If you are dead to the world of college basketball, then you probably don't have the slightest clue that March Madness is going on, and your co-workers are most likely looking at you weird when you don't know what they mean when they ask you, "how does your bracket look?" For that, I'm sorry and invite you to watch the Sweet 16 games this weekend for one of the most exciting experiences in your life.
The brackets? Well, they mostly are going as planned except for a lone #12 seed amidst some of the best teams in the country. That team: the University of Arizona Wildcats, my alma mater. Obviously I'm all for the Wildcats and carry a big bias towards them. But the most important question now that they are in the Sweet 16 is: Can they knock off the #1 seeded Louisville Cardinals? Let's take a look.
The big component is how they match up. Louisville is huge. And I mean, HUGE. Besides the 6'1" Jerry Smith, and the midget 5'10" Andre McGee, they all are over 6'6". Now in basketball height is an advantage but athletic ability will always take precedent. These guys are both. Anyone who is anyone has this team in the championship game knocking off the cheaters of UCONN to get to the Final Four. These guys don't have one major go-to player, but they spread the points around well, which means their bench is productive. Not to mention, the Big East is one of the best conferences, if not THE best conference this year in college basketball. 5 of the 16 teams left in the tournament are from this conference which says plenty about what kind of competition the Cardinals faced throughout the season.
The Wildcats on the other hand had an on and off year. They went on a 7-game run and knocked off 5 teams that were in the top 25, including Gonzaga and Kansas who are still left in the tournament. Can this be enough for them to win? Who knows. There are certain things that have to happen in order for Arizona to knock off one of the overall #1 seed.
-Wise, Budinger, and Hill need to combine for at least 15 pts. each
-Fogg and Horne need to put up points when needed
-Defense has to continue to be strong
-Hill can't get into foul trouble
-Zane Johnson needs to hit the 3's when he gets the shot
I think if these things happen, they have a good shot at keeping up with Louisville. Arizona was said to be the LAST TEAM SELECTED for this years tournament. Most experts said that they didn't even deserve to be there. The case hasn't been made quite yet that they should be, after only beating a ridiculously high 5 seed in Utah, and the surprise in the first round Cleveland State. There will be much to talk about if the unthinkable happens at 4:07 PST on Friday night. Can the #12 seed upset the #1?
