New York, NY 3/21/2008 11:54:18 AM
News / Sports

March Madness Picks

The Baylor Bears were the last team to be called for a date to the Big Dance on Selection Sunday.  However, they are the team most likely to put out.  Two decades have past since they have seen any NCAA tournament action which will most likely inspire them to push ahead.  They are still dealing with fallout from the scandal involving the murder of Patrick Dennehy by teammate Carlton Dotson a few years back.  Trying to put that behind them, they'll be up against Purdue in the first round.

The Bears are the twelfth highest scoring team in the nation at 81.4 points per game and 3 pointers per game at 8.6 in the Big 12.  They were 13-10 against the spread this year and were good on the road at 7-2. All things considering, the Bears have played well in one of the hardest conferences in college basketball with a few big wins on the road.  If the Bears can spread the floor and shoot a good percentage, they could have an excellent chance to beat Purdue and move forward.

The Titans entered the NCAA tournament for the first time in 3 decades and are up against a team susceptible to the upset.  Last season, Texas A&M Corpus Christi gave Wisconsin a tough first round game. Like Corpus Christi, California State Fullerton scored 82.6 points per game and will make it hard for the Badgers to come up with offense.  The Titans won the Big West on account of excellent teamwork. If Fullerton may have the opportunity to pull a first round shocker in Nebraska.

The Arizona Wildcats are making their 24th consecutive season in the NCAA tournament qualifying them as a 10-seed.  They made it through a difficulty season.  Kevin O'Neill took over after Coach Lute Olson took a leave of absence.  They ended up having one of the worst overall records of any tournament team. This may have been due to the fact that they played one of the hardest schedules of any team in the country.

The Patriots took the Colonial Athletic post season tournament to dance their way into March Madness.  Mason finish 12-6 in the regular season behind VCU.  If they wanted to repeat the mid-major madness of 2006, they know that they were going to have to win out in the conference tournament, which they ended up doing.  Some people thought it was a fluke.

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