El Fuerto’s Tourney Preview (Part 1)

Midwest

Teams To Beat

(1)Kansas Jayhawks
The number one overall seed has serious championship potential. They ran through the Big 12 with a 15-1 record and humiliated Temple and Cal non-conference. Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry, Cole Aldrich, and Marcus Morris all have potential for a break out game every time they step on the court. Kansas has big time talent and major championship potential. It would be a major surprise for them to not appear in the Final Four.

(3)Georgetown Hoyas
Although they have struggled with inconsistency, G-Town can play with anyone, having knocked off Temple, Butler, Duke, and ran to the Big East championship game. I can see a major classic between the Hoyas and Jayhawks in the Elite 8 with Aldrich-Monroe, Wright-Collins, and Henry-Freeman matchups.

Sleeper Team

(10)Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Jackets struggled late, but if freshman sensation Derrick Favors plays well, G-Tech could turn some heads.

Upset Special

(11)San Diego St Aztecs over (6)Tennessee Volunteers
The Vols are hoping that the Kentucky disaster was a fluke, but it was not the first time Tennessee has no-showed at a big game (Vanderbilt, anyone?). The Aztecs will pound away at a Vols team that may be wearing down.

Cinderella Spotlight

(15)UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos
While discussing this game, I found out that one of my friends did not know that Santa Barbara was real He insisted that it was a made up city used by the TV show Psych. I think that sums up the Gauchos chances.


West

Teams To Beat

(1)Syracuse Orange
The Cuse take the top seed in the West, but somehow get to play the first weekend in their home state. The Orange have beaten 5 Top 25 teams, and could make a Carmelo-esque run this year, however first order of business is getting revenge on Vermont, who knocked them out in 2005.

(6)Xavier Musketeers
In case you haven't heard one of KFW's many rants on how this team will cut down the nets in Indy, I'll give a little breakdown on X's chances. They have some kid named Crawford who dunked on LeBron, and he's been dropping almost 20 a game, and should lead the Muskies to the second weekend.

Sleeper Team

(7) BYU Cougars
I could go on and on about how BYU is ranked top 10 in the Pomeroys, rebounds as well as anyone in the country, and shoots threes like a team full of Hornaceks. But there is one simple reason why they are poised to make a run: Mormon Discipline. The average Cougar player is about 35 years old and married, so I think they can keep composure with 2 minutes left. The Mormons also do not drink alcohol, so I would imagine they are probably in pretty good shape and will have no trouble getting up and down the court. However, this squad will face one enormous obstacle. If they make it to the Elite 8, they would have to forfeit due to the game being on a Sunday.

Upset Special

(13)Murray St Racers over (4)Vanderbilt
Commodores
The Racers are 30-4 and play lockdown, in-your-face defense all game long. They are fourth in the nation in opponent fg%, and are 6th in steals. With Billy Kennedy instead of Mick Cronin coaching the team up, the Racers are ready to finally break into the second round.

Cinderella Spotlight

(14)Oakland Golden Grizzlies
"I told the team before the game that people will argue with me on this, but we'll be the greatest team in the history of this league if you win tonight,"
"This is one of the most competitive teams I've ever been on. We don't want to lose at anything, not even video games."
"We have a goal board in our locker room, and on that goal board is to make the Sweet 16, so we're not just happy to be there."
These are all from the coach. I didn't make any of this stuff up. Really.

Tune in tomorrow for part two of El Fuerto's Tournament Preview to give you an in-depth look at the South and East regions.

El Fuerto's Cinderella Previews

As an avid fan of college basketball who counts down to March every year, if I had to pick my favorite part of March Madness, it would probably be Bill Raftery's voice at 12:00 on the first Thursday. But, watching a tiny school slay a giant is up there too. These are the games where 10 years later, when all the players are used car salesmen, people still tell stories about them. Northwestern St over Iowa. Hampton over Iowa St. Winthrop over Notre Dame. Vermont over Syracuse. These are chances for a team nobody has ever heard of to knock out a team with title expectations on the first day. And a chance to ruin a lot of brackets, also. With that said, here is El Fuerto's list of nobodys who could potentially win a game or two next week.

Murray St At 30-4 the Racers are looking at a potential 12 seed. What makes this team so dangerous is their wide array of scoring options. Their starting five averages 10.6, 10.5, 10.4, 10.4, and 10.3 points per game. And their sixth man averages 9.5. While the Racers lack a big name win, they took Cal to the wire when they were ranked number 12.

Oakland Grizzlies coach Greg Kampe made news when he announced that the Sweet Sixteen was in the future for his Oakland squad following their win over IUPUI Tuesday night. It sounds very crazy for a team whose biggest win came against a 5 letter acronym, but Summit teams have put up fights in the past. Just ask a Jayhawks fan if North Dakota St was a walk in the park.

North Texas The Mean Green roll into the Big Dance with 11 straight wins, and opponents should watch out for a tough backcourt consisting of Juniors Josh White and Tristan Thomas.

Siena The Saints are technically a low-major team, but their recent results say otherwise. Siena has bounced Vanderbilt and Ohio St (ONIONS! DOUBLE ORDER!) from the tourney in the past two years. This years's version boasts superstars Alex Franklin, Eddie Ubiles, and Clarence Jackson, as well as Ronald Moore whose big time shots knocked out the Buckeyes last year. Look for the Saints to continue their big game dominance and play into the second weekend this year.

East Tennessee St The Buccaneers finally seem to have things together and look to be a dangerous matchup for a National Title contender. Tommy Hubbard is playing well down the stretch, but what makes the Bucs dangerous is their defense. ETSU is 14th in the country at forcing turnovers, and will bring a lot of pressure on whoever they get pitted against.