Friday, March 04, 2005
THREE HOURS TO SHOWTIME
And I'm just now getting my predictions up for the tournament. Here's how I see it playing out. You'll notice I am predicting a total of zero upsets.
Chris at HoopTime has insightful summaries of the first round, so go check those out as well. You probably already have. Please post your own predictions on the message board link below.
ROUND ONE
#1 Holy Cross/#8 Army
Remember when Navy scared the shit out of Lehigh last year as the #8 seed? Nothing like that will happen today. A long season comes to an end for Jim Crews, who is probably out of the IU job sweepstakes at this point. HC by 17.
#2 Bucknell/#7 Lafayette
Prediction: Lafayette will never get to a tournament final again, unless they get scholarships. It's a sad and unfair situation for their crew, with the higher ups over there doing everything possible to deteriorate what was once the best fan base in the league. BU by 10.
#3 American/#6 Navy
Coaches and journalists and fans always like to say that it's hard to be a team three times in a row. I don't buy it. Sure, they know more than I do, but shouldn't it become EASIER to beat a team after you have seen them twice and beaten them? AU will continue their domination of the service academies, getting their 10th straight win over them in 4 years, and their 11th in a row against Navy overall.
#4 Lehigh/#5 Colgate
The one game that should be really close. I think Lehigh can put it together, given their experience and success in the tournament last year. Maybe Mbegroff will finally wake up and do something useful with himself.
ROUND TWO
#1 HC / #4 Lehigh
Unless Austen Rowland comes out of the crowd and takes Joe Knight's place, HC will win this one. It would take an extraordinary performance from Knight and Olivero from outside the line for anything else to happen.
#3 AU / #2 Bucknell
AU was blown out at BU and HC this year, so their road gets real hard starting at this point. I'll be at this game, if it happens (or AU/LC if that happens, I guess), so you can expect a report on it. I think AU could pull it out, but it would have to be a career day for the AU seniors. We'll see, but for now I'll take BU.
FINAL ROUND
HC/BU
This is HC's year. You know I will be rooting for anyone but them, but it would be pretty silly to predict anyone knocking off the Saders this year. If AU advances, I think they have a better shot than BU, given the experience of their Seniors, which is so critical is these sorts of things. So while my heart says AU could win this thing, my gut says HC is going to be all but impossible to beat.
That's it. Like I wrote earlier, post your predictions now, or you're not allowed to make fun of me when I turn out to be wrong. @ 1:58 PM
And I'm just now getting my predictions up for the tournament. Here's how I see it playing out. You'll notice I am predicting a total of zero upsets.
Chris at HoopTime has insightful summaries of the first round, so go check those out as well. You probably already have. Please post your own predictions on the message board link below.
ROUND ONE
#1 Holy Cross/#8 Army
Remember when Navy scared the shit out of Lehigh last year as the #8 seed? Nothing like that will happen today. A long season comes to an end for Jim Crews, who is probably out of the IU job sweepstakes at this point. HC by 17.
#2 Bucknell/#7 Lafayette
Prediction: Lafayette will never get to a tournament final again, unless they get scholarships. It's a sad and unfair situation for their crew, with the higher ups over there doing everything possible to deteriorate what was once the best fan base in the league. BU by 10.
#3 American/#6 Navy
Coaches and journalists and fans always like to say that it's hard to be a team three times in a row. I don't buy it. Sure, they know more than I do, but shouldn't it become EASIER to beat a team after you have seen them twice and beaten them? AU will continue their domination of the service academies, getting their 10th straight win over them in 4 years, and their 11th in a row against Navy overall.
#4 Lehigh/#5 Colgate
The one game that should be really close. I think Lehigh can put it together, given their experience and success in the tournament last year. Maybe Mbegroff will finally wake up and do something useful with himself.
ROUND TWO
#1 HC / #4 Lehigh
Unless Austen Rowland comes out of the crowd and takes Joe Knight's place, HC will win this one. It would take an extraordinary performance from Knight and Olivero from outside the line for anything else to happen.
#3 AU / #2 Bucknell
AU was blown out at BU and HC this year, so their road gets real hard starting at this point. I'll be at this game, if it happens (or AU/LC if that happens, I guess), so you can expect a report on it. I think AU could pull it out, but it would have to be a career day for the AU seniors. We'll see, but for now I'll take BU.
FINAL ROUND
HC/BU
This is HC's year. You know I will be rooting for anyone but them, but it would be pretty silly to predict anyone knocking off the Saders this year. If AU advances, I think they have a better shot than BU, given the experience of their Seniors, which is so critical is these sorts of things. So while my heart says AU could win this thing, my gut says HC is going to be all but impossible to beat.
That's it. Like I wrote earlier, post your predictions now, or you're not allowed to make fun of me when I turn out to be wrong. @ 1:58 PM
