OU may be done, but OSU, Texas, KU, K-State just getting started
Published: 3/14/2010 10:53 PM
Last Modified: 3/15/2010 8:52 AM
There's no Oklahoma to break down in this NCAA tournament, but there are plenty of teams dancing who beat Oklahoma. My take on those teams' chances the next week or three:
Houston
Maryland will do to the Cougars what OU did not in Alaska back in November -- guard them.
Out game: Maryland, first round
UTEP
The Sooners actually tried to defend UTEP back at the All College Dec. 21. They just couldn't. I started popping off about the Miners' talent that night at the Ford Center. I'm not about to zip up now.
Out game: Kansas State, Elite Eight
Gonzaga
UTEP gets a major assist from the Zags when they upset West Region top-seed Syracuse in the second round.
Out game: UTEP, Sweet 16
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys will beat Georgia Tech to serve justice to a selection committee that vastly overrated the ACC. They'll also upset Ohio State in round two as James Anderson gets more help from his supporting cast than Evan Turner.
Out game: Georgetown, Sweet 16
Texas
Been saying for weeks that these guys will eventually get their (bleep) together. I saw them in Kansas City, however, and they still look pretty dysfunctional.
So why advance them all the way to the Elite Eight? Because Kentucky, with its forked-tongued coach and his bratty players, needs to go down hard. The Longhorns can do the job, then take out lumpy Wisconsin in the Sweet 16.
Out game: West Virginia, Elite Eight
Baylor
So much cake in the South Region it should be sponsored by Duncan Hines. The Bears beat Sam Houston State and Richmond to advance to the Sweet 16, confirming that this is a strange time in sports.
Out game: Villanova, Sweet 16 (final score: 112-109)
Texas A&M
The Aggies are in the dryer sheet South as well. Still, it's hard to pick a team that came closer than anyone to losing a conference home game to OU. I still don't know how Mark Turgeon squeezed 23 wins out of this bunch.
Out game: Utah State, first round (5-v-12 strikes again)
Kansas State
Dynamic backcourt bolstered by emerging tweeners Jamar Samuels and Dominique Sutton. I'd love this team very, very much if Curtis Kelly and Wally Judge would play a little bigger down low. As it is, Maniac Frank Martin is going to be in this tournament for a while, which is great news for TV viewers eveywhere.
Out game: Kansas, Final Four
Kansas
As good as the Jayhawks have been this year, the biggest thing in their favor is how bad everyone else is. Bill Self's 2008 national champs would beat this year's field by UConn women proportions.
Self's 2010 team won't overwhelm anybody on its run to Indianapolis. But true to form, KU will do what it takes to beat Lehigh, Northern Iowa, Michigan State and Georgetown to get to Indy, then K-State and West Virginia once there.
Out game: Someone in some round of the 2011 tournament
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
