[TheSituation87]

Wichita State Shockers have now "shocked" three top 10 teams to get to the Final Four. #8 Pittsburgh, #4 Gonzaga, and #5 Ohio.St. Louisville has had the easier path to the final four in only beating one top 5 team in Duke. These rankings are according to the highly rated KenPom site.

Louisville is riding a 14 game win streak that is about to end come Saturday to the Wichita.St Shockers. Wichita.St has looked impressive throughout the Tourney and seem to be the hottest team right now going into the Final Four. They demolished Pittsburgh, had Gonzaga on the ropes throughout the game and stayed Poised and showed they wont quit when they were down 7 in the 2nd half. They then demolished La Salle, and embarrassed Ohio.St.

Ohio State Buckeyes had a top 10 defense and what experts say the best on ball defender in Aaron Craft. They are the BIG 10 Tournament Champions who nobody can argue were the best Conference in college basketball this year. Ohio State was a team that everyone had beating Wichita State by double digits due to Wichita State not having faced a defense as to the caliber of Aaron Craft and the Buckeyes. Well lets remind the people how Wichita State faced that top 10 defense. They dominated all game and were up by as much as 20 POINTS at one point. They had a double digit lead going down to the last few minutes and would have kept it, if it were not for the refs trying to get Ohio State back in the game.

Lets talk crowd advantage. Crowd advantage wont make any difference as Wichita State has been outnumbered in the Tourney to Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, and maybe even LaSalle.

Lets talk tournament experience. Louisville just went to the Final Four last year which many will say is a plus. But for those that haven't taken notice. Wichita State has been nothing but calm and humble throughout the tournament. They are acting like they have been there before and through interviews, a lot of the players are saying they are excited but aren't satisfied until they win the whole thing. So being in the first Final Four since 1965 wont be such a big deal to these players as they are determined to make history of being the first #9 seed to win the Tournament.

The pressure is all going to be on Louisville's Shoulder as nobody has Wichita State advancing. Louisville has struggled to MVC teams this year, beating UNI 51-46, Illinois State 69-66. Pittsburgh a team Wichita State had no trouble with also gave Louisville a hard time, Pittsburgh losing @ Louisville 64-61.

All the stars will Align for Wichita State to pull the upset yet again and take down another #1 seed Saturday. Wichita State has the Offense, Defense, Depth to get it accomplished. They have faced a top tier defense in Ohio State and Louisvilles defense wont be anything new. Wichita State has shown to stay Poised and Focused when being down.

Put your money on WSU and you wont regret it come Saturday when they "SHOCKED" Louisville

[TheSituation87]

A little more analysis to take in. Wichita State has faced pressure defenses like Louisville, having beat the #1 team in steals VCU @ VCU, beat #3 team in steals Southern Miss @ neutral court, beat #8 team in steals Bradley twice. Some past history stats. Louisville is 2-7 in National Semifinal games. Pitino is 2-4 in National Semifinal games, 0-2 with Louisville. Wichita State is 0-1 in National Semifinal games,

[BlurredOut]

VCU is far from Louisville defensively. past history in national semifinal games does not matter. this is a completely different season, and Louisville's team this year is one of their best ever.

I can understand if you like the spread, but to tout Wichita State ML as the pick of the century against one of the most well-rounded college groups in tourney history

[PaperTrail07]

LV IS BALLING....Now they got Ware to play for AS WELL AS A CHAMIONSHIP....LV would have to really shit the bed to lose this...to me it feels like lotto odds....

I realy hope they lose....

