North Carolina vs. Kansas

North Carolina vs. Kansas on Saturday, April 5^th
The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Posted on Wednesday, April 2^nd by The Champs at #1 Sports

 North Carolina (36-2) earned a tune up against Mount St. Mary’s (113-74) to open their run to the Final Four with their third #1 Seed under Hall of Fame Coach Roy Williams (142-32 in 5th season at Chapel Hill, following 15 seasons at Kansas) but have faced an extremely tough road since that they have negotiated easily with wins over Arkansas (108-77), Washington State (68-47), and Louisville (83-73). An offensive powerhouse with 89.2 points per game (.491 from the field) and dominant on the boards (43.7 per game to 32.2), the Tarheels are led by the most intense player in the nation, All American 6′9″ junior F Tyler Hansbrough (22.8p, 10.3r). Hansbrough is a purebred gym rat, separating himself from the country’s other big men by sheer will and hour after hour improving his current shooting marks of 54.2% from the field and 80.6% from the stripe. Joining our College Player of the Year on the blocks are a trio of scrappers in starter 6′8″ sophomore F Deon Thompson (8.4p, 4.1r, 51 blocks) plus 6′6″ junior F Danny Green (11.4p, 4.9r, 2.0a, 46 blocks) and 6′9″ sophomore F Alex Stepheson (4.4r, 4.7r) but the board work for the Heels is a team effort with no less than 6 players averaging 4.4 rebounds per game including guards 6′5″ junior Marcus Ginyard (7.1p, 4.5r, 2.2a) and 6′4″ sophomore Wayne Ellington (16.6p, 4.4r, 2.1a). North Carolina is efficient from behind the arc at .379 from downtown but rarely fights its battles there (556 attempts vs. 837 for opponents) with only Ellington (77 of 186) and Green (53 of 141) regularly firing from deep. Rather, they use their run and gun tempo plus slashing through the lane to create mismatches and angles for point guard 5′11″ sophomore Ty Lawson to exploit with easy dumps to the big men or feeding Ellington on the move. The offensive pressure that North Carolina outs on teams has been just too much to handle, often resulting in grabbing and holding by defenders and a 960-627 advantage in free throw attempts. Hansbrough, Ellington, Lawson, and Green each shoot better than 80% from the line so pick your poison. So can anyone stop this juggernaut from cutting down the nets Monday night? Only Duke and Maryland were able to beat this squad in 2007-2008 and they did it by spreading the ball around with balanced scoring and thievery at the perimeter. In their victories, the Blue Devils and Terrapins combined for 16 steals versus just 6 for Big Blue with 12 total players scoring between 8 and 22 points. North Carolina has by far the worst defense among the crews left dancing with 72.2 points allowed on .423 shooting from the field and .326 from behind the arc. A degree of these stats can be laughed off to the chosen tempo of Coach Williams but their ranking as 121st in two-point field goal defense is no joke.

