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LOL! Ohio State is the only team i have left in the west.

I destroyed that bracket...

had New Mexico State in the final four...which means I had TOSU losing to them...so I am rooting for the Ohio State L...i need the help...

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"Can you see how some people might see you as annoying?"

Craft: "He's talking to you, Deshaun."




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http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/1278287.html


The potential Cinderella teams are in the rear view mirror – for now at least – and the Arizona Wildcats must now face a team that is going to present more talent than they saw in the first two games.
The Ohio State Buckeyes aren’t littered with NBA Lottery selections, but they are a disciplined group coached by one of the best in the business in Thad Matta.

The Wildcats, while handling two opponents in the fashion they were expected to, have looked to have taken their collective game to another notch or two above where it was heading into the postseason.

The flow of the offense has been much smoother and more efficient, while the defense has played with more intensity and with a sense of purpose.

Those trends must continue for Arizona’s season to stay alive. OSU is not Belmont or Harvard, plus the Buckeyes are riding a 10-game winning streak and have been one of the hottest teams in the country for over a month. Arizona will need to accomplish a few goals if it wants to end Ohio State’s run and advance to the Elite Eight.

Continue the intense defense along the perimeter: The Buckeyes are far from being considered one of the nation’s best outside shooting teams, but there are a few players that have the potential to make UA pay from long range. Players like Aaron Craft, LaQuinton Ross and Lenzelle Smith can do damage if left open and Arizona’s perimeter defense has been lackadaisical at times.

Against Belmont and Harvard – two squads that rely on their outside shooting to win – the Wildcats hustled, defended well through screens, and constantly got a hand in the face of the shooter. If that continues, Ohio State will have to figure out another way to score points.

Don’t let role players take over: OSU has one legitimate scoring threat – Deshaun Thomas – and several other players that, while capable of contributing, aren’t considered players that can be relied upon for points on a regular basis. If Smith, Thompson, Aaron Craft or anyone else happens to supply Thomas with enough scoring support, the Buckeyes are going to be extremely difficult to defeat.

Stopping Thomas outright would be an ideal strategy, but that’s much easier said than done. If the Wildcats can simply contain Thomas and prevent his teammates from picking up the slack, Arizona is going to give OSU all it can handle.

The Mark Lyons show must go on: While Lyons has his fair share of critics, only a fool would believe he wasn’t one of biggest reasons Arizona’s offense has been so successful in the NCAA Tournament.

While he doesn’t necessarily possess the traits of a typical point guard, his ability to break down an entire defense can be very beneficial to the rest of his team, as evident over the first two tournament contests.

If Lyons can continue getting to the basket as well as knocking down shots from beyond the arc, UA’s offense should have no problem rolling on Thursday.

Freshmen must produce: The growth of the freshmen has really been realized in the postseason, but the Wildcats will need their young big men to continue to improve, especially with their play in the paint.

They have been able to dominate the area around the basket on both ends of the floor, but the Buckeyes bring a little more size and talent.

Kaleb Tarczewski continues to find good looks around the basket and figure out how to impose his size and strength on the opposition. Brandon Ashley’s game, while a bit inconsistent, continues to make strides in virtually every area.

If those two can produce and Grant Jerrett’s injury doesn’t disrupt his shooting stroke and ability to block shots, Arizona won’t have to worry about the play of its youth in this affair.

Strong outside shooting: The Wildcats have connected on well over half of their attempts from beyond the arc in the tournament thus far and if that trend continues on Thursday, Arizona’s stay in the big dance should extend for at least one more game. If the Cats struggle from deep, Ohio State is going to be able to expose their weaknesses on offense much easier.

The seniors must continue to excel: Arizona’s leaders have been huge in recent weeks and their high-level play will be essential as they face one of the nation’s top teams. Lyons, Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom have all had their fair share of tournament battles and UA would like to reap the benefits of their postseason experience.

Each player has stepped up their intensity and they are playing each game with the knowledge that it could be their last. That attitude has seemingly rubbed off on the rest of the squad and the Wildcats are playing with a purpose on both offense and defense.

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http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2013/story/_/id/9103325/2013-ncaa-tournament-giant-killers-wichita-state-reach-final-four


We're a greedy crew. The walls of GK Central may be lined with the mounted heads of Hoyas, Lobos and Cowboys, but we want more. More chaos. More absurdity. And, dare we say it, more Dunk City. We will be satisfied with nothing less than a Giant Killer in the Final Four.

Such a turn of events wouldn't be new -- George Mason, VCU and Butler paved the Final Four path for future Giant Killers. But it would be enticing, especially with four teams left that already have slayed Giants in previous rounds. For Wichita State, Oregon, La Salle and Florida Gulf Coast, though, the odds of advancing to the tournament's final weekend vary greatly.

