardless, it would be a major pay decrease.  But the guy can coach.  State may not want to go in the direction of hiring another NBA guy, but if I were State, I would go after an alum with a decent NBA record.  He was 82-82 in Chicago with 2 playoff appearances in 2 seasons before he was let go.  Trust me, it’s a lot harder to get into the NBA playoffs versus a field of 68.  That’s a major upgrade from Lowe.  Besides, his NBA connections (also an Assistant GM in Phoenix) may intrigue some major high school recruits.

4.  Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss, Cincinnati)         Another former Sendek apprentice.  Kennedy has good basketball knowledge and has done a good job at Ole Miss.  Because of his “incident” with the cab driver, the Rebels let him keep his job, but denied an extension for now.  He’ll probably be cleared, charges dropped, lawsuits settled, lessons learned, but now may be the time to bolt if the opportunity arises.  He also coached under Bob Huggins.  And I think some of that Huggy fire rubbed off on him a little.

5.  Anthony Grant (Alabama)    Great job at VCU.  Made the Sweet 16 by beating a good Duke team a couple years back.  Doing a great job at Alabama.  He relates to players well and spent a decade plus with Billy Donavan at Marshall and Florida.  Alabama will always be a football school.  He hasn’t been there long, but if the job opens up, NC State should be in contact with this guy.

6.  Gregg Marshall (Winthrop, Witchita State)   I have a feeling Marshall may want to head back to the southeast.  He’s built great programs everywhere he’s been and his teams have always been a threat to upset in the Tournament.

7.  Russ Springman (Asst. @ Texas)    Rick Barnes’ right hand man.  Great recruiter.  And Texas teaches fundamentals as well as anybody in the country.  If he gets a crack at it, I think he could fit in.

8.  Josh Pastner (Asst. under Lute Olsen, Memphis)   This a stretch.  I think it would be a nice debate whether or not Memphis is a better situation than State.  But I’d try to talk to him anyways.  He’s young, can recruit, and by next year Conference USA will journey into becoming his.  He’s a Lute Olsen disciple and has done a great job taking the place of Caliapari.  He may want a new challenge.  State would be the perfect place to start.

9.  Dana Altman (Creighton, Oregon)   He was very loyal to Creighton.  But he committed to Arkansas a few years ago, only to negate his verbalized acceptance to initially take the job. Last year he finally moved on and took the place of Ernie Kent at Oregon.  He has a great system and his players always have his respect.  It’s a long shot, but it’s worth asking.

10.  Larry Harris (NC State)    I would not be surprised if State at least “talks to him”.  He’s been there forever as an assistant to Sendek and now Lowe.  He would help bridge the gap so to speak.  Whether or not it would be too agonizing to keep him there for any length of time might be an issue.  But he deserves a talk.

11.  Joe Dooley (East Carolina, asst. @ Kansas)    He’s been in North Carolina before as the coach of East Carolina.  Nobody wins there.  But he can coach and Bill Self thought enough of him to add him to his staff at Kansas.  Self acknowledges that Dooley helps immensely in the recruiting department.    He deserves another crack at it.

12.  Mark Few (Gonzaga)    I’ve liked this guy for a long time.  A lot of schools have liked this guy for a long time.  He was once a hugely hot commodity.  He’s had his opportunities and seems to want to stay at Gonzaga.  We all know he can coach.  We all know they win the WAC every year, but he’s bound to get bored with it at some point.  He’s still relatively young and has really helped to develop some fantastic players.  He’s put a few guys in the NBA (even if Adam Morrison was a bust).  He’s worth seeking.

The Drew Debacle

North Carolina has obviously been hit with some concrete walls the past 2 years.  David and Travis Wear transferring certainly hit fans (and Roy Williams) upside the head in surprise.  2 scholarship players, suddenly gone, only after a season in Chapel Hill.  They were expected to provide frontcourt depth in a presumably better and more experienced ’10-11 Tar Heel squad.  Will Graves was suddenly dismissed before the season began.  That was a little easier to get over, even if he was the most productive player on the court some nights during last season’s catastrophe.  And now, the beleaguered, battered, at times inconsistent, point guard Larry Drew is gone.

