East Region Comparatively

[ljmilman]

Seems at best well set up, and at worst fair.

2- I'm more comfortable with OSU than Kansas or Mizzou, Duke wasn't going to happen.
3- I don't feel FSU is as good as their UNC/Duke wins imply. Overseeded by a few slots. I think I'd rather see them than Baylor, Marquette, or GTown
4- Wisconsin is probably a better 4 than banged-up Indiana, Michigan, or Louisville, but still fair.
5- Vandy could be tough, or they could the bed.
6- I think Cincy blew their load in beating us, and could be upset by Texas.
7- Adam Morrison's not walking through that door. St. Mary's beat them, and ND/Florida aren't pushovers either.
8- K-State is bipolar. Good K-State would be a challenge. Bad K-State would be a joke.
9- SMU is talented, but we avoided the 4th UConn matchup.
10- WV is on par with the other 10's
11- NC State looked good against UNC. Have heard good things about Colorado St. Texas is probably not winning more than 1 game.
12- Harvard may be the best 12 seed. A friend made an interesting comparison to Cornell two years back. That Big Red team defeated Wisconsin in the 2nd round...Harvard could face Wisconsin in the 2nd round.
13- New Mexico State and Davidson are as dangerous as Montana is in my book.
14- The Bonnies are just happy to be in. Belmont's the upset pick.
15-Loyola's not bad, they and Detroit could keep it single digits with a 2 seed.
16- UNC-Asheville and LIU are probably the two better 16's, but tough to compare 16's.

Overall, I think there are maybe two teams in our region who are the scariest of their seeding. There has to be a 2, 3, etc. seed in every region, but given the available options, this region doesn't work out too badly, I don't think.

Thoughts?

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Other than a tough loss to OSU in the elite 8...there is no other excuse to lose in this bracket, playing with loads of Orange in the stands and a loaded team on the court. We got lucky with overseeded Vandy and FSU in the bracket.

 

[mantonio]

It isn't the toughest bracket in the bunch, but I am less concerned about that.

I want to see this team completely DISMANTLE every seed up to the Elite 8, & then watch them handle that team, skating into the Final Four with an unparalleled confidence.

This team has the wealth of talent to do this, & the second half of the season, they have not shown a killer instinct. YES, they find ways to win, but I, for one, have seen enough of that excitement throughout the year.

I want this to be the most one sided, non-thrilling tournament in Syracuse history, with the CUSE utterly controlling each team throughout, until they are holding that Trophy !!!

 

[KingOtis]

Wisconsin hasn't done anything to move the needle all year. Other than sweeping Indiana and splitting with Ohio St., their resume is unimpressive. Their ranking is about the same as it was at the start of the season. Had they started the year unranked, they probably would have never moved into the Top 25.

 

[obliterata]

All in all, I agree with Seth Davis, the east region is the toughest.

Number of wins by seeds 3 - 16 in each region versus all the 1 and 2 seeds during the season:

east - 9
south - 7
midwest - 2
west - 0

The east region has 5 teams that know how to win big games against the top teams/programs. Kansas St, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, and Florida St have all proven they can do it and that makes them dangerous.

edit: darn, can't freakin' add right

 

[IthacaMatt]

All in all, I agree with Seth Davis, the east region is the toughest.

Number of wins by seeds 3 - 16 in each region versus all the 1 and 2 seeds during the season:

east - 8
south - 7
midwest - 2
west - 0

The east region has 5 teams that know how to win big games against the top teams/programs. Kansas St, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, and Florida St have all proven they can do it and that makes them dangerous.

I'm surprised by those numbers. I looked at the brackets and thought that Kentucky got the toughest draw, with UConn in the 2nd round, Indiana in the Sweet 16 and either Baylor or Duke in the Elite 8. I also thought that North Carolina's opponents at the top of the Midwest region were tougher than ours too, with Kansas, Georgetown and Michigan. I thought we were the 2nd weakest region, after the West (as usual).

 

[longislandcuse]

I'm surprised by those numbers. I looked at the brackets and thought that Kentucky got the toughest draw, with UConn in the 2nd round, Indiana in the Sweet 16 and either Baylor or Duke in the Elite 8. I also thought that North Carolina's opponents at the top of the Midwest region were tougher than ours too, with Kansas, Georgetown and Michigan. I thought we were the 2nd weakest region, after the West (as usual).

I think Michigan is a joke. I would have LOVED them in our bracket.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Wisconsin hasn't done anything to move the needle all year. Other than sweeping Indiana and splitting with Ohio St., their resume is unimpressive. Their ranking is about the same as it was at the start of the season. Had they started the year unranked, they probably would have never moved into the Top 25.

That said, Bo Ryan is a very good coach and his ability to dictate a tempo and force a half court game could frustrate our half court offense. On the other hand, the Badgers are very offense-challenged and if you can get a lead on them they have no mechanism in their arsenal to mount a comeback

 

[obliterata]

I'm surprised by those numbers. I looked at the brackets and thought that Kentucky got the toughest draw, with UConn in the 2nd round, Indiana in the Sweet 16 and either Baylor or Duke in the Elite 8. I also thought that North Carolina's opponents at the top of the Midwest region were tougher than ours too, with Kansas, Georgetown and Michigan. I thought we were the 2nd weakest region, after the West (as usual).

Kansas St beat Missouri twice (wow!), Vandy played UK tough all 3 games and won one, Wisconsin won at Ohio St, Cincy beat SU of course, and FSU beat both NC and Duke twice - 9 damn good wins. And then there's Ohio St which beat Duke and won at Michigan St. Each round after the first game is going to be a challenge for SU barring upsets.

Although Kentucky's region looks tough I can only see UConn and Baylor stopping them from making the Final Four, I just don't think Duke and a second-time-around Indiana can beat them.

I'll be very surprised if Michigan St and Missouri aren't playing each other with a FF trip on the line, I can't see anyone else in the Elite Eight.

North Carolina has a cakewalk to the Elite Eight where they'll face either Gtown or Kansas.

That's the way I see it.

darn: can't freakin' add right

 

[omniorange]

Kansas St beat Missouri twice (wow!), Vandy played UK tough all 3 games and won one, Wisconsin won at Ohio St, Cincy beat SU of course, and FSU beat both NC and Duke twice - 8 damn good wins. And then there's Ohio St which beat Duke and won at Michigan St. Each round after the first game is going to be a challenge for SU barring upsets.

Although Kentucky's region looks tough I can only see UConn and Baylor stopping them from making the Final Four, I just don't think Duke and a second-time-around Indiana can beat them.

I'll be very surprised if Michigan St and Missouri aren't playing each other with a FF trip on the line, I can't see anyone else in the Elite Eight.

North Carolina has a cakewalk to the Elite Eight where they'll face either Gtown or Kansas.

That's the way I see it.

Agree. East is the toughest region with some of the "hotter" teams. Indiana and Duke are on the downslide. South is being overrated by some on this board.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Orangezoo]

the east is tough i agree.. but with kstate so up and down.. if they win .. expext a clunker to follow.. usm likely wins that game and gives us a tough 22 minutes before we pull away. wiscy or vandy is a tough s16 matchup as it should be a tougher game. our defense will be tough on them both and neither plays their own d that is overly stifling. i think we will see the first two games like we saw with vermont and zaga in 2010.. the s16 game could be like butler .. we just need to punch first offensively