It should not come as much of a surprise that Wichita State and La Salle have the best chances to reach the Final Four. After all, they play each other, which means one team is guaranteed to reach the regional final. After that, just the small matter of beating Ohio State or Arizona remains. But you might not have expected to see the Shockers with more than twice the Explorers' chances of winning their next two games. Specifically, our model gives the Shockers a 20.9 percent shot of reaching the Final Four, compared to 9.3 percent for La Salle. The reason for that is twofold.


First, while Wichita State-La Salle doesn't qualify as a GK matchup because it lacks a five-seed difference, our model still can project the likely outcome by using both teams' base power ratings and ignoring our Giant Killing "Special Sauce." By that measure, Wichita State emerges as the better team, and should beat La Salle 62.1 percent of the time.

Second, the Shockers are also the better Giant Killer. If Wichita State advances to play Ohio State, it has a 29.7 percent chance of winning that game, compared to 18.8 percent for La Salle against the Buckeyes. A game between the Shockers and Arizona wouldn't qualify for GK status (just a three-seed differential), but our model says Wichita State has 41.4 percent odds against the Wildcats. La Salle, whose game against the Wildcats would get rubbed with the GK Secret Sauce, ends up with a 35 percent shot of winning.

So what makes Wichita State a superior Giant Killing squad to La Salle? A lot of it has to do with offensive rebounding. The Shockers grab 37.9 percent of their own misses (20th in the country), compared to 29.2 percent for the guard-heavy Explorers (251st). Gonzaga may have bullied the Shockers on the offensive boards (grabbing 20 of 38 available), but Wichita State stayed in the game by grabbing 9 of 25 at the other end. Those second chances allowed the Shockers to hang around long enough for their long-distance shooting to kick in late: Wichita State made 14 of 28 3-pointers against the Zags.

That's an area where La Salle can match Wichita State, as the Explorers knock down boatloads of 3s. That would bode well against Ohio State, which allows teams to take 36.3 percent of their shots from behind the arc (291st in the country). It might seem odd, given the defensive abilities of Aaron Craft and Shannon Scott, but clearly the Buckeyes have other defensive priorities.

Arizona is better at taking away the 3-ball (31 percent of shots), but other issues arise with the Wildcats. For an elite team, they don't do a good job of protecting the ball or taking it away, and their 32nd-ranked defense leaves something to be desired. If they get by Ohio State, they are far from a sure thing to advance to the Final Four, especially because the Shockers' Malcolm Armstead-led perimeter D is just the type to challenge the Wildcats' lack of a pure point guard (Wichita State forces steals on 11.7 percent of possessions).

La Salle is just as good in that category -- it forces steals 11.7 percent of the time, too -- so Mark Lyons would hardly get a break against Ramon Galloway and Tyreek Duren.

Still, Wichita State is the class of the Killers. Rarely does a bracket set up so well for a GK this late in the tournament. Yes, the Shockers shot the wheat out of the ball against Gonzaga, with a performance from deep they are unlikely to replicate. But they don't have to. They do other things well enough to hang with an Arizona team that is hardly any better, if you believe in advanced metrics. (Arizona is 15th in KenPom and 14th in BPI; Wichita State is 21st and 24th, respectively.) And Ohio State isn't good enough offensively -- and doesn't play fast enough -- to run away and hide. A game with the Buckeyes sets up similarly to how the Gonzaga tilt played out -- hang around long enough, then steal it at the end. The Shockers are more than capable of getting that done.

If you're hoping for a surprise Final Four run, then, you'd better focus on the West, because the chances are slim that either Oregon or Florida Gulf Coast can go that deep. Our model gives the Ducks a 2.2 percent shot of beating Louisville and then either Duke or Michigan State, while FGCU has just a 0.3 percent chance of getting by Florida and the Kansas-Michigan winner. The key, in both cases, is that the quality of Killer they'll face is dramatically higher than the teams they've knocked out.

For perspective, Oregon beat Oklahoma State (80.9 Giant rating) and Saint Louis (70.8). Louisville checks in at 95.4. The Ducks have just a 9.7 percent chance to survive that game, and if they do, they'll have to beat Duke (68.4) or Michigan State (87.2). The Blue Devils are the more favorable matchup, according to our model, but even in that circumstance, Oregon would win only 24.7 percent of the time.

And everyone's favorite team from Fort Myers, Fla.? Well, FGCU has to get by a tempo-free maestro in Florida; our model gives the Eagles just a 4.1 percent chance of winning. After that, it's either 7.7 percent against Kansas or 7.9 percent against Michigan. Yikes. Georgetown was far more obliging with its 74.8 Giant rating, as was San Diego State (73.4).

Sure, the Eagles already have managed a historic run, but winning either of the next two games -- let alone both -- would be an upset of far greater proportions than anything they've accomplished so far. The story, of course, would be epic. But if you're looking for a narrative based in reality, far better to follow along with Wichita State or La Salle.

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Jordan Brenner | email
ESPN The Magazine contributing writer
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Brenner writes for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Insider. He covers the NBA and college basketball.


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with two teams happy just to be there.