NCAA Tournament Thoughts

The second week of March Madness is almost here, and two ACC teams are left standing.  A month ago no one would have guessed that one of those two would be N.C. State.  The Wolfpack have put together a nice run in the last couple weeks.  The issue in previous years has not been talent: they have had a lot of solid players.  But now paired with a solid coach they are achieving.  State did get a pretty favorable draw.  As an 11 seed, they played probably the weakest 6 seed in the field in San Diego State.  And then they played a solid team in Georgetown, but one that has been prone to early exits from the tournament.

Friday N.C. State will take on Kansas, which will certainly be a tough matchup.  State fans have to be upset that Purdue couldn't finish off the Jayhawks.  Purdue would have been a much better matchup.  The key for the Wolfpack is finding a way to defend Thomas Robinson without picking up a lot of fouls.  They cannot have C.J. Leslie or Richard Howell on the bench for extended periods of time and hope to win.

On the other side of the Midwest bracket is North Carolina.  No team has had more discussion around it in the last few days than the Tar Heels.  Kendall Marshall hurt his right wrist in the game against Creighton, although nobody saw it during the game.  What happens with Marshall will certainly have a big impact on how far Carolina can go.  At times they looked like the best team in the country against the Tar Heels.  But they just don't have any depth at the point guard position.  Stillman White playing 35 minutes will not lead to success, even with the frontcourt tandem that they have.  Now, I do think even if Marshall cannot play against Ohio they should be able to beat the Bobcats without much problem.  But if the Elite 8 matchup is North Carolina against Kansas, Tar Heel fans better hope Kendall is as healthy as possible.

One last word about Florida State: the Seminoles have to be disappointed about what took place last weekend.  It's only natural to compare this season to last season.  So after a great run in the ACC and ACC Tournament, fans were expecting at least a Sweet 16 run.  But the Seminoles never really got into their groove in the NCAAs.  They looked underwhelming against St. Bonaventure, a team they should have beaten by double digits.  And they had more talent than Cincinnati.  (Full disclosure: I didn't get to see much of the FSU/Cincy game, it started way too late for a Sunday night.  And the Sweet 16 games are getting later and later.  The late games might not tip off until 10:30 or so.)

You wonder if FSU has hit its peak.  Many of their key players are seniors, and there is talk that Leonard Hamilton may bolt for Illinois.  Expect them to at least take one step down next year.