KENTUCKY (1/20/12) - More than half of the college basketball season has come and gone. People want to know who’ll be playing in New Orleans this year.
New Orleans is the site of the 2012 final four and every team hopes to have their road end there. There are only about 10 regular games left before we head to the most exciting time of year, March Madness. The question is whether or not there’ll be a crazy tournament again.
There are a lot of questions to be asked. Who’s going to be this year’s Butler and Virginia Commonwealth? Maybe the final four teams will all be from BCS conferences.
However, nobody will really have an idea until the brackets come out on selection Sunday. If a mid-major has a good matchup against a top notch team, Cinderella may be putting on her slippers.
Let’s get the ball rolling with four possible teams from mid-major conferences that can go to New Orleans. However, these teams will more than likely only make it to the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight.
1. Creighton Blue Jays
The Blue Jays can make final four run but there are some questions to be asked. The question is about who they’ve played? Yes, they beat two Big Ten teams. Both of those teams are two of the bottom feeders in the Big Ten. Not quality wins.
Their losses come to St. Joseph and Missouri State. Oh and the second time they played Missouri State, they won by one. Missouri State has nine losses so there are some questions that need to be answered. Missouri State is doing something right.
Statistically Creighton is the best team in the country. They’re first in the country in field goal percentage and in the top ten in rebounds and points. Oh and they’re the number one three point shooting team in the country. You don’t want to face Creighton is smart with the basketball. However, every opposing coach is going watch the Missouri State clips because they’re doing something right.
Whoever faces Creighton will be in for a fight.
2. St. Mary’s College
If you love college basketball then you know who the Gaels are. You may remember them from 2010. Yeah, they messed up your bracket by beating two seed Villanova in the second round to advance to their first Sweet 16 in 51 years.
Well they’re back folks and this team can play basketball. With an 18-2 record, you must fear them. There only losses came to Denver and Baylor. Baylor has only lost one game and yes the Denver is a bad loss but let’s forget about that. That was only the third game of the season.
Since there loss to Baylor on December 22nd, the Gaels have won seven straight games. This includes a win against 23rd ranked Gonzaga. They won by 21 which proved that they’re a good team. Fear the Gael; they get a second crack at Gonzaga in Feburary.
3. Wichita State
Yes the Shockers are back and yes another Missouri Valley team. They may not be a flashy team with all the statistical magic that Creighton has but that doesn’t matter. You just have to play smart basketball.
The Shockers have three losses this season. All of those teams are going to be dancing come March. Losing to Alabama, Temple, and Creighton isn’t the end of the world. Oh and they beat UNLV by 19 points. That team beat UNC by ten earlier in the season.
The Shockers aren’t a good three point shooting team and that’s why they’re ranked third. However they can make a run in the tournament with good defense. Butler wasn’t a superb three point shooting team either. They just won ball games. Who knows, the shockers could pull a Butler and roll into New Orleans.
4. Murray State
The Racer is on the last two remaining unbeaten teams in the country. Yes their schedule may be weak and the OVC isn’t a top tier conference by any means.
Of course the OVC does have two straight first round wins in the tournament but they’ve only had three tournament wins ever. But undefeated is undefeated. The Racers have quality wins against Memphis and UAB.
The Racers can make a long run in the tournament by hitting their long range jumpers. The Racers are the fifth best team in the country when it comes to the three ball.
The concern for the Racers is that they’re in conference play and only winning by single digits as of late. However their leading rebounder has been missing. They can move up if they start blowing teams out again when he comes back.
The Racers can be a threat but staying healthy will be the key. If they lose a starter, they’ll struggle to make it to the second round.
Personally, this is a year where the BCS conference comes back. However, these are the four mid-major teams that can make a run. One of them has yet to record a loss. Watch for the matchups, if any of these teams can get favorable opponents they may make it to New Orleans.
Read my column next week about who’ll be in the final four this year because it’s none of these teams.
Conor Revell
SurfKY Sports
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