But Michigan beat Wisky by 15 points only 8 days ago.
I get that the Villanova win must be the logic, but it doesn’t really make sense if you look back even a week for data.
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Think about it: if ESPN would have never had Wisky as an 8 seed in the first place (since they aren’t Hollis & Co.), then reseeding them as a 3 doesn’t seem so out of place.
The number 3 overall team remaining in the tournament? That’s a bit steep.
Did ESPN release an initial ranking of the field of 64? If not, who knows what kind of a jump this represents.
I’m likely giving ESPN too much credit, though. This is likely their “What’s Now”-ing of the tournament field and means nothing.
Paraphrasing from the ancient texts of St. Skip and St. Stephen A., if their B.S. hot takes spark conversation, they win.
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CBS reseeded the sweet 16 as well, we were placed 13th and Wisconsin 14th. How all these make sense to the people responsible, I have no idea.
The bracket is wide open for them. Florida lost its best post defender to injury in mid-Feb. And Wisconsin would probably match up well with the winner of Baylor/SoCarolina. So easy bracket/good matchups ---- get ahead of the hype train now and pat yourself on the back when they make the Final Four?
I’m going to be really interested to see how each coach adjusts to their Plan A and Plan B.
Like people have said above, I think our Plan A defensively is obvious - stick DJ on Brooks to start and see if he can guard him. What in the world is Oregon going to do defensively though? Can Brooks hold up down low on DJ? Can they guard the pick and roll game because I don’t think they can get away at all with switching the 1-5?
What’s Plan B for each? It’s obvious again for Michigan. Go with the small ball lineup and put Moe or DJ at the 5 with Duncan or X in. What’s Oregon’s Plan B though? And what the heck do they do if Brooks gets in foul trouble?
Great points. The thing is, they’ve got to play a near perfect game to keep up with us IMO. Unless we shoot 2-20 or something like that, we should lead most of this game. Their depth chart no longer allows them to play too many ways. They play three 6’4 and under players most of the game, switching probably isn’t a realistic option for them. My guess would be to fight through the screens and help on drives and pray we don’t make 16 3s.
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Lot of stuff here… Dorsey and Brooks are tough.
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I was at the Oregon and Villanova games in 2014, but totally forgot about the former. At the time, I thought UM v OR was the undercard. My how times have changed.
Oh nice, didn’t know there was a new write-up. I usually head to the forum and then jump on the main site a little bit later. Sorry I missed that because I’m sure you cover it! Gotta grab a cup of coffee and read through.
I agree, I think Brooks and Dorsey HAVE to be on, Brooks HAS to stay out of foul trouble, etc. A lot of must haves for them now with Boucher out. The biggest thing is Brooks and Dorsey can be really on and carry them. They have it in them to carry a squad against a tough opponent like us.
I bet Matthews is spending a lot of time simulating Dillon Brooks this week.
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I selfishly rooted for him Oregon to win against Rhode Island for one of my brackets but when duke lost it ruined that one anyways so I wish I pulled for Rhode Island.
This is going to be equally tough as Louisville imo. Just in a different way. This team minus Boucher still brought zona down to the wire. I also think with Boucher they were very realistic final 4/ champs contenders.
I think we are a slightly better team but we must clean up our decisions and not sleep walk forcany stretches because they can put up points in a hurry. Wilson will have a hard time starting in front of Dorsey or Ennis depending on his draw.
I’d like to see rahkman play with more aggression and confidence and attack Pritchard all game. I saw some people refer to his inconsistency due to laziness. I don’t think it’s that at all.,he almost always works hard on d and for loose balls. It’s confidence for him. He doesn’t have that killer instinct always like his first two years and he’s looking to defer for some reason.
I have wiscy in the elite eight but don’t write off Florida yet. I really liked that roster coming into the tourney and I think people really are sleeping on them. I think fla could very easily make the final four. I didn’t have the balls to pick them that far but I thought about it. I hope wiscy keeps it up but fla is very explosive, long and athletic. They will do better inside then nova did and they have almost as much running/ off the bounce advantage in guard play that nova did.
They also have a player who could get hot and carry a squad single handily in Allen. That is going to be an amazing matchup and in my opinion it’s fifty fifty. No one is talking about fla and that’s a mistake they are not to be overlooked .
It’ll be interesting to see who Duncan guards when he gets in the game. Brooks and Dorsey seem like tough match-ups. Brooks is probably better as Duncan has worked on his strength, but still not ideal. I wonder if it would make sense to put Duncan on Ennis or Benson and MAAR or Irvin on Dorsey. Not sure it will be possible with the Ducks liking to hurry it up and Michigan tending to guard who guards them.
The ideal setup is: Duncan on Ennis, MAAR on Dorsey, Irvin on Brooks.
Yeah, that does seem ideal, although if we play with Wilson instead of MAAR or Irvin it doesn’t change things that much as long as Duncan stays on Ennis or Benson. But this may be one of the few games where we have a little trouble with the opposing team going small and having a 3 and 4 that both seem like bad match-ups for Duncan.
I agree. Stick Duncan on a wing shooter on defense.