 Kansas (35-3) coasted through the first three round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament with easy wins over Portland State (85-61), Nevada-Las Vegas (75-56), and Villanova (72-57) but had to dig deep into their defensive bag of tricks to best Davidson by the score of 59-57 to reach their 3^rd Final Four in the last 7 years. Winning is not a new experience for Head Coach Bill Self (140-32 in 5^th season at Lawrence) with 8 conference titles in the last 10 years (1999-2000 with Tulsa, 2001-2002 with Illinois, 2005-2008 with Kansas) and defense has always been the key. This season’s Jayhawks have limited 19 opponents to under 60 points (61.2 points allowed on .379 shooting from the field) and have held 37 consecutive (109 of their last 112) foes to under 50% shooting from the field. On the blocks Kansas may not posses the All-American talent of the other squads to reach San Antonio but they are deep with 6’9” sophomore F Darrell Arthur (12.7p, 6.1r, 49 blocks) and 6’8” senior Darnell Jackson (11.2p, 6.7r) in the starting lineup plus 6’11” senior C Sasha Kaun (7.3p, 4.0r, 49 blocks) and 6’11” freshman Cole Aldrich (2.7p, 2.9r) bringing depth off the bench that could start for most clubs in the nation. Kaun’s experience has been key in the clutch with 13 points on 6 of 6 shooting plus 6 boards versus Davidson, but it’s their guard play that has them still dancing. 6’1” junior G Mario Chalmers (12.7p, 3.1r, 4.4a, 90 steals) is the squad’s rock at the point and has racked up multiple steals in 11 straight games. 6’1” senior G Russell Robinson (7.4p, 2.8r, 4.1, 75 steals) works the co-point and has had the hot hand with 13.7 points per game over his last 3 contests. 2008 Wooden All-American 6’6” junior G Brandon Rush (13.1p, 5.1r, 2.1a) had to pull his name from the 2007 NBA Draft after tearing an ACL and has been playing the best ball of his career down the stretch with 17.7 points per over the last 6 games. 5’11” sophomore 6^th man Sherron Collins (9.2p, 2.1r, 3.0a) brings a ton of energy off the bench and is an unstoppable drive and kick threat. Together, the four Jayhawk smalls have nailed 218 threes in 535 attempts and have flat-out dominated their schedule with their ball handling. Advantages of 692-429 in assists, 335-239 in steals, and a ridiculous 1.407 to 0.724 in assist to turnover ratio make clear where the strengths of Kansas lie. The perimeter belongs to the Birds, 80.6 points per game on .507 shooting from the field and .401 from behind the arc is enough firepower to hang with anyone, advantages of 225-97 in blocked shots and 38.6-30.8 on the glass indicate that their quickness is an equalizer against bigger teams…so just why is it that we can’t sell ourselves on the possibility of Coach Self getting his team to the Championship Game?

FREE SELECTION: These schools have combined for 77 NCAA Tournament appearances, 31 Final Fours, and 8 National Championships but we’re still back to the question of  whether anyone can stop the Tarheels on their way to cutting down the nets Monday night? The superior abilities of the Jayhawks to both shoot and steal the ball exactly mirror what Maryland and Duke excelled at to secure victories over the kids from Chapel Hill but the answer is…no. Coach Williams’ crew’s last lost was on January 9th and the calendar may turn again before they suffer their next. Take North Carolina -3.

2008 NCAA Tournament South Regional

2008 NCAA Tournament South Regional
Reliant Stadium in Houston, March 28th & 30th
Posted on Tuesday, March 25th by TD at Totals 4 You

  Just 16 squads are left standing in your 2008 NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament with the Memphis Tigers, Michigan State Spartans, Stanford Cardinal, and Texas Longhorns earning their way to the home of the South Region, Reliant Stadium in Houston, where the foursome will battle on Friday, March 28th and Sunday, March 30th for a ticket to the Final Four in San Antonio the following weekend. This bracket was certainly the most successful (11 of 12, missing only St. Mary’s over Miami-Florida) of our entry in the yearly contest among the cappers at freeplays.com this season (we currently lead at 37-11 with our entire Great 8 still standing!) so let’s take a look at the match ups and which crew will survive the weekend. 

