Hoya Paranoia | The Hoya's Sports Blog

It all comes down to this. After five months of drama — blowouts and thrillers, suspensions and comebacks (and more suspensions, in some cases), feel-good upsets and heartbreaking defeats — all but two teams are watching from their couches. March Madness lived up to its name once again, as no-names like Norfolk State and red-hot sleepers like Louisville busted the brackets of amateur analysts and problem gamblers across the country.

But as is the case almost every year (non-Butler division), the championship game itself holds few surprises. Kentucky, far and away the most dominant team in the nation this year, has had this game in its sights since Day One. Kansas is a little more interesting since it wasn’t expected to be a title contender this year, but it still embodies the college basketball establishment — Dr. Naismith himself worked at the school, after all.

So here we are — UK vs. KU. A showdown of basketball royalty. Naismith coach of the year Bill Self’s Jayhawks will attempt to do the impossible and spoil the coronation of John Calipari’s Wildcats. But for all his accolades, Calipari still lacks a national title, and the last team to deny him in the championship game was Self’s 2008 Kansas squad. The media has no shortage of storylines to play up, but what about the basketball? Have no fear, dear readers, because we’ve got you covered: The usual matchup analysis, game predictions and nonsense is after the jump. Continue reading →

There was no middle ground for No. 2 seeds in this year’s NCAA tournament. Either you’re out in the first round (Duke, Missouri) or, well, you’re in the Final Four. This Saturday night, East No. 2 Ohio State and Midwest No. 2 Kansas will square off in the national semifinal.

That’s right — despite Yahoo! Sports’ best attempts to convince us otherwise, everyone’s favorite school from upstate New York will not in fact represent the East region in the Final Four. No, that honor goes to — I can’t believe I’m saying this — The Ohio State University. Jared Sullinger & Co. edged a shaky, Fab Melo-less Syracuse squad in the regional final. In the Midwest, meanwhile, Kansas crushed top-seeded North Carolina to claim the region’s Final Four bid. The game probably would’ve been more exciting had UNC’s Kendall Marshall been healthy, but a broken wrist kept the star point guard out and the Jayhawks cruised to victory.

Players to watch, matchup analysis and predictions for the impending Jayhawk-Buckeye showdown after the jump. Continue reading →

Well, that went well.  I’ve dragged myself out of the doldrums of post-Hoya-loss disappointment just for you, dear readers. There should be some pretty compelling basketball on TV as two double-digit seeds have made it to the semifinals of the Midwest bracket, and look to make a run so deep into the tournament that every ESPN anchor runs out of glass slipper jokes. The first double-digit seed is NC State who, oddly enough, I harbor no animosity towards for unceremoniously dumping the Hoyas out of the tournament. These things happen when you don’t box out. The other double-digit seed is a school whose name I will endeavor to not use because I’m a bitter, bitter man and hold really long grudges. Oh and as if that weren’t interesting enough, UNC’s injury list is getting rather ridiculous while Kansas barely escaped a Robbie-Hummel led — but otherwise uninspiring — Purdue squad in the second round.

Predictions after the jump… Continue reading →

Pardon me for thinking we lived in the 21st century, but I had always thought the Eye Test – or what I had thought was the ‘I’ Test – was a technical formula that combined data based on possession, rebounding and strength of schedule. You know, the kind of thing you expect to hear about when you inevitably tune into ESPN for your hourly share of March Madness talk. I have since discovered, of course, the true nature of this “test,” which does not require a masters in advanced statistics to take.

Using said “Eye Test,” it is easy to see that my East Region Preview wasn’t exactly spot on, but it also doesn’t take complicated formulas for me to know that by correctly predicting every first round game in the East and Midwest regions, having my bracket in the 99.9th percentile after round one on ESPN, and maintaining a surviving final four, I could still stand to win a lot of … pride.

But enough about me; I must begrudgingly praise Syracuse. Yes they almost lost in the first round, but they did come back to spank Kansas State — albeit without Jamar Samuels, who had been averaging 10 points and 6.6 rebounds per game — in the next round. They seem to have overcome the Fab Melo fiasco and are once again Final Four — if not national title — contenders.

Seeing as this is a preview and not a reflection, I will keep the backtracking to a minimum, but the NCAA (or technically the university president preemptively) suspending Samuels for accepting a mere $200 years ago in order to feed his family without any type of explanation proves the league’s hypocrisy more blatantly than ever before. If Samuels had played, K-State might have progressed further than what I call the unthrifty thirty-two in honor of a organization that allows its players to starve while forcing them to sport Nike sponsorship socks so the school so they can make extra dough – more to come in a Candid Canadian column at a later date.

Previews after the jump. Continue reading →

Over the next few days we’ll be previewing the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. It will involve less Georgetown talk than we were hoping for, but hey… what can you do? Find the South preview here.

So a couple of weeks ago, I previewed the West region and made a few surprising calls; namely, that New Mexico would make the Final Four, Murray State would lose first round and Davidson had a chance to beat Louisville. As it stands now? New Mexico lost to Louisville, who squeaked by Davidson in the first round, and Murray State handled Colorado State. But although I was entirely incorrect, here’s why you should still listen to me: I’m not in last place in my March Madness pool. So some of you still have something to gain by listening to me. And away we go. Continue reading →