12 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 13, 2002 a $Ot BEST FIRST ROUND-GAME: Def- initely the 5-12 matchup between Indiana- and Utah. Indiana has been among the most MATC] disappointing first-round teams in recent (1)Dukevs.(16) M years; and Utah coach Rick Majeris has Thursday, 10:10 p. never lost in the opening round with his (2) Alabamavs.(15 Utes. ESPN.com reports that Utah was the Thursday, 2:50 p.m last at-large team given a spot at the dance, (3) ,v".(14 but watch for them to make the most of the Friday, 12:25 p.m. (4) Souh li vs. (1: opportunity. Thursday, 7:55 p.m MOST INTRIGUING SECOND-ROUND GAME: The (5) Indiana vs.(12) possibility of a Pennsylvania vs. Pittsburgh Thursday, 10:25 p.r game in the second round, played in Pitts- (6) Calfonia vs. (1 burgh, was no mistake in planning by the Friday, 2:55 p.m. NCAA Selection Committee. Keep a close Thurlay, 12:20 p eye on the minutes of Pittsburgh point guard (8) Notre Dame vs Brandin Knight. He was sidelined with a Thursday, 7:40 p.m. knee injury and will not be playing at 100 percent, if at all, this week. MOST OVERRATED: Probably Southern Cal, which earned its No. 4 seed by beating up on the PAC-10's worst teams while struggling against the conference's elite. A "stealing lunch money" kind of team can get into the Tourney, but it won't go very far. MOST UNDERRATED: Kent State. These guys went 17-1 in the underrated (and Dick Vitale's favorite) .: MAC Conference. WHO IS PULLING OUT A FIRST ROUND UPSET?: (9) Charlotte, (10) Kent State, (12) Utah. GREAT 8: Duke and Alabama (no surprises there). DON'T LET YOURSELF BELIEVE THAT ... : Central Con- necticut State is at all for real. They could have won a billion games in a row -it doesn't change the fact that they're Central Connecticut. Duiwefnear 4as HUPS Winthrop m. 5) Rorida Atlantic n. Co"t' Oonne dcut n. t) tah .m. 11) Pennsylvania V& (10) Kent State .m. . (9) Chaulotte n, MATCHUPS (1) Maryland vs. (16) Silena Friday, 10:10 p.m. (2) Connecticut vs. (15) Hampton Friday, 2:45 p.m. (3) Georga vs. (14) MunayState Friday, 10:20 p.m. (4) Kentucky vs. (13) Valparaiso Thursday, 12:25 p m. (5) Marquette vs. (12) Tulsa Thursday, 2:55 p.m. (6) Texas Techvs. (11) SouhernmIllinois Friday, 7:50 p.m. (7) N.C. Stat vs. (10) MchiganState Friday, 12:15 p.m. (8) Wisconsin vs. (9) St. John's Friday, 7:40 p.m. BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: There are actually quite a few to chose from in this Region. I am interested to see how Bobby Knight's Red Raiders perform in his first postseason at Texas Tech against a very strong Southern Illinois team. But the best game should be the 7-10 matchup between big-conference also- rans - N.C. State and Michigan State. MOST INTRIGUING SECOND-ROUND GAME: I don't expect Maryland to make it to the Final Four, but I can't quite figure out why. They'll fall at some point, and it may be in the second round to Marcus Hatten (perhaps the most explosive play- er in this tournament) and St. John's. If the Terps find themselves in the Sweet 16, they would find themselves faced Tubby Smith's underachieving Kentucky Marcus Hatten with AP PHOTO Junior Drew Gooden was the Big-12 Player of the Year and led Kansas to a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. eSt BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: Gonzaga versus Wyoming fea- tures the West Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference cham- pions in a game in which neither team should be playing. Both deserved higher 'V seeds. