12/22/24
February 02, 2005
Sports Jabber: Intern jabbers about the NCAA Tournament: This for all of you Illini-Haters out there.
February 2, 2005 Sports Jabber: The Intern picks and jabbers about teams that will be in the NCAA Tournament. By: Zac Schniers Let me begin with saying that all Illinois-Haters should just live with reality, because the Illini are going to the Final Four and perhaps they might win the National Championship. Why? Because the 3-guard combination of Luther Head, Deron Williams, and Dee Brown completely annihilated Michigan State at East Lansing. Now with the fact that the Illini has overcome their biggest challenge this season of Michigan State, not Iowa, the boys from Champaign have a ticket to the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis. MANNN I WISH I COULD BUY TICKETS! But as we all, including Captain Obvious who has played the role of one of my good friends lately know that there are 3 teams left that will have a ticket to Lambert International Airport in late March. And The Intern is going to jabber about who possibly might be under the arch come March . North Carolina: Otherwise known as most of the people at ESPN’s pick to win the National Championship, and they are partly right, North Carolina may GET to the National Championship game, but they won’t win it. The Illini will as I said before, and after all North Carolina is in the ACC, the toughest conference in the league, and they already lost to conference rival Wake Forest who got dominated by Illinois, may I might add that they still have to face 4 more ranked teams in their schedule before the regular season is over. But I have to give props to Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Jawad Williams, and Sean May who are having great years so far, but these guys were the same players that lost to Texas in the first round last year, and they’ve improved by possibly going into the Final Four, but either will lose to Duke or Illinois. Sorry, UNC this just isn’t your year quite yet. Next in line are the boys from Wake Forest, well maybe 2 boys to say the least (Justin Gray and Chris Paul). Wake received a WAKE up call this early-season when they were number #1 when they were beaten by the Illini, who have been #1 ever since the electrifying game. But on the flip side Gray and Paul combine to be one of the best backcourts in the game, and with a supporting cast of Eric Williams Jamaal Levy in the paint, Wake could still be a contender for the Top 5 in the polls, but for now they are #7, overshadowed by the 2 other ACC teams that could be a contender for the Final Four (Duke #6, North Carolina #2), but it doesn’t mean that Wake’s out of it, they face Duke tonight, and that’s why I am giving the “5th” team award to Duke, because I believe there is hope that Wake will win tonight at home. Last but not least is Self-centered Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks. The reason I say he’s a self-centered is because he left Illinois for Kansas 2 years ago and he should still be with the Illini but he decided to turn his back on them. But on the good side of Kansas is a newer form of Nick Collison in Wayne Simien (lead scorer with 18.0) and a newer form of Kirk Hinrich in Aaron Miles (7.3 assists per game). But with Miles comes a twin of Illinois’ backcourt almost, with Keith Langford and J.R Giddens helping Miles with over 10 ppg each. But Kansas needs perform a run if they want to get back to #2, after losing that spot with a disappointing loss to Villanova, as far as I’m concerned they need to win big in upcoming games against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to get an early jump-start in the bracket. Ok, well now my little jabber of the Final Four is done, I’m going to do some more with my 5TH team award and my surprise teams. Well I’ve already said it. Yes it’s true. Duke gets the 5th team award for one reason. And that reason is they have to face 6 more ranked teams in the regular season (including tonight’s game with Wake) to prove themselves as a Final Four team. To do it they will have to face North Carolina twice, Wake Forest twice, and Maryland and Georgia Tech once more, and I don’t see Duke pulling it out against Wake or North Carolina both of the times. Surprise Teams: 1. Boston College: Reason: might have an undefeated season, but very doubtful. 2. Georgia Tech: Reason: if they can do what they did last year, they’ll be there. 3. Kentucky: Reason: Right now they’re ranked 4th in the country, and if they do decent for the rest of the year, the 2 years might come back. 4: Syracuse: Reason: Same as Georgia Tech, if they can do what they did in the last few years they’re definitely going. Well that’s the first edition of the Sports Jabber column for you. The Next edition will be based on whoever wins the Super Bowl (GO EAGLES) Until then, keep in touch because I write about 3 columns a week and this is my 2nd.
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