Drew garnered enormous amounts of criticism last season and in 17 games this season, roughly 54 starts total.  Now there is a valid argument whether or not this could either help or hurt the Tar Heel season.  Kendall Marshall has obviously solidified his starting role, doing so, much earlier in the season according to most sources and most opinions.  It didn’t take a brain surgeon to realize the offense was much more fluid and efficient with Marshall on the court.  The depth defensively could potentially hurt for the short term, as Drew was a solid perimeter, on ball defender, but Dexter Strickland immediately benefits from having to play the 1 last season.  Dex is also a quick, good defender (if not tenacious) and the fastest player on the team.  While his ballhandling is a bit more suspect than Drew’s, he indeed gets to the rim in penetration more than Drew, and is more skilled offensively.  I’ve really seen no correlation in suggesting that Drew was a drastically superior passer, and decision maker than Strickland.  So if Marshall and Strickland can handle the rock for a combined 40 minutes it is essentially a wash if team chemistry prevails here.

With the upcoming game against Duke, it hurts short term not having Drew’s experience, but with Kyrie Irving out, it ultimately becomes a moot point.  Sure, Drew is not there to guard Nolan Smith.  But Tyler Thornton has not yet threatened anyone.  From the players’ and former players’ reactions, sounds like they weren’t as devastated as one might expect.  See the trends…insert Marshall in the linuep = winning streak.  Not just a winning streak, but blowing Boston College and Florida State out.  So never fear UNC fans.

Drew was/is a solid player with average talent and potential, but he has reached his ceiling. Probably back in High School.  Criticism comes with the territory of being a UNC point guard.  Fans have been spoiled.  They’re used to Phil Ford, Kenny Smith, Derrick Phelps, Ed Cota, Raymond Felton, and Ty Lawson holding the keys.  In spite of his talented NBA father and manipulative mother, Larry Drew was never going to match it. Besides, UNC has never been to a Final Four with a 10 man rotation anyways.  And that’s a fact.

I think the issue here, more demeaning and bewildering than with the Wear Twins’ case, is that Drew quit mid-season.  One game before the Duke game.  Transfer after the year, but a mid-season vanishing appears to be giving up and leaving your bond with your teammates and friend behind.  Maybe that bond has been strengthened with a Drew departure, anyways.

Case Of The Wildcat: Part 1

Villanova: The case with Nova is undeniably calculated very well.  They don’t always win big, but they win.  Playing in the tough Big East, it’s a battle every night.  I think most Big East teams end up beating themselves up so much that by Tournament time, they are tired and hurt.  As dominant as the Big East has been in the last ten years, a team hasn’t won the Championship since UCONN in 2004, following up the Melo led Syracuse from ’03.  Jay Wright is a great coach who would be a top candidate for any major College Basketball Program right now if a coach were to retire (or get booted out for NCAA investigation).  His teams remind me of 80′s and 90′s Indiana teams.  High basketball IQ’s, move the ball well, offensive precision, defensively intense, and do many of the little things correctly and efficiently with solid to good players who every year seem to buy into Wright’s system.

It’s not as necessary to statistically prove how bad they are at any facet of the game or category (like I will with K State) or what could be their ultimate downfall.  They’re shooting 77.5% from the charity stripe.  That’s good #1 in the Big East and #9 nationally.  That bodes well in the tournament.  They have 1 bad loss, an away game at Providence, but losing to Georgetown by 3 at home and @ UCONN by 2, are nothing to worry.  Those are 2 of the better teams in the nation.  The loss on a neutral court to Tennessee could provide an argument of reason, but Tennessee has some athletes that can flat out score the ball, regardless of who is on the bench coaching them.  Ok, so that covers all 4 of their losses.  Stats that mean something:  Turnovers/pg: 11.7, #42 nationally, and surprisingly, turn the ball over less on road games.

As/To ratio: 1.256, not too bad. 38th nationally and significantly better than last year.

Points Per Game:  75.5, 45th nationally.

Offensive Efficiency:  1.086, 27th nationally.

Opponents pts/pg: 63.4.  54th nationally.

Defensive Efficiency:  0.912.  3rd in Big East.  38th nationally.

Opponent’s Effective FG %: 44.6.  2nd in Big East. 21st nationally.

Opponent’s 3 pt %: 29.4%.  2nd in Big East.  13th nationally.  They guard your face and force them to make mistakes on the perimeter.

Total Rebounds Per Game: 38.5, 4th in Big East, 35th nationally.

