(2) Michigan State vs. (2) Memphis
If my brackets hold up, the Spartans and Tigers will face off after dispatching two of the beasts of the Big East -- top-seeded Louisville and Connecticut, respectively.Michigan State's Tom Izzo is one of the top coaches in college basketball today, and if there's anyone who can find a weakness in Memphis' ball-hawking defense, he's the guy. But I don't think that weakness exists. And I don't think the Spartans' physical play will help them much against Calipari's talented squad. Memphis returns to the championship game.
(1) Pittsburgh vs. (1) North Carolina
This will be the year that the Panthers get over the hump and reach the Final Four, where they'll run into a team that considers anything less than the Final Four a failed season. A Panthers/Tar Heels game could be an epic matchup... Hansbrough against DeJuan Blair... the speedy Ty Lawson and the crafty LeVance Fields... Danny Green chasing Sam Young... well worth the price of admission. I give Carolina the edge due to their postseason experience, and say the Heels win a close one.(2) Memphis vs. (1) North Carolina
I've been saying for weeks that I didn't think the Tigers would get a number one seed... that's not an indictment of their play, it's an observation based on their resume. The Conference USA schedule simply doesn't give Memphis the opportunity to build up the sort of curriculum vitae that a team like Carolina, that faces Duke twice a year -- or Pittsburgh, that plays Connecticut, Louisville, Villanova and Syracuse during the conference schedule -- can boast.That doesn't mean I don't think the Tigers can win it all.
I think they will.
Memphis' suffocating defense frustrates Lawson and Hansbrough, and this year, the Tigers hit the key free throws down the stretch, and John Calipari's squad cuts down the nets in Detroit.
