All this talk about the Mid-West region being the so called “toughest” region…well there may be some truth there, but take a look at the West region. All 4 teams still alive in this region were all ranked in the top 25 prior to the NCAA Tournament. This is the only region where this is the case.

Let’s take a look inside the numbers for Kansas State vs. Xavier:

The two things that stick out to me here is that K-State holds sizable advantage in their ability to get to the free throw line and also in crashing the offensive boards. Xavier does turn the ball over less and shoots a slightly better percentage from the field, but these categories are virtually even.

These two teams played each other back in December with K-State winning 71-56. Here is another look at the 4 factors to winning related to this game back in December. (Much Different than the entire season chart above)

The good news for Xavier is that the NCAA tournament is different than the regular season. They don’t have to be a better team than K-State…only a better team for one night. I like Xavier’s team, but I think K-State might be too much for them again.

I really enjoyed watching Texas at Arkansas.  Texas survived a inspired Arkansas team that welcomed back their star guard Courtney Fortson from suspension and their coach, John Pelphrey, sported a red blazer which he only wears against Texas.  The final score was 96-85 so there wasn’t much defense being played by either team.  Texas will need to improve in that area as they get into the Big 12 schedule.  However, it sure made for an exciting game to watch!

Arkansas can definitely score in bunches and Texas had a difficult time slowing them down.  Their dynamic duo of sophomore guards, Courtney Fortson and Rotnei Clark should make the Razorbacks very competitive in the SEC.  Don’t let their 7-8 record fool you.  They have had injuries and suspension to this point in the season and now are getting back to full strength.  Clark (24 points) can flat out shoot the three and Fortson (19 points) attacks off the dribble and puts a lot of pressure on the opposing defense.  Given the slow start they will have their work cut out for them to get a post season birth whether that is NCAA or NIT.  Regardless, they are a fun group to watch.

Texas struggled in their first true road “test” of the season (at Rice doesn’t count!).  Give some of the credit to Arkansas as they played a heck of a game.  However, Texas can be better than they showed tonight and they need to be to win on the road in the Big 12.  I can’t get on them too much though, despite not playing their best game they still scored 96 points.  I’m willing to bet that 96 will get them a win on most nights.  However, Arkansas played a lot of zone…a lot of bad zone I should  say.  Texas will see much tougher defense in conference play so they need to be ready for it.  I was really impressed with Longhorn big man Dexter Pittman, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  He couldn’t be stopped in the paint tonight.  That’s a great weapon to have in case of a “off” night shooting.  Their star Damion James finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds despite battling foul trouble.  The Longhorns are a legitimate candidate for a #1 seed in March.  Long way to go, but they have the team to make a deep run in the tournament.

60 teams to go….70 days until Selection Sunday!

As a Michigan fan when I think Oklahoma basketball, I think Blake Griffin since he destroyed my Wolverines in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament last season.  The Sooners lost to eventual champ North Carolina in the Elite Eight.  Obviously Griffin has moved on to the NBA as the #1 pick and left a large hole in the Sooner’s lineup.  The only player that averaged double figures returning from last years team is sophomore guard Willie Warren.  A few role players combined with some talented freshmen and you’ve got a receipe for an interesting season.

Oklahoma showed just how young they are in the first half of their game vs the UTEP Miners.  I don’t want to take anything away from the way UTEP played in the first half.  They absolutely took it to the Sooners.  So give UTEP credit.  However, many of the threes they made in that first half were uncontested.  Oklahoma played defense like it was a summer league or even a pickup game.  (Actually, I’ve seen better effort on defense in pickup games)  Sooners coach Jeff Capel stayed in a zone and went with a smaller lineup much of the first half even though UTEP was shooting the lights out.  UTEP ended up shooting 8-12 from behind the arc in that first half.  Sooner’s guard and All-American canidate Willie Warren had 16 points in the first half of his team’s 30.  Actually 30 isn’t horrible for a first half but when you give up 47 it looks pretty bad.  Bottom line, UTEP outplayed and outcoached Oklahoma in that first half.

Oklahoma picked up the pace in the second half and played a full court man to man defense.  It didn’t matter. UTEP simply continued to execute and cruised to a 15 point win.  Oklahoma never cut the 17 point halftime deficit to single digits.  This might be a different game come March when Oklahoma’s younsters realize how good they can be.  But take nothing away from UTEP.  This looks like a NCAA tournament team.  A couple bright spots for Oklahoma, Willie Warren had 26 points, freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin had 20 points (all in the 2nd half) and freshman big man Tiny Gallon had 13 points.

Oklahoma needs more consistency from their freshmen (which should come with experience)  if they want to be a NCAA tournament team. 

One team down only 72 to go!