March Madness Dark Horse Final Four

• March 4, 2013 • 21 Comments

ATLANTA, GA – With The Big Dance right around the corner, it’s time to talk some college basketball! Granted, at this point in the season it’s anybody’s guess who will win the April 8th National Championship in the Georgia Dome. Further, with the conference tournaments only starting next weekend (for some schools), there is still no clear favorite. Hey, this could even be the year Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference bottom-feeders Siena Saints, led by the nation’s top rebounder O.D. Anosike, win it all.  So today, I’m here to give you my March Madness Dark Horse Final Four teams for this year’s Men’s Tournament.

O.D. is one of the best small-school players in the country.

O.D.: 1 of best small-school players in country.

#12 Syracuse Orange (22-7 Overall, 10-6 Big East): Early in the season the Orange were one of the nation’s hottest teams, but lately they’ve struggled. Led by legendary coach Jim Boeheim and an extremely strong core of senior guard Brandon Triche, junior forward CJ Fair and the nation’s 3rd best disher Michael Carter-Williams. However, Syracuse’s true weakness is a big man. Though ‘Cuse do have great length, they don’t have the best size and weight in the nation. Either way, the Orange are still a big threat at a National Championship run. They have the nation’s best sharp-shooter James Sutherland and the most reliable player in the nation in Fair. Don’t believe me? Sutherland made nine threes at Arkansas in November and shot four threes in one possession at the end of the game last week in a loss at Marquette. When a team gives you the ball for four shots in one possession and it takes you the fourth shot to make it, it shows how much faith the team has in you. One more point: Syracuse is the only team to beat Arkansas and Louisville in their respective domes.

CJ Fair is the best player in the college ranks that no one is talking about.

CJ Fair is best player that no one is talking about.

#17 Wisconsin Badgers (20-9 Overall, 11-5 Big Ten): Wisconsin is down-right tough. They have quality wins (at Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, and Illinois) and they’ve won all their games they should have. Wisconsin is the definition of a Tournament Team. In the past two NCAA Tournaments, Wisconsin has lasted until the Sweet 16. This year the Badgers will be leaning on senior big man Jared Berggren who is a bruiser down low, as they focus on the Big Dance. And to top it off, they have one of the best coaches in the college game; Bo Ryan.

Minnesota Gophers (20-9 Overall, 8-8 Big Ten): The Gophers got off to a hot start this season but their flame started to fade as the calendar turned to a new year. Luckily for Tubby Smith and his squad, that flame is back at the right time! Minnesota took down the #1 team in the nation at home last week, Indiana. The Gophers followed up the four-point upset with a blowout victory against Penn State, who beat Michigan coming in. Ultimately, success in March Madness comes down to the quality of coaching and Minnesota has a 500-game winner.  If Minnesota can win their next two games to finish the regular season, they will be carrying some swagger into the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA Tournament!

For Owls to make run Khalif Wyatt must play big role.

Temple Owls (21-8, 9-5 A-10): There’s finally something to cheer about in Philly! Let’s face it, the Eagles and 76ers are not cutting it…But the Temple Owls are having a magical season and after defeating Syracuse in the Orange’s second home, Madison Square Garden (sadly I was there and it did not go so well,) an early season win at Villanova and a double digit victory over Top 25 Ranked St. Louis, they may already have  sealed their invitation to The Dance. They still has a big game ahead against VCU, which will could still play a big role in the Owls making the tourney cut. If they do make it watch out – they are lead by senior guard Khalif Wyatt and that kid can straight ball!

Evan “Pickles” Achiron, tomorrow.

 

Filed in: DJ Eberle
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About the Author ()

D.J. Eberle: The youngest of our team, D.J. is also the largest. Offensive Tackle Large. In fact, this Albany native is playing OT for Western New England University - right now. Like Junoir Blaber, he's a regular on Rugby Wrap Up - his dad played rugby with The Matts. His cross to bear, however, is his love for the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. As for baseball and basketball, it's the Yanks and Atlanta Hawks. Follow him on Twitter: @Ebstide52
  • Big Dawg

    I can straght ball with the best of them. Indiana will beat all your picks, though.

    • DJ Eberle

      These aren’t my actual Final Four picks, just dark horses. If you want that… it’s Syracuse, Georgetown, Louisville, and Florida.

      • http://meetthematts.com/ Meet The Matts

        The Dark Horses are our picks, Big Dawg, so leave your paws off DJ! DJ, don’t you dare waffle under pressure!

  • Baseball Lifer

    Can we see the grades for all these players before starting the tournament? Sorry, but college hoops is just as bad as college football with joke curriculums and bogus grades – if not worse.