#1 Seed Memphis (35-1, 15-0 road/neutral) walked through UT-Arlington 87-63 in the first round and battled past the physical Bulldogs of Mississippi State 77-74 in the second with 6′9″ 265 senior F Joey Dorsey (6.8p, 9.6r, 61 blocks) displaying incredible grit with 13 points, 12 boards, 6 blocks, and 5 fouls. Hey, this kid is the first in his family to earn a high school diploma and is just 4 credits from adding a college degree; you can get in his way but you can’t stop him. Joining him on the blocks is 6′9″ junior F Robert Dozier (9.4p, 6.8r, 59 blocks) to earn a 40.7 to 43.2 edge on the glass and 6.1 to 3.2 edge in blocked shots this season but it’s the Tiger guards that make John Calipari’s (216-64 in 8th season at Memphis) a contender. All-CUSA 6′3″ freshman G Derrick Rose (14.0p, 4.2r, 4.5a) runs the break, taking advantage of the size of 2008 Naismith Player of the Year Finalist 6′7″ junior G Chris Douglass-Roberts (17.3p, 4.2r, 1.7a) and 6′6″ junior G Antonio Anderson (8.5p, 3.7r, 3.4a) on the wings. Much has been made of Memphis’s 59.7% free throw shooting – and it may stop them yet – but with 79.9 points of offense per game on shooting marks of .467 from the field and .353 from behind the arc plus 16.1 assists per game compared to just 12.2 turnovers per contest give this crew the firepower to hang with anyone. Overshadowed by the run and gun show is a pretty damn, fine defense. The Tigers allow just 60.7 points per trip on stingy shooting marks .384 from the field and .299 from deep with a paltry 10.8 assists allowed per game dwarfed by the 16.5 forced turnovers this unit piles up. Discount your Conference USA Champions at your peril. A win over Michigan State earns Memphis their 3rd consecutive Great Eight appearance.

#5 Seed Michigan State (27-8, 10-8 road/neutral) earned its 7th Sweet 16 appearance in the last 11 seasons by completely shutting down the offenses of Temple in a 72-61 first round win and Pittsburgh in a 65-54 second round win, holding the Owls to 37.5% and the Panthers to 32.7% shooting from the field. Such has been the game plan for coach Tom Izzo (305-129 in 13th season in East Lansing), who is seeking his 5th Final Four, all season. 6′10″ 245 sophomore F Goran Sutton (8.7p, 8.2r, 32 blocks) and 6′10″ 245 senior C Drew Naymick (4.3p, 4.2r, 59 blocks) swallow up everything entering the paint, earning a 37.2-29.9 edge on the glass this season and have intimidated shooters into an errant .398 mark from the field. 6′7″ sophomore F Raymar Morgan (14.2p, 6.1r) and 6′0″ freshman G Kalin Lucas (10.2p, 1.6r, 3.8a) work off the interference provided by the trees in the middle to slash to the bucket for easy hoops while being freed up to extend their defense, limiting opponents to just .311 shooting from downtown. And then their is 6′0″ senior G Drew Neitzel (14.1p, 2.5r, 3.9a). Just watching this kid move without the basketball for two hours is worth the price of admission for us, ducking in and out of multiple screens to nail 97 of 237 attempts from behind the arc this season – despite every opposing coach on his schedule building a game plan around stopping him. Defensively, the Spartans can hang with anyone at 61.7 points allowed per contest and Michigan State makes the most of their scoring opportunities with marks of .480 from the field, .374 from behind the arc, and .739 from the stripe but if Neitzel’s shots don’t fall, his team will.

#3 Seed Stanford (28-7, 12-6 road/neutral) dwarfed Cornell 77-53 with their size in the first round and scrapped their way past Marquette with an 82-81 overtime victory in the second round to earn Coach Trent Johnson (80-47 in 4th season at Palo Alto) his first trip the Sweet 16. The fourteen feet and 515 pounds of sophomore Lopi have been superb with C Robin (10.3p, 5.7r, 83 blocks) playing the more stationary, defensive role and Brook (19.0p, 8.1r, 54 blocks) taking the rock aggressively to the rack for big numbers including 30 against the Golden Eagles and the game winner with 1.3 second remaining to advance. Everyone knows his role for the Cardinal. 6′1″ junior G Mitch Johnson (6.7p, 4.3r, 5.1a, 16 assists vs. Marquette) runs the point and has no plays designed for him. 6′3″ junior G Anthony Goods (10.3p, 1.7r, 1.a) is Stanford’s designated 3-point gunner with 64 makes in 182 attempts and rarely leaves his perimeter home. 6′5″ senior F Fred Washington (4.5p, 4.1r, 2.3a) and his sub 6′8″ junior F Lawrence Hill (8.7p, 4.9r) are the crew’s designated garbage men, scrapping for loose balls, crashing the boards, and earning put-backs for a squad that holds a fine 39.1-31.1 edge on the glass in 2007-2008. These well-defined jobs have served the Cardinal well with a 71.2 points per game (.452 field, .366 from 3-point, .695 free throws) to 61.0 points per game (.393 field, .334 from 3-point) edge over opponents but it also makes the job of stopping them easier to game plan. Marquette did one hell of a job defeating size with quickness to top Stanford 45-38 on the glass and have provided a blueprint for how to send the Christmas Trees back to the black hole that swallows most one-dimensional teams.