Overall RPI:  14th

Strength of Schedule RPI: 26th

Away Power Rating:  13th.

FG%: 44.4%, 122nd nationally.  Not good, but because they are solid in so many areas, it is not crippling either.

As I’ve displayed, this is one of the most balanced teams in the NCAA.  The Frontcourt is solid.  Their 3 guards, Stokes, Fisher, and Wayns may the best set of 3 guards in the Big East.  Their downfall is that none of these guards shoot better than 43%.  But considering their perimeter defense is among the best in the nation, it could figure to be a wash.  They can shoot, however, and could potentially get hot at the right time.  All 3 shoot above 80% from the FT line (Stokes at 94.5%).  Four of their starters average double figure points with Pena and Yarou averaging more than 7 boards a game.

So balance particularly defines this squad.  Defense, offense, taking care of the ball, rebounding, ball movement, talented guards, solid forwards etc. As I said, they aren’t deemed as dominant in any one thing, but they do all things well.  And that could mean a lot by March if their guards are shooting well.  I am wavering between Team Knight or Team Smith.  They’ve slightly gone under the radar, but with a month to go, anything could happen in the super tight Big East.  Could I give a power rating of 3.5 here?  Naw, I’m going Team Smith here.

 

 

 

Kansas State:  A top 5 team in virtually every Pre-Season Ranking, many of which dubbed them at #2 or #3.  Jacob Pullen was a pre-season 1st Team All American, and Frank Martin was one of the hottest coaches in the nation.  Fast forward to today, and they are a mediocre (at best) Big 12 team, nowhere near a valid Top 25 poll and maybe further off the bubble than Coffeyville Community College.

On December 18th, they were 8-2 with the only losses in neutral arenas to Duke (a 14 point loss) and a 13 point loss to a soon to be ranked Florida in a low scoring affair to which neither team could viably put the ball in the bucket.  I wouldn’t consider those bad losses even to a a perennial pre-season top 25 team (especially Duke) and still figured them to be in legitimate contention by the end of the season, competing with Kansas and Texas for a Big 12 championship nod and a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. From there, they could have looked at the next few games to right the ship and get back on track.  Then came a 4 point loss 3 nights later once again on a neutral court to a formidable UNLV team.  Ok, 8-3.  Still not bad, but that ultimately sent the ship sinking.  3 straight wins at home vs. the likes of UMKC (#201), North Florida (#208) and Savannah State (#261) doesn’t really bolster any RPI.

Following those minute, irrelevant wins came a 9 game stretch that became a 4-5 result with losses to Oklahoma State, Colorado, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Kansas (which the 24 point loss was unmistakably not as close as the score).  One of those wins was a 1 point win against Iowa State, currently ranked #110.  Not the resume you want heading into the middle of February.  In the midst of the downward spiral came the much publicized Pullen comment, stating he would not play in the NIT.  What happened?  Well they turn the ball over: TO/AS ratio of 10th in the league and #180 nationally.  They average 15.4 To/pg which ranks 11th in the Big 12 and #289 nationally.  They can’t shoot.  Their shooting efficiency is dead last in the conference and #201 nationally.  In that mix is their team Free Throw %, at 61.5% also dead last in the conference and #330 nationally.  Making that Free Throw stat much worse (if that’s even possible) is their Fouls per game.  They average 21 fouls per game, 11th in the Big 12 and #279 nationally.  So they can’t hit free throws and put others on the line VERY frequently, with basically all their opponents presumably better at the charity strip than they.

On the other hand, they are #2 in the Big 12 in Total Rebounds and rank #20 in that department nationally.  But let’s not assume their rebounding effort helps to balance out poor shooting, poor efficiency, excessive fouling, and horrendous free throw shooting.