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Dan Dickau is too much to overcome. MOST INTRIGUING SECOND-ROUND GAME: It's at pity that either Gonzaga or Arizona will lose: in the second round. Both are at least Sweet' 16 teams, but only one will make it there. Arizona has by far the most difficult second- round game of any top-four seed in the Tour- nament, playing the much-underrated Zags. MOST OVERRATED: Miami. Do you have any idea how easy it was to play in the Big East this year? Don't let the talking heads fool you. Give me the good old days of Derrick Coleman, Alonzo and ... er ... Kerry Kittles? MOST UNDERRATED: Gonzaga. 'Nuff said. WHO IS PULLING OUT A FIRST ROUND UPSET?: (12) Missouri. GREAT 8: Ohio State and Arizona. I don't care how many games Cincinnati won this season, I've put my money on the Bearcats enough times in this tournament, only to see them col- lapse early. DON'T LET YOURSELF BELIEVE THAT ... : Okla- homa is as good as it looked last weekend. AP PHOTOS Wildcats. MOST OVERRATED: Georgia. MOST UNDERRATED: Kentucky. These guys beat Florida twice and lost to Duke by just three early in the season. The Wildcats were not blown out in any of their losses this season, and feature last year's SEC Player of the Year, the versatile Tayshaun Prince. WHO IS PULLING OUT A FIRST ROUND UPSET?: (9) St. John's, (10) Michigan State, (11) Southern Illi- nois, (12) Tulsa. GREAT 8: Maryland (I guess) and Connecticut (although I want so badly to say Southern Illinois). DON'T LET YOURSELF BELIEVE THAT ... : Michigan State is as bad as you want it to be. BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: Probably Wake Forest and Pepperdine. The Waves have proven they aren't intimidated by elite teams, defeating Gonzaga, UCLA and . Southern Cal. this season. And hey, Wake is no Gonzaga. MOST INTRIGUING-SECOND ROUND GAME: Florida and Illinois. The Fighting Illini have gotten their act together after a 4-5 start in the Big Ten. Florida, on the other hand, has been on the decline since February. But the Gators have been far in this tournament before, and a similar Illinois team folded early last year. MOST OVERRATED: Texas. The Longhorns played a tough schedule against a bunch of ranked teams this season (great for the RPI), but lost y Cross against most of them; they went 2-7 ii those games against ranked opponents. ni na MOST UNDERRATED: Illinois. If not for an Moeo early exit from the Big Ten Tournament, the Illini would be a deserving No. 2 seed - at DWego State least as deserving as Oregon. WHO IS PULLING OUT A FIRST ROUND UPSET?: tghton . (9) Western Kentucky, (10) Pepperdine, (11) -l Boston College. GREAT 8: Kansas and Boston College. I Peppegn don't think much of Oregon, and if B.C. gets its act together it is as dangerous as anyone. umnVn"bcky DON'T LET YOURSELF BELIEVE THAT ... Kansas isn't the best team in the country. fSteve Logan MATCHUPS (1) Ckix m hivs. (16) Boston uney Friday, 7:40 p.m. (2) Oldahoma vs. (15) Iinoslhicago Friday, 12:30 p.m. (3) Arhana vs. (14) UC.Santa Btarbr Thursday, 10:10 p.m. (4) ONho State vs. (13) Davidson Thursday, 3:10 p.m. (5) Miami (Ra.) vs. (12) Missouri Thursday, 12:40 p.m. (6) Gonzaga vs. (11) Wyoming Thursday, 7:40 p.m. (7) Xavierv. (10) Haval Friday, 3 p.m. (8) UCLA vs. (9) Mississippi Friday, 10:10 p.m. MATCHI (1) Kansas vs. (16) Hol Thursday, 7:50 p.m. (2) Oregon vs. (15) Mo Thursday, 5:12 pm. (3) M b&. Stats vs. (14) M Friday, 7:55 p.m. (4) Illinois vs. (13) San' Friday, 3 p.m. (5) Florida vs. (12) Crel Friday, 12:30 p.m. (6) Texas vs. (1.1) Bat Friday, 10:25-p.m. (7) Wake Forest vs. (10) Thursday, 2:42 p.m. (8) Stanford vs.(9) Wst Thursday, 1O:20p.m. - i a AS SENIOR VP OF FINANCIAL PLANNING ATA MAJOR O.K. MOVIE STUDIO YOU COULD:N A $93 MILLION BUDGET START HERE. GO PLACES. 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