Betting says LV by 15+

[doubleehh]

lmao bro, you don't know basketball if you compare louisville's defense to vcu's. Vcu's defence is a trap right out the gates and trap is all they know. Louisville will nagg you, they will throw man to man press, 2 - 3 zone press, 3 -2 zone press, louisville simply wont lose. When they play man to man press, do you realize how fast peyton siva and russ smith cut the corners, its almost like you have 2 guys defending you, because they cut the corners so fast. If you play basketball and you cant beat the guy left or right, what you do is you dribble with ur back to the defender, when you do that, the help defence is so fast, its just scary. They will mentally f**k you up, you start making stupid decisions. You also have dieng in the middle to erase the mistakes you make which is to bound to happen when you press that hard. I personally also think the entire teams defensive mentally is on the same page, same paragraph, same sentence, same word. They are all pin point. Louisville will win by more than 9 easily here. It's not louisvilles press that win the game, its their overall defence. From deflections, to blocks, to speed on man to man defence. It incldes everything. This team is one of the top 5 college teams i have seen in my lifetime.

[k13]

Some good points but this is against the laws of life.

[TheSituation87]

I understand the hesitation to pick WSU SU. But mark my words, they will definitely cover the spread. Louisville is good, but not as great as a team everyone has made them out to be. You want to know why the better team doesn't always win in every kind of sport? Its called Desire, Passion, and Mental Toughness. The team with the most talent doesn't always win and take the words of what WSUs Guard Malcom Armstead said when it comes to facing Louisville. "This isn't a 7 game series, all you have to do is be better than them for one night". This isn't a NC.State v. Houston, Villanova v. Georgetown. WSU has the talent and have that chip on their shoulder. They will come out strong and surprise Louisville just like Ohio.St and by the time Louisville players say "the shockers really are legit", its going to be too late for them. This matchup is brewing for an upset that will happen. The writing is already on the wall for those that follow College BBall. Vegas bookmakers are going to die of happiness, by the reaping

[R.P. McMurphy]

They had a great run but I think the story ends here. Ville's guards gonna be too good and just too fast for them and you probably have the best big men in Dieng and one of the goats at HC in Pitino. I also cannot bet against them after hearing what Ware said when he was laying on the court with his bone sticking out... "JUST WIN". Picked them to win it all in my bracket which is destroyed anyhow but hopefully my champ prevails haha!

[R.P. McMurphy]

Ville gonna have to find a better way to guard the perimeter and guard against the 3 which I'm sure they will. Lets not forget the Zags had that game pretty much won until the Shockers went on a 3 frenzy in the closing minutes draining like 9 of them. Same thing against Buckeyes they were burying the 3 in 1h which is how they built the huge lead they almost blew. Should be a good game tho but far from the game of the century.

[Johnnythunder]

W State has mental toughness? These bums collapsed and almost blew a 19 point lead. They were thoroughly intimidated when Ohio State got intense. W State is far more likely to lose by 30+ than to win outright.

[DennisT]

The Situation 83 Beware this selection!

[DennisT]

Sorry 87!

[BettingWizard]

[bubblebuttluv]

Bro, are you out of your mind? Siva and Smith ball hard and Smith is quite possibly the second best player in College (I think Trey Burke is tops right now). Djeng is one of the only big man I have seen that is not super soft in the paint (unlike Plumlee and Zeller). Their press defense crushes fools. Jeez dude, I hope you are just kidding with your post. If anything the title should have Wichita State Shockers replaced with the other team's name (no jinxies). Being a faux-sharp will land a man in the poor house...

[bubblebuttluv]

That was for TheSituation87.

[TheSituation87]

Never call a team great win it losses three straight, two of those losses being to Villanova and by far one of the most overrated teams going into the Tournament like always George Town. Louisville is as vulnerable as any other team, and their 0-2 National Semifinal record under Pitino will be 0-3 Saturday. How many here thought WSU beat Ohio.St? Not to mention WSU has been able to neutralise every teams top scorer thus far. Everyone was saying WSU wont be able to handle Ohio.St's quick guards and we saw WSU crush them. WSU guards have height and size advantage over Louisville. WSU rebounds better(fact)and way better from the 3(can mentally destroy a team), look at Gonzaga and Ohio.St game. Im warning you guys who plan on backing Louisville, come Saturday when WSU beats Louisville, and are shocked just like Pittsburgh, Gonzaga , and Ohio.St fans. I'll come back and tell you I told you so

