A Trip Out West

To the West...

Best First Round Game: Cal v. Maryland - Most of the public in the big pools have sided with Maryland as they are probably more familiar to the palette. Grevies Vasquez is an NBA caliber guard whose emotional and fiery play can lift the Terps over great opponents like UNC. This is also a team that lost by 43 to Duke just a few months ago.

Cal plays a frenetic pace and is one of the better teams to not have appeared on ESPN this year. Therefore very few people know much about them. Enjoy the game, it should be a good one, and don't be surprised if you know a lot more about the Pac-10 on Monday than you do today.

Best Player: Jerel McNeal has been stellar all season long for the Marquette Eagles, yet all the recent focus has been on the loss of backcourt mate Dominic James. In order for Marquette to survive and advance, McNeal is going to have to carry a larger portion of the scoring load. He is more than capable.

Most important player(s): The Memphis Tigers will once again go as far as their star freshman point guard can carry them. Last year, Derrick Rose took them 2 minutes from a championship. In order for that same result (or better) Tyreke Evans is going to have do likewise.

Purdue is a different team when Robbie Hummel is healthy, and he finally appears to be 100% just in time for the tourney. However, the true key to the Boilermakers success will be the play of unheralded sophomore big man JuJuan Johnson. In a bracket that could see matchups with Washington's John Brockman and UConn's Hasheem Thabeet, Johnson will need to play big to keep the Boilers advancing.

Worst Seeding: No complaints out West, everything is just about right. Utah State might be a slot high at #11, Washington might be one high at #4, I'd personally have flipped they and Purdue, but after round one it really matters little. All in all, a really fairly seeded bracket.

Toughest Break: Purdue's reward for winning the Big Ten tourney was a trip to Portland, Oregon. This sets up a de facto road game in Rd 2 if Washington advances.

Possible 2nd Round Gem: Washington and Purdue will be a very interesting game, but the hidden gem is if Maryland sneaks past Cal. The Terps provide a difficult matchup, as they shoot the ball well enough from the outside to score enough points, Vasquez, when playing well (think "Devendorf" level of eraticism) can control the tempo and tenor of the game, and Maryland is not going tobe dramatically "out-athleted" by the Tigers like many other teams in the draw. It will be a very competitive game.

Easiest to Root For: Marquette was cruising towards a 3 or 4 seed until the untimely season-ending injury to four-year starter Dominic James. It is pretty easy to get on the Marquette bandwagon

Maniac's Sweet Sixteen Picks:

Purdue upsetting UConn in the Sweet 16, Memphis over Marquette

Purdue utilizing their poise and patience to withstand the Memphis onslaught and advance as a the surprising Final Four entrant

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