#2 Seed Texas (30-6, 13-5 road/neutral) coasted past Austin Peay 74-54 in the first round before besting a scrappy Miami-Florida team 75-72, as well as an absurdly hostile crowd in Little Rock, in the second round to punch their ticket back to the friendly Lone Star State. The Longhorns may have the most talented starting five in the country, but lack depth and used a ton of energy to get to the Sweet 16 with the front line playing 179 of the squads 200 minutes on Sunday. 5′11″ junior A. J. Abrams (16.6p, 2.8r) and 6′0″ sophomore D. J. Augustine (19.2p, 2.9r, 5.8a) make up the best guard-tandem in the nation, playing with incredible motor and have combined to nail 181 shots from behind the arc in 471 attempts. In fact, each of the Longhorns are dangerous from behind the arc (.391 as team from 3-point) including 6′6″ sophomore F Damion James (13.2p, 10.7r, 51 blocks, 17 double/doubles) with 37 made treys in just 83 attempts and 6′10″ junior F/C Connor Atchley (9.6p, 5.3r, 75 blocks) with 41 made in 97 attempts from downtown. Enough firepower (75.5 points per game on .453 shooting from the field) to run with anyone and enough defense (64.4 points allowed on .388 shooting from the field and .326 from 3-point) to grind with the best of them makes Texas a dangerous team but it’s the ball handling that commits only 9.6 turnovers per game that makes Coach Rick Barnes’s (246-92 in 10th season at Austin) team a legitimate contender to reach San Antonio. Just ask the teams selected to this season’s NCAA Tournament. 18 of the Horn’s 36 games were against squads that earned invitations to The Big Dance and the boys from “The Forty Acres” brought home victories in 14 of those contests.

The Analysis: Back to our brackets where (did we mention this already?!) we currently lead the contest among the cappers at freeplays.com, we selected Michigan State to beat Memphis, Texas to beat Stanford, and the Longhorns to move on to the Final Four up the road in San Antonio next weekend. After taking in play from the first two rounds we would make two changes were we allowed to redraw our South Bracket. We would mop up our St. Mary’s/Miami-Florida miss and would take Memphis to stop Michigan State before ultimately falling to Texas. Good luck this weekend root for us! – TD

NOTE: A new article will be posted each Wednesday throughout the season breaking down a major match up for the upcoming weekend. For now, enjoy the above and plan on checking out our weekly analysis all season long.

2008 NCAA Tournament Midwest Bracket – Omaha Quads

2008 NCAA Tournament Midwest Bracket – Omaha Quads
March 20th & 22nd at the Quest Center in Omaha, Nebraska
Posted on March 17th by TD at Totals 4 You First Round – Thursday, March 20th
Game 1: Kansas vs. Portland State at 12:25 PM EST
Game 2: Nevada-Las Vegas vs. Kent State at 2:55 PM EST
Game 3: Southern California vs. Kansas State at 7:10 PM EST
Game 4: Wisconsin vs. Cal-State Fullerton at 9:40 PM EST
 Second Round – Friday, March 21st
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner at 4:20 PM EST
Game 6: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner at 6:50 PM EST

