OSU is my pick to win it all. They have outstanding talent, are very good on both offense and defense, and a relatively easy bracket.

Where did you get those Saul? Here is what mine is showing from scoreand odds (all of the ones that are under 100-1)

Kentucky 2-1
North Carolina 5-1
Ohio St 8-1
Missouri 10-1
Michigan St 10-1
Syracuse 12-1
Kansas 12-1
Duke 15-1
Marquette 25-1
Florida St 30-1
Baylor 30-1
Louisville 30-1
Vanderbilt 35-1
Wichita St 35-1
Georgetown 40-1
Wisconsin 40-1
Indiana 50-1
Connecticut 50-1
New Mexico 50-1
Michigan 50-1
Cincinnati 60-1
Memphis 75-1
Kansas St 75-1
Florida 75-1
Gonzaga 75-1
Temple 80-1
Notre Dame 80-1

Tarik Black is an incredible post player. Not an incredible rebounder just yet, for whatever reason, but he's easily Memphis' most talented, imposing big since Joey Dorsey. He's also way more skilled offensively than Dorsey (he's just not as insane on the boards, is the tradeoff). I honestly don't even know if it's that Tarik's not that great a rebounder yet or if Will Barton sucking up so many boards from the 2/3 spot (he averages 8.1 per game) makes Tarik's numbers worse. His biggest knock has been, like Joey Dorsey, foul trouble, but he's gotten much better about that over the past couple of months.

Wesley Witherspoon is a 6'9" wing and only plays the 4 out of necessity, but he's composed and does a good enough job. He's not a "starter" but he'll get the bulk of the minutes unless Ferrakohn Hall is playing out of his mind or figured out how to make a hook shot or something.

The aforemented Ferro is a hometown guy who transferred back from Seton Hall last season and became eligible in January. He's still exceptionally raw and is ungainly as **** offensively, but he's an energetic defender and is learning how to use his size effectively (the knock against him out of high school, and the reason Memphis didn't recruit him when Cal was there, was that he was a 6'8" wannabe-winger who didn't play tough inside; he's made huge strides there).

Adonis Thomas will never be a 4 in the NBA, and he's been hurt for two months, but he's a pretty solid college 4 when he's called upon to play there. He's got such a mature body despite being a freshman.

Stan Simpson was the #1 ranked juco big man this offseason. He's garbage, I don't want to talk about it. I'd rather talk about Hippolyte Tsafack's wasted scholarship, because at least Hippo tries hard sometimes.

Which brings us to the undersized, unheralded DJ Stephens. He's 6'5" but freakishly athletic (44-inch vertical or thereabouts, IIRC), and even though he came into Josh Pastner's first recruiting class as a glorified body for practice he's become a fan favorite and genuine spark off the bench with his timely blocks and dunks. His motor never stops and he's been playing with incredibly sore knees for something like a year and a half now.



I'm not usually a sucker for Scrappy McGritterson stories, but DJ Stephens owns and I have confidence in him whenever he's on the court.


Honestly, I think Mizzou is the one team in the region with the athletes to match up with Memphis. Everything causing our struggles in November and December stemmed from immaturity/egos/players trying to figure out their roles. The attitude is completely different now, and it's glorious.

They feel like a "real" Memphis team again, which feels unbelievably arrogant to say but it's how I feel. They're so talented and play such amazing team basketball.

As do the other teams I mentioned. I don't doubt the talent on OSU, just think that the other teams I mentioned are better overall. I guess it is all opinion.

I have Caltucky beating tOSU in the final (and Wisky knocking off Cuse in the S16). At least I get to be really happy if my bracket gets busted early this year.

Also, sorry about all those words up there. I've grown to really love this Memphis team and can't help but go on at length about how rad they are. SLU is a really tough first round matchup, but if we get by them I feel good about our chances of knocking off Michigan State if the team doesn't start playing like a bunch of sophomores again (even though most of them are exactly that). That's not to say I'd favor Memphis over MSU, but if they play to their potential (which they've largely been doing since the Xavier game) the upset is a definite possibility.

Agree, and you can make a case for any of them. I just like OSU's talent and region this year. I like UK too but I live in the South and everyone will be picking them to win in my bracket challenge, so I want a different pick. LOL, how's that for hard hitting analysis?

I used to extensively research every single team in the tournament for days before making my picks, but with age I've come to realize that it primarily comes down to matchups and luck. For instance, there is no statistical reason why anyone should have picked VCU to make the Final Four last year, but they did it anyways.

Most at larges have looked like top 15 teams at some point during the season, but the lower ranked teams are more inconsistent. It's pretty tough to tell if a team will be able to channel their true talent by the end of the season or if they are maxed out.

I think that is best as the tournament is too much of a crap shoot. If things went the way they always should then it would always be the #1 teams making the Final Four.

BTW, ku fans, thanks for all the memories......OF US WINNING THE BIG 12 TOURNEY AS WE HEAD TO A BETTER CONFERENCE.!

That's a factor. I dunno about the deciding factor, though. Talent can easily trump great coaching. See also:

So has Memphis actually grown up since Maui? Or have they just looked like it because of weaker competition?

Yes and no. When there is a clear difference in talent, then yes. But look at VCU and Butler. They were not the most talented teams but were very well coached and they went far while beating far more talented teams. Those are just a couple of examples, but there are plenty of other teams out there that fit the VCU/Butler mold while there are plenty of examples of more talented teams losing because they were outcoached.

They've grown the **** up. All of the negativity is gone. They had a hiccup at home against UTEP last month that fortunately served as a catalyst for cementing the new approach. They're unselfish, hard-working, and making the absolute most of their ridiculous abilities.

C-USA is better now than it was in 07-08, and over the past couple of months this team has been annihilating league opponents (including several top 50-75 teams) in even more resounding fashion than they were then. They just set a C-USA tournament record for margin of victory (which wouldn't be relevant except as a comparison to the Elite Eight/Final Four teams of a few years ago), and since the UTEP loss they've won 7 games in a row by an average of 23 points. I honestly think Marshall had a good enough resume to get into the tournament proper and the Tigers absolutely destroyed their mature, talented team (with a future NBA player in DeAndre Kane) twice in the past few weeks (once on the road).

Oh the imagery.

I went to that game, and it was awesome. Maybe its just the OCD talking, but I can't remember if we remembered to turn off the conference lights before we left with the championship.