    • Cam James

      You are wrong. There is no comparison between college football and basketball. The football team has 89 people they have to keep eligible. This means the school watches them like a hawk and its impossible for the head coach to monitor each of them. The basketball programs only have 10 guys to keep eligible. Many schools like Memphis are willing to let a derrick rose do nothing for a shot at a title and many coaches like callipari are willing to complete the ruse.

      College hoops is dirtier than italian soccer

      • http://meetthematts.com/ Meet The Matts

        Soccer, despite what Dude and Sam’s-A-Fan say, is for sissies.

    • AZ2FLA

      We should check your college grades before posts like this!! And JC does not count!! These players make billions for the NCAA and some are forced to go the college route even though they don’t aspire an education. March Madness is the greatest sports spectacle in this country and if guys are one and done, so be it. Don’t knock the player; knock the NCAA.

    • http://meetthematts.com/ Meet The Matts

      While we tend to agree with you, Baseball Lifer, DJ is a very large man, AZ2FLA used to have “crazy” in his handle and Cam James is… a redneck (hope we didn’t offend any rednecks)… We’re siding with the angry mob.

      • AZCrazy

        did you mention Crazy??

  • Ronald Reagan

    Badgers?! We don’t need no stinking Badgers!

  • DJ Eberle

    There are flaws in each college athletics when it comes to grades. But if you look at a program like Syracuse who realized last year that Fab Melo was academically ineligible athlete and didn’t play in the NCAA tourney. Then this year James Sutherland had a problem with one of his term papers and missed some time. As a fan you hope that these schools are playing clean and I’m sure all aren’t. In the end academics doesn’t take away from the best sporting event of the year.

  • Sam’s-A-Fan

    The title of today’s column had me thinking of the road to the first Saturday in May. Over the weekend in our own neck of the woods, the Gotham was run at Aqueduct and a horse named Vyjack came from 10 back to remain a perfect 4 – 4. Down the stretch he looked like he was shot from a gun as he ran down the leaders who had set fairly pedestrian fractions so as to make you think that they could possibly hold off a closer. The question this time of year is always, is an impressive seeming performance as impressive as it seems, or is the level of competition in these preps something less? Time will tell, but the calendar fills up with preps in March and April, and Spring and the run for the roses can’t be far behind.

    • http://meetthematts.com/ Meet The Matts

      Zzzzzz…

      • Sam’s-A-Fan

        Zzzzzzenyatta?

    • http://twitter.com/CheesyBruin Cheesy Bruin

      Between you and our friend “The Knish”, a collaborative semi-regular post can $marten us all for the Triple Crown Races. He’s based out of Santa Anita and from some of the action I’ve seen there a few horses are going at one another like Affirmed and Alydar.
      Sam, please don’t miss our Belmont trip the first official weekend of summer–with or without the Rip Van Winkle.

      • Sam’s-A-Fan

        I’ll do my best to not miss this year’s Belmont excursion, but once upon a time I shared Friday’s posting duties with the one and only Cookie. As you can imagine, going with anyone else would be a step backwards!

  • Dude

    While I’m not going to defend soccer, i will defend the ncaa tournament. who cares whether these guys have good grades, i want to see them ball, not take exams… please file this under “get over it”

    as the legendary judge smails said “there more important things in life than grades…”

    i also like the one and done rule… it makes college hoops exciting… the era when the top players were going straight to the nba was a bore. so i say keep this rule… and don’t worry nairs noel is still going to get paid despite tearing his acl. the solution is just pay the college players, and be done with this silly notion of “student – athlete”

  • DannyBax

    You can pay the players – it’s called Triple A. Each sport should have a
    minor league program like baseball -that would stop all the bull… And I see the author is a Sabres
    fan – is that why there is nothing about the Rangers winning big after
    the Buffalo goon tried to kill Brad Richards????

    • DJ Eberle

      The hit Girardi laid on Tyler Ennis was much worse! Did Kaleta make a poor decision, yeah. But his check was at Richards waist and not his head unlike Ennis. There is so much overhype from that hit it’s not even funny.

  • AngryWard

    I like that you have Minnesota in the darkhorse mix. They need to win out though. Penn St. victory was a good start, and they still will probably need to win at least one and maybe two games in Big Ten tournament. How about Wisconsin losing to Purdue? This tournament truly feels up for grabs.

  • jgclancy

    My nine day tour of So Cal mexican food has ended.Brought a few burritos back on the plane–they’re gone now too….sigh….
    Birthday tomorrow-will be at P & K’s for trivia as always
    Go Aztecs!!!– A Dark Horse that can win it all if the stars align –otherwise Wah Wah Isn’t it a Pity!

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