Initial Tournament Thoughts

These are my first impressions of the tournament. I'll post my bracket Wednesday Evening.

• My final four: Louiville, Memphis (these are the two most athletic and best defensive teams), North Carolina (Most offensive talent, good enough defense), and Pittsburgh (Dejuan Blair = beast). I think Memphis will emerge from this group. They have amazing size, athleticism, length, they are well coached, and really commit to playing staunch defense. Tyreke Evans isn't as good a Derrick Rose, but he has just as much raw talent, as well as an extra four inches. He'll be an absolute matchup nightmare, and Memphis has a deep team with several complementary glue guys. But I could see any of these teams winning it all, as well as UConn and Oklahoma.
• Jerome Dyson's injury might be the biggest determining factor in determining the national champion. UConn looked like the class of the Big East (and the country, for that matter) before Dyson went down for the year. Any team would take a swoon if it lost its best permieter defender, and UConn is no exception. Connecticut was my national championship pick at the beginning of the year, but now I don't see them winning their region.
• All of the teams were hoping to be in Duke's regional, and Pitt was the lucky winner. Duke is overrated. Their defense isn't as good as advertised, they can't get dribble penetration for their lives, and in general Duke still lives and dies by the three. I can't wait to pick against them in the second round. This is way too easy.
• Looks like the committee read my last post and tried to screw me over by pitting my two most underrated teams, LSU and Butler, against each other. Butler's more underrated.
• Syracuse is an easy second round upset. They expended all their energy to improve themselves by two or three seeds, but it'll cost them when they have tired legs.
• Every year there is at least one 5-12upset, and this year is no exception. Arizona has two lottery picks this year, whereas Utah probably won't produce any D-League players. Illinois looked horrible down the stretch, while Western Kentucky already beat Louiville and returns most of the players that went to the Sweet 16 last year. I expect UA and WKU to get to the Sweet 16, where they will both be very tough outs.
• I think UNC got the easiest bracket. There doesn't appear to be a single team capable of beating Carolina. There are good teams in the region, like Butler, WKU, and Oklahoma, but no one that will pose a serious threat to Carolina.
• Most exciting game: 3 Missouri vs. 2 Memphis. Both teams are athletic, can press effectively, and love to get up and down. The difference is that Memphis plays much better half court defense, which is why they will prevail.
• Bold Prediction: 10 USC over 2 michigan State. Demar Derozan will show the nation why he is being listed in every 2009 NBA mock draft. This kid is an absolute physical freak. I'm talking Lebron James, Josh Smith type Athleticism, and he has a high level of basketball skill to complement his athletic ability. Tom Izzo won't have any answers because Demar is basically an NBA player playing in college.