 #1 Seed) Kansas: 31-3 season, 13-3 B12, 8-2 last 10, 11-3 away
   RPI 7, 8-2 vs. RPI 50, SOS 50, 81.4 offense, 61.6 defense
 #16 Seed) Portland State: 23-9, 14-2 BS, 9-1 last 10, 12-8 away
   RPI 90, 0-2 vs. RPI 50, SOS 227, 74.3 offense, 67.5 defense
 #8 Seed) Nevada Las-Vegas: 26-7, 15-4 MW, 8-2 last 10, 6-5 away
   RPI 24, 2-3 vs. RPI 50, SOS 63, 70.1 offense, 62.1 defense
 #9 Seed) Kent State: 28-6, 13-3 MAC, 9-1 last 10, 12-6 away
   RPI 21, 2-2 vs. RPI 50, SOS 111, 69.2 offense, 61.6 defense #6 Seed) Southern California: 21-11, 12-8 P10, 6-4 last 10, 11-6 away
   RPI 29, 4-8 vs. RPI 50, SOS 9, 69.1 offense, 63.2 defense
 #11 Seed) Kansas State: 20-11, 10-6 B12, 4-6 last 10, 5-9 away
   RPI 50, 3-6 vs. RPI 50, SOS 34, 78.7 offense, 68.9 defense
 #3 Seed) Wisconsin: 29-4, 16-2 B10, 10-0 last 10, 13-2 away
   RPI 11, 6-4 vs. RPI 50, SOS 61, 67.5 offense, 53.8 defense
 #14 Seed) Cal-State Fullerton: 24-8, 12-4 BW, 9-1 last 10, 13-5 away
   RPI 80, 0-2 vs. RPI 50, SOS 199, 82.6 offense, 72.7 defense

The Analysis: In the current NCAA Tournament setup, the winners of these two quads do not face off directly but rather move on to Ford Field in Detroit where the winner of the upper Omaha quad will play the winner of the Midwest Bracket’s Tampa quad while the winner of the lower Omaha quad will play the winner of the Midwest Bracket’s Raleigh quad.
  In the upper quad, Kansas’s guard play and the resurging stardom of G/F Brandon Rush makes their first round match up with the Vikings little more than a decent tune up but the Jayhawks will need to be sharp to beat the winner of Nevada-Las Vegas vs. Kent State. The Rebels and the Golden Flashes pair for one of the First Round’s best match ups and we give the nod to Lon Kruger’s Las Vegas crew based on their superior continuity (Adams, Terry, Darger, and Bailey have started all 33 games), strong free throw shooting with a team mark of .744, and ball-handling advantages (488-399 assists, 261-147 steals, and 350-491 turnovers) over their opponents this season. If you are looking for a #1 Seed to fall early, the dark horse you want to ride is UNLV to the Sweet 16 in the Motor City.
  In the lower quad, keep your dark horses in the stable. Michael Beasley is certainly the front-runner for NCAA Player of the Year honors but as a team, Kansas State is a one-dimensional puzzle that a battle-tested (9th toughest schedule in the nation) crew like Coach Tom Floyd’s Trojans can solve as they did in quality wins over San Diego, Miami-Florida, Oklahoma, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona, California, and Stanford. In the 3/14 match up, the 82.6 points per game racked up by Cal-State Fullerton as well as their 13-5 mark away from Titan Gym might make for a compelling discussion over cocktails but their 199th strength of schedule ranking should sober you up in a hurry. They may both dig in the dirt but the Anteaters of UC-Irvine, whom Fullerton beat for the Big West Conference Title, are not Badgers of Wisconsin. Only Purdue kept Whiskey from running the Big 10 table and Coach Bo Ryan’s unit’s defense, size, and guard play make Wisconsin a legitimate pick to reach San Antonio out of the Midwest Bracket.