We all know Pullen probably shoots a little bit too much (41.5% or 122-294 FG), and turn the ball over (78 assists to 60 turnovers) but given the talent that he is, not many guys out in the midwest can shoot, pass, penetrate, get to the rim like he does.  So even giving his effectiveness a backseat, it seems to be the catalyst to this team may actually be Rodney McGruder, the team’s 2nd leading scorer and LEADING rebounder; for a 6-4 guard.  When he plays well and consistently effective, they usually win.  In their 8 losses, he only played effectively in 1 of them, a 76-62 loss to Oklahoma State.  In losses to Duke, Florida, UNLV, Missouri, and Texas A&M he is a combined 11-43, 26% FG.  In combined wins against Nebraska, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Washington State he is 17-31, 55% FG.  He’s also averaging 8.5 Rebounds in those contests.  McGruder is the man K State needs most to be consistent if they are still wanting any shot of landing a NCAA bid.  Curtis Kelly has not played in every game, but the games he does play in, he turns the ball over far too much.  Jamar Samuels is shooting a measley 40% FG for a Forward, which is not going to get it done come tournament time.

As bad as things are, I still like the depth of their bench and defensive “ability” (whether it is showcased or not).  They will need to reverse their losing trends with a winning trends.  They will need to be as equally “hot” in mid to late Feb/early March as they were “cold” if they want to make any sort of run.  In College basketball, anyone can get hot at the right time, and they certainly have some pieces, but is there anything left in the tank?  They still have Kansas and Texas to play one more time.  They need one of those games or else their hopes may be derailed.  The team that fell from grace has little opportunity to get back in this thing…yet it is still an opportunity.

They had the chance to do something that had not been done at the school since 1964 and they find that chance fading.  They fell into the classic, “they believed the hype about themselves at the beginning of the season more than we ever did”.  “IF” they get into the tournament, look for nothing further than a Sweet 16 bid, but more likely an exit after the 2nd round.  Team Volvano.

Prelude to Madness: Feb 8.

Stay tuned the next few weeks leading up to March Madness.  I’ll be showcasing different Basketball teams on various and sporadic days with articulated insight and in-depth statistics on each selected team and how Sportface predicts they could fare in the NCAA Tournament.  Most teams reviewed will be underrated, darkhorse projects with some upside for a deep run (or a moderately deep run) in the Houston Bracket.  Some will be of the overrated fashion, likely to be counted as a slayed Goliath when all is said and done.  I’ll end each team assessment with these four categories:

1.  Team Volvano.  A tribute to the late Jim Volvano whose low seeded NC State team peaked at the right time and went on a huge run through the ACC and NCAA Tournament to win it all and cut down the nets in ’83 against a stout Houston team featuring the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde “The Glide” Drexler.  This category is consists of those clearly “on the bubble” that may have just the right chemistry or talent to cause some upsets, ruin everyone’s brackets, but fail to reach the ultimate goal for a Cinderella Destiny.  Power rating of 1.

2.  Team Knight.  Bobby Knight.  Hard nosed defense.  Great shot selection.  Get rebounds.  Run.  Do push ups.  Go to class.  No nonsense.  This category will consist of those teams that best reflect those attributes.  Not one player magnificently stands out in this section of picks.  Just tough, cohesive team basketball with high IQ’s.  Talent is (specifically, for this evaluation) overvalued for this category.  Better chance to dance with Cinderella here than Team Volvano, but many of these teams won’t be on your list or Andy Katz, or Barack Obama’s to take home the gold.. We’re thinking Sweet 16, (possibly) stretching to an Elite 8 type squad.  Power rating of 2.

3.  Team Dean.  A tribute to the “Dean”, Dean Smith.  His teams were always known for their effective, team oriented style of play.  The only coach who kept Michael Jordan under 20.1 points a game.  Always had great teams and many Sweet 16 and Final Four appearances.  And likely, we always seem to think “what might have been” had more guys stayed around before heading to the Pros.  This category will consist of those “slightly” underrated teams (most still found in Top 25, however) with similar expectations where cutting down the nets is quite more plausible than Team Volvano and Team Knight. They’re on your minds, even if they aren’t penciled in your brackets.  Power rating of 3.

4.  Team Wooden.    Dedicated to legend of John Wooden, who organized some of the most dominant College Basketball teams of all time.  The talent is all there, folks. The coaching is there.  The ESPN appeal is there.  You just got to play your game.   Typically, a favorite to go all the way.  This category will consist of the “favorites” to find themselves bumpin’ out to “One Shining Moment” on April 4th.  We’ll see if they really are what they’re cracked up to be.  Power rating of 4.

I think it is significant to note there will be some Team Knights and Team Smiths to possibly posing as Team Woodens, and some Team Woodens posing as…you get the idea.  Vice versa, etc. etc….  the evaluation will be noted with an asterisk.