Early March Madness Projections: Top 4 Seeds
It’s always fairly easy to project the top 4 seeds this time of year. After all, conference games are just started and most teams have beaten up on the non conference teams that they’ve faced so far. Some of them haven’t even really been tested yet. Only one of the 4 teams in my projected top 4 even has a loss though North Carolina came awful close last night.
#1…North Carolina: Top Ranked team in the country right now and they are loaded and deep at most positions. They recently lost backup point guard Bobby Frasor for the year and it hurt them last night. I’ve never been a Frasor fan but he has been very solid for the Tarheels and they’ll miss him. I see North Carolina losing a few conference games because the ACC is just that tough but I don’t expect them to be anything but a number 1 seed come tourney time.
#2…Kansas- This is the best team I’ve seen so far. They put pressure on the ball and have players all over the court. They have incredible team athleticism at every position. To me their best player is Sherron Collins and he doesn’t even start. Bill Self usually isn’t the greatest at developing talent once he gets it but he has these guys playing very hard. On saturday they went into Boston College and beat them by nearly 30 points and it could’ve been worse. Self needs this team to go deep into the tourney so he can get rid of the ‘can’t win the big one’ label. I think he will. Kansas will be a #1 seed come tourney time. I see them being upset once or maybe twice and that’s it. This team is loaded and the Big 12 isn’t this year outside of Texas.
#3…Memphis- Memphis is a team I’ve talked about over and over. They will now breeze through conference games being upset maybe once or twice but I would not want to play them ever. If they control tempo they win. The only way a team will beat them is if they completely handle the pressure with composure and control the pace of the game. If Memphis is allowed to play out of control and Derrick Rose gets to freelance then they will not be beaten and that includes against teams like North Carolina or UCLA. However the game I want to see is Kansas and Memphis. These teams both like to run like crazy and have athletes all over the court. It would be a game in the 80’s or 90’s and be something to see. I’d love to see Derrick Rose matchup with Chalmers and see how Joey Dorsey would do against Darrell Arthur and Sasha Kaun of Kansas. I hope both of them make the final 4 so i can see that game.
#4…UCLA- This was my toughest one to put in because Washington St is playing so well. However, when all is said and done the Bruins will be a tough team to beat come tournament. I love the way they play hard nosed defense and they have had some injuries so far this year. They beat a very good Michigan St. team with Collison out and now they lost shooter Roll for a month or so. Still, they are very athletic and very well coached. They don’t take any possessions off and are very prepared for each team they play. They also have several players who can get them key baskets at any time with Shipp, Collison and Kevin Love. I love UCLA.
I’m not predicting a title team just yet. Gimme till March and i’ll break down my bracket. Copy it if you want and we can split the pool money when you win.