NOTE: A new article will be posted each Wednesday throughout the season breaking down a major match up for the upcoming weekend. For now, enjoy the above and plan on checking out our weekly analysis all season long.                                                                                T. D. @ Totals 4 You

2008 ACC Conference Tournament Preview

2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament
Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina from March 13^th-March 16^th
Posted on Wednesday, March 12^th by TD at Totals 4 You  Opening Round – Thursday, March 13^th
Game 1: Wake Forest vs. Florida State at 12:00 PM EST
Game 2: Miami-Florida vs. N.C. State at 2:30 PM EST
Game 3: Georgia Tech vs. Virginia at 7:00 PM EST
Game 4: Maryland vs. Boston College at 9:30 PM EST
 Quarterfinal Round – Friday, March 14^th
Game 5: North Carolina vs. Game 1 Winner at 12:00 PM EST
Game 6: Virginia Tech vs. Game 2 Winner at 2:30 PM EST
Game 7: Duke vs. Game 3 Winner at 7:00 PM EST
Game 8: Clemson vs. Game 4 Winner at 9:30 PM EST
 Semifinal Round – Saturday, March 15^th
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner at 1:30 PM EST
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. game 8 Winner at 4:00 PM EST
 Championship Round – Sunday, March 16^th
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner at 1:00 PM EST#1 Seed) North Carolina: 29-2 season, 14-2 conference, 9-1 last 10, 15-0 road/neutral
      RPI rank 2, 9-1 vs. RPI top 50, 87.2 points offense, 75.0 points defense
      Strength of schedule 4, First opponent: 3-0 vs. Wake Forest/Florida State
#2 Seed) Duke: 26-4 season, 13-3 conference, 7-3 last 10, 11-3 road/neutral
      RPI rank 4, 6-3 vs. RPI top 50, 83.8 points offense, 74.4 points defense
      Strength of schedule 9, First opponent: 3-0 vs. Georgia Tech/Virginia
#3 Seed) Clemson: 22-8 season, 10-6 conference, 7-3 last 10, 7-6 road/neutral
      RPI rank 22, 3-5 vs. RPI top 50, 77.8 points offense, 72.8 points defense
      Strength of schedule 37, First opponent: 2-0 vs. Maryland/Boston College
#4 Seed) Virginia Tech: 18-12 season. 9-7 conference, 6-4 last 10, 6-10 road/neutral
      RPI rank 57, 0-6 vs. RPI top 50, 72.0 points offense, 72.2 points defense
      Strength of schedule 45, First opponent: 0-2 vs. Miami-Florida/N.C. State
#5 Seed) Miami-Florida: 21-9 season, 8-8 conference, 6-4 last 10, 7-7 road/neutral
      RPI rank 28, 3-3 vs. RPI top 50, 74.8 points offense, 75.8 points defense
      Strength of schedule 32, First opponent: 0-1 vs. N.C. State
#6 Seed) Maryland: 18-13 season, 8-8 conference, 5-5 last 10, 5-7 road/neutral
      RPI rank 69, 1-5 vs. RPI top 50, 75.2 points offense, 75.7 points defense
      Strength of schedule 17, First opponent: 1-1 vs. Boston College
#7 Seed) Georgia Tech: 14-16 season, 7-9 conference, 4-6 last 10, 8-9 road/neutral
