The 2008 Final Four was perhaps the most disappointing in the history of me watching the tournament (interesting caveat huh). All the number one seed made it. Every single one! Who wants to watch a 65-team, single-elimination tournament in which the predicted top four teams are the actual last four teams standing?
I go to see action movies because I know the characters who are getting the most camera time will be in the final ten minutes of an explosive battle royal. I do not mind that. It is a Hollywood production. My college basketball should not be a production it should a bracket busting crap shoot that has out $50 bucks by the beginning of the Sweet Sixteen.
I want the 2009 edition of March Madness have a Final Four completely void of number one seeds. That would be the only redemption for last year. The question is: Which teams are in the best position to knock off these number one giants?
Starting in the Midwest Region, the University of Louisville is the number team in the tournament and I am not sure who can pull this off. The team is a combination of a solid defense and an efficient offense with strong perimeter play that can muscle out for wins and score in droves. Wake Forest has a young team that can beat impressive team (UNC and Duke). Though the Demon Deacons do not play consistent defense they can pretty much coast through the first two rounds before having to try and play a complete game. That game could be against Louisville. The only other hopeful squad is the Michigan State Spartans. They are a tough team with a great coach, a combination that can lead to a nice Elite Eight win.
Over in the West Region the UConn Huskies paid the price for dropping a six-overtime game to Syracuse, the number one seed in the farthest possible region. The Huskies have a big in the middle to deflect shots in Hasheem Thabeet and a nice floor leadrer in A.J. Price. Their path is littered with the chance to run into a hot shooting BYU in the second round, a tough Purdue Boilermaker team with tenacious back court pressure, a hot Missouri Tigers team, and an angry Memphis Tigers squad. This is region is a cliché, a true wild west full of possibility.
The South has its resident number one seed, the UNC Tar Heels. The Tar Heels have to worry about Ty Lawson. Without Lawson they will be able to handle a number 16 seed, but beyond that it becomes difficult. Assuming Lawson is back to decent health; UNC still has a few challenges. The young Butler Bulldogs are just scary enough to force the Tar Heels to man up in the second round. Past that, the only decent road block I foresee would the University of Oklahoma. The team may be short on bench, but Blake Griffin could dominate Tyler Hansbrough in the paint with his athleticism and guards Will Warren and Austin Johnson played well enough once to rank number one in the country.
Over in the East Region the Pittsburgh Panthers reign supreme. Levance Fields is a great ball handler who loves to create for others, Sam Young is the athletic small forward to look for on the break, and DeJuan Blair is a pure monster within 10 feet of the basket. The only real weakness is that perhaps they play too rough. The only team really equipped to take advantage of this many possible tick-tack fouls will be the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight. Duke is on its third point guard, Jon Scheyer, but they have the perimeter touch and the ref-love to get them a shot at destroying Pittsburgh from the stripe.