NCAA bracket preview: Eastern promises
Posted March 14, 2012 10:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When the field for March Madness was announced, there was a bit of an uproar as the nation’s top two seeds, Kentucky and Syracuse, had been bracketed to meet in the semi-finals rather than the finals.
But on Tuesday, the Orange announced that sophomore centre Fab Melo was ineligible for the tournament, making that meeting now seem like a long shot at best.
Syracuse has already played a couple of games without the seven-footer and suffered one of their two losses on the season, but since the Brazilian returned, they have looked very beatable including a loss to Louisville in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
They have trouble rebounding and that has to boost the confidence of several of the bigger teams in the East Region including potential second round opponents Kansas State and Southern Miss.
With that in mind, let’s take a quick look around the East Region.
No. 1 seed – Syracuse Orange
This is a team that has had to overcome adversity all season with a couple of scandals and that trend continues on the eve of the tournament. Yes, the loss of Melo leaves a gaping hole in the middle but this is still a team that is loaded with NBA-calibre talent such as Dion Waiters, Kris Joseph and CJ Fair. They will remain a tough out.
No. 2 seed – Ohio St. Buckeyes
While Ohio St. was good enough to claim a No. 2 seed in the East Region, they have still failed to live up to their pre-season billing. J.J. Sullinger was expected to dominate as he returned for his sophomore season and he has slowly dropped down the draft rankings. That being said, the inside-outside duo of Sullinger and point guard Aaron Kraft may provide enough firepower to reach the Final Four. President Barack Obama took the Buckeyes here and he might be right.
No. 3 seed – Florida St. Seminoles
The ACC tournament champions are making their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA games and have a balanced attack which has seen seven different players lead them in scoring in a game this season. They play great defence under Leonard Hamilton but the one thing they might be missing is a true go-to scorer in crunch-time. Michael Snaer is good but he is no gamebreaker.
No. 4 seed – Wisconsin Badgers
Much like the rest of the Big 10, the Badgers play a gritty, hard-nosed style of basketball. Some might call it boring while others might describe it as efficient. Truth-be-told, this team might be slightly undervalued as the No. 4 seed.
No. 5 seed – Vanderbilt Commodores
The SEC Tournament Champions are becoming regulars in the NCAA tournament as this is their third straight appearance. That being said, they have only managed to make it past the opening weekend four times over the past 25 years. Festus Ezeli, John Jenkins and Jeffrey Taylor provide veteran leadership and the trio of future pros may be enough to help this tam advance further than expected.
No. 6 seed – Cincinnati Bearcats
Early in the season, the Bearcats struggled losing to Presbyterian and Marshall before getting into an ugly brawl with crosstown rivals Xavier which seemed to break them out of their slumber. Cincinnati is not a big team but Yancy Gates is a widebody with a nice touch and can carry them on the boards as all of the team’s guards tee up from long range.
No. 7 seed – Gonzaga Bulldogs
A couple of Canadians have starred for the Bulldogs this season. Robert Sacre, a seven-foot senior, who may be picked late in the first round of the NBA draft does most of the damage inside for Gonzaga while freshman Kevin Pangos sets the table for the team as the point guard can also light things us for long range. He dropped seven threes in a game early in the season making the basketball world take notice.
No. 8 seed – Kansas St. Wildcats
The Wildcats are looking to advance past the first round for the third consecutive year and with their rebounding prowess and the absence of Melo, many are now predicting they could knock off Syracuse as well. They have to be careful though not to look past their first-round opponent Southern Miss.
More from around the region:
There are a boatload of talented Canadians in this region. In addition to Pangos and Sacre, Kris Joseph (Syracuse) and Andrew Nicholson (St. Bonaventure) lead their respective teams in scoring while Myck Kabongo is the top assist-getter at Texas. Laurent Rivard is also a key cog in the Harvard Crimson machine… Speaking of Harvard, they have been matched up with Vanderbilt which is commonly referred to as the ‘Harvard of the South’… Southern Miss is in the Big Dance for the first time in 21 years and still searching for their first win…