     RPI rank 73, 2-9 vs. RPI top 50, 77.4 points offense, 77.6 points defense
     Strength of schedule 8, First opponent: 1-1 vs. Virginia
#8 Seed) Wake Forest: 17-12 season, 7-9 conference, 4-6 last 10, 2-10 road/neutral
     RPI rank 87, 3-3 vs. RPI top 50, 73.9 points offense, 76.4 points defense
     Strength of schedule 84, First opponent: 2-0 vs. Florida State
#9 Seed) Florida State: 18-13 season, 7-9 conference, 5-5 last 10, 5-9 road/neutral
     RPI rank 63, 4-5 vs. RPI top 50, 69.4 points offense, 73.2 points defense
       Strength of schedule 20, First opponent: 0-2 vs. Wake Forest
#10 Seed) Virginia: 15-14 season, 5-11 conference, 4-6 last 10, 4-8 road/neutral
       RPI rank 107, 1-7 vs. RPI top 50, 73.9 points offense, 77.7 points defense
       Strength of schedule 53, First opponent: 1-1 vs. Georgia Tech
#11 Seed) Boston College: 13-16 season, 4-12 conference, 1-9 last 10, 2-8 road/neutral
       RPI rank 136, 1-7 vs. RPI top 50, 72.8 points offense, 77.4 points defense
       Strength of schedule 15, First opponent: 1-1 vs. Maryland
#12 Seed) N.C. State: 15-15 season, 4-12 conference, 2-8 last 10, 5-9 road/neutral
       RPI rank 93, 2-7 vs. RPI top 50, 68.4 points offense, 77.4 points defense
       Strength of schedule 24, First opponent: 1-0 vs. Miami-FloridaThe Analysis: The first thing that jumps out to the observer about the 55^th annual ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament is the surprising lack of depth in what has so often been the nation’s power conference. Prohibitive favorites North Carolina and Duke split their season series with the Blue Devils posting an 89-78 road win on February 6^th and the Tar Heels returning the favor with a 76-68 victory on March 8^th. As much as we have backed Roy Williams’ crew as the best in the country all season, we’ll give the nod to Coach Krzyzewski’s squad at Bobcats Arena based on their health right now and superior guard play that is so critical to tournament play.
  That being said, we must take heed to the wisdom of history’s greatest seer and sports handicapper, as related by William Shakespeare, who wisely warned against playing the heavily favored Caesars at Theatre of Pompey Arena on March 15^th, 44 BC. Those who took the Senators plus the points really cleaned up and this season’s Ides of March may yield the same. Clemson’s RPI ranking of 22 has slid under the glare of the Titans of Tobacco Road and the Tigers have tested both these crews, taking the Heels to overtime in both of their meetings while pushing the Devils hard in 80-93 loss in Durham. If both Duke (3-0 vs. possible first game opponents) and Clemson (2-0 vs. possible first game opponents) handle their business on Friday, it sets up a meeting on the Ides of March, 2008…take Clemson to win the 2008 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

