NCAA Poll

[ValpoHoops]

Ok...no bickering now 

Two questions for everyone:

1) Which team that could be a 3/4/5 do you MOST want to play and why?

2) Which team that could be a 3/4/5 do you LEAST want to play and why?

[ValpoHoops]

1). Pitt. They are not an offensive juggernaut by any means. A team tht probably can't blow people out. They play man, which I junk would allow Buggs to penetrate much like against WSU and they don't shoot the ball well, so we should be able to zone them and take away some of their athletic advantage.


2). Michigan State. They would beat us up like WSU did, only on a much grander scale. They are peaking at the right time and have both the athletes and the bigs to be nightmares for us at all five spots at both ends. Against some BCS teams, a mid-major might have the edge at one or maybe two spots...we would have an advantage (maybe) on offense when Ryan played the four but then we would be overmatched at the other end with their bigs.

[valpo4life]

The team I would want to play the most would be Arizona (would be Wisconsin but I don't know if they would even get a 5 seed). They don't have a dominant post player inside which usually is one of the big struggles when playing a power conference team. We played at their place last year so there would be a little bit of tape, etc. going into to it on our side. We played them tough so that also adds a little confidence going into it in my opinion. They are athletic, but I mean, which team isn't going to be? Pittsburgh is a close second, but I saw them as a 5 seed and I am counting us out of a 12 seed.

The team I would want to play the least would be Michigan State (if they are a 3 seed) because you don't wanna go against this tough nosed Tom Izzo team. We would get locked up by a better defense than the WSU one that almost kept us from this discussion. And also, I like the fact that I believe Bryce can "out coach" someone, but this someone who he definitely could not. We would not be able to handle them on the boards and guarding Payne would be a nightmare. Don't wanna see there name next to ours in a couple days.

[talksalot]

Actually, the WHERE is more important to me... so the local CrusaderNation can participate ...   Auburn Hills, Lexington or Dayton... Pullease!.. and preferably with a 13 seed...   How about a 13-4 matchup with Butler in Auburn Hills..

[oklahomamick]

1.  I would like to play Okie State.  Thats what espn's bracketology currently displays.  Even though OSU has freshman player of the year, overall they don't have a big presence inside.  OSU is very young and it would most likely be the youngest team in the tournament going against the oldest.  Finally, I would be able to wear my valpo shirts around town and people would finally know who it was. 

2.  Michigan State is peaking.  I think they are too athletic for us. 

[Valpo89]

It needs to be a young team that has had a decent year but is maybe ranked where they are due to reputation, a team from a power conference that doesn't have a long tradition of success.
I like the suggestion of Pitt. They are ALWAYS over-ranked going into the NCAA tournament.

[vu84v2]

Having moved to Lawrence, I probably have more knowledge on the Big 12 than on teams in other conferences since I have seen most of the Big 12 teams multiple times.

I definitely would not like them to play Kansas since I strongly support both teams (more Valpo).  That won't happen unless Kansas loses to Texas Tech today.

I think Kansas State is a much better matchup for Valpo than Oklahoma State.  While OSU does not have a really good big, Nash is big and mobile.  Additionally, Brown and Smart are very very good.  Kansas State plays strong defense and better offense than last year, but I could see them being overconfident.  They also don't really have any bigs that could overwhelm Capobianco and Van Wijk and woul present reasonable matchups at all 5 positions.  K-State is well coached and plays hard - but they would probably be my preferred matchup versus anyone in the country.

A K-State game would likely be in Kansas City, which would be a bit of a negative since there will be a fair amount of K-State fans there (though far less than KU fans).