SEC Conference Tournament Preview

2008 South Eastern Conference Tournament
Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia from March 13^th-16^th
Posted on Monday, March 10^th by TD at Totals 4 You  Opening Round – Thursday, March 13^th
Game 1: Louisiana State vs. South Carolina at 1:00 PM EST
Game 2: Vanderbilt vs. Auburn at 3:15 PM EST
Game 3: Florida vs. Alabama at 7:30 PM EST
Game 4: Mississippi vs. Georgia at 9:45 PM EST
 Quarterfinal Round – Friday, March 14^th
Game 5: Tennessee vs. Game 1 Winner at 1:00 PM EST
Game 6: Arkansas vs. Game 2 Winner at 3:15 PM EST
Game 7: Mississippi State vs. Game 3 Winner at 7:30 PM EST
Game 8: Kentucky vs. Game 4 Winner at 9:45 PM EST
 Semifinal Round – Saturday, March 15^th
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner at 1:00 PM EST
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. game 8 Winner at 3:15 PM EST
 Championship Game – Sunday, March 16^th
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winners at 1:00 PM EST #1 East) Tennessee: 28-3, 14-2 conf, 9-1 last 10, 12-3 road/neut
       RPI rank 1, 11-3 vs. RPI top 50, 80.1 points off, 69.4 points def
       Strength of schedule 1, First opponent: 3-0 vs. LSU/South Carolina
 #2 East) Kentucky: 18-11, 12-4 conf, 8-2 last 10, 4-7 road/neut
       RPI rank 49, 4-7 vs. RPI top 50, 66.3 points off, 65.7 points def
       Strength of schedule 12, First opponent: 3-0 vs. Mississippi/Georgia
 #3 East) Vanderbilt: 25-6, 10-6 conf, 8-2 last 10, 6-6 road/neut
       RPI rank 10, 5-4 vs. RPI top 50, 73.9 points off, 72.3 points def
       Strength of schedule 34, First opponent: 1-0 vs. Auburn
 #4 East) Florida: 21-10, 8-8 conf, 3-7 last 10, 6-6 road/neut
       RPI rank 65, 2-8 vs. RPI top 50, 76.1 points off, 75.5 points def
       Strength of schedule 85, First opponent: 1-0 vs. Alabama
 #5 East) South Carolina: 13-17, 5-11 conf, 3-7 last 10, 5-8 road/neut
       RPI rank 139, 2-10 vs. RPI top 50, 66.2 points off, 72.1 points def
       Strength of schedule 36, First opponent: 0-1 vs. Louisiana State
 #6 East) Georgia: 13-16, 4-12 conf, 2-8 last 10, 2-11 road/neut
       RPI rank 152, 1-10 vs. RPI top 50, 64.5 points off, 68.8 points def
       Strength of schedule 43, First opponent: 0-1 vs. Mississippi
 #1 West) Mississippi State: 21-9, 12-4 conf, 7-3 last 10, 9-6 road/neut
       RPI rank 38, 3-7 vs. RPI top 50, 72.4 points off, 66.4 points def
       Strength of schedule 51, First opponent: 3-0 vs. Florida/Alabama
 #2 West) Arkansas: 20-10, 9-7 conf, 5-5 last 10, 5-9 road/neut
       RPI rank 43, 4-5 vs. RPI top 50, 72.2 points off, 68.9 points def
       Strength of schedule 40, First opponent: 3-0 vs. Vanderbilt/Auburn
 #3 West) Mississippi: 21-9, 7-9 conf, 5-5 last 10, 7-7 road/neut
       RPI rank 42, 5-4 vs. RPI top 50, 73.8 points off, 75.1 points def
      Strength of schedule 60, First opponent 1-0 vs. Georgia
 #4 West) Louisiana State: 13-17, 6-10 conf, 5-5 last 10, 3-11 road/neut
       RPI rank 159, 1-9 vs. RPI top 50, 66.8 points off, 75.1 points def
       Strength of schedule 61, First opponent: 1-0 vs. South Carolina
 #5 West) Alabama: 16-15, 5-11 conf, 4-6 last 10, 3-10 road/neut
       RPI rank 117, 3-9 vs. RPI top 50, 72.4 points off, 74.2 points def
       Strength of schedule 54, First opponent: 0-1 vs. Florida
 #6 West) Auburn: 14-15, 4-12 conf, 2-8 last 10, 6-8 road/neut
       RPI rank 154, 2-9 vs. RPI top 50, 71.4 points off, 77.1 points def
       Strength of schedule 94, First opponent: 0-1 vs. VanderbiltThe Analysis: There’s just not a better place to hold a major basketball tournament than the 26,000 seat Georgia Dome and the South East Conference fans will be treated to some big time ball out of top seeds Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Kentucky who have combined for a perfect 12-0 mark against their possible Friday opponents. With 12 wins in their last 13 contests plus the top RPI and strength of schedule rankings in the nation, the favorites here are certainly the Volunteers who beat the Razorbacks 93-71 on February 13^th, beat the Bulldogs 76-71 on February 2^nd, and spilt with the pesky Wildcats, revenging a 66-72 loss at Kentucky on January 22^nd with a home 63-60 win on March 2^nd.
  However, what fun would that be? We’re putting our money on Vanderbilt. The Commodores were just a couple of buckets from winning their last 10 consecutive games, hold the #10 RPI ranking in the country, and have held their own at 3-3 against the bye teams this season including a 72-69 home win over Tennessee on February 26^th plus a thrilling 86-85 home overtime victory over Mississippi State on March 5^th. Take Vanderbilt to bag the 2008 South East Conference Tournament Championship and force the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to make them a high 3-seed in The Big Dance next week. Enjoy the show and we’ll see you next week – TD.NOTE: A new article will be posted each Wednesday throughout the season breaking down a major match up for the upcoming weekend. For now, enjoy the above and plan on checking out our weekly analysis all season long.                                                                                T. D.Click here for a free pick today.