[doubleehh]

do you understand what they have done after those 3 loses? Its like they are a different team. Don't compare Ohio states guard to louisvilles guard. Sure arron craft is good, but that bois ball handling speed and hesitation speed is no where f**king near russ smiths. I play ball and let me tell you, arron craft would score on me 6/10 times most likely, but russ smith would probably score every single possession. Arron craft's style is kind of like a under developed peyton siva. They both play stiff as hell, but siva can glide and dangle a little. Trust me brother you are wrong here big time. I'd be surprised if the shockers cover, but them winning.... that's not possible im sorry.

[doubleehh]

no matter how much toughness or mental toughness or heart you have, some times you just have to come to reality... i would pour my heart out and give 150% attempt to beat bolt in a race or Michael Phelps in the pool, but its just not possible.

[trevor123698]

You will be right about this. The shockers will shock the world and win it all. Everyone thinks Louisville is unbeatable but they were letting Duke in the game for most of it and that Duke team was not good. I've got 50 bucks on the shockers straight up, and I've gotten literally every game of the tournament right. I did lose a chunk on FGCU against florida but that was the only one I got wrong in the past weekend. I'm up 25% of my entire bankroll (after a loss of about the same amount I'm up thus far on FCCU) on this tourney and if the shockers pull it off I will be up 55-60% of my bankroll, and even more if I do decide to go bigger. I certainly am not scared to pull the trigger because I went double my 50 on FGCU to beat Florida. I will likely double that 50 up to 100 before game time. I have nothing but what my eyes see and my eyes see a lock down defensive team that can score on anyone inside or out. I like the under but I will likely lay off of it because I don't trust it at only 132.

[trevor123698]

Well I just said penetrate it and doubled it up to 100. I'm not sure that they can beat michigan in the final though

[Louisvillekid1]

Are you saying the Shockers have more mental toughness/passion/or desire than Louisville?

Did you watch the kids' reactions after Ware went down, if that's not a family then I don't know what is.

Oh and did you happen too see the passion and desire they played with afterwards. '

They made Duke look like a mid major team in the second half.

WSU is a very good team and I picked them SU over Ohio St, but we are a team of destiny right now...

[TPowell]

as somebody who has bet Wichita State EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, they don't have a SHOT in this game more than likely

[CBASS]

I like it. Gl to you

[TheSituation87]

Wichita State has had the hardest Path to the Final Four in past 11 years, click link for article from KenPom.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino doesn’t need to be convinced his opponent, Wichita State, is a good team.
“I’ll say this without any exaggeration, they’re best team we’ve faced this year on the defensive end,” Pitino said. “They’re Marquette on steroids in terms of the way they play defense.”
Pitino went down the list of teams the Shockers have defeated and their margins. Wichita has beaten its NCAA foes — Pittsburgh, Gonzaga, La Salle and Ohio State — by a 10.6-point margin.
“They’re not just winning, they’re pounding teams,” Pitino said. “You can’t do that unless you’re a great basketball team.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/04...#storylink=cpy

This has all the markings of a Trap Game, and oh Boy did Vegas make it the Mother of all Traps and the Public is ALL FALLING FOR IT.

* Players and fans distracted by Ware injury
* Rick Pitino says this is best defensive team he has faced - and Louisville is down a quick guard
- that seems disastrous
* They have struggled against great defenses - Pittsburgh, Marquette, Notre Dame, Syracuse
* The players and fans looking ahead of this game to the finals

Todays the day. Can't wait. Shockers are going to Shock the World once again

[meader99]

lmao bro, you don't know basketball if you compare louisville's defense to vcu's. Vcu's defence is a trap right out the gates and trap is all they know. Louisville will nagg you, they will throw man to man press, 2 - 3 zone press, 3 -2 zone press, louisville simply wont lose. When they play man to man press, do you realize how fast peyton siva and russ smith cut the corners, its almost like you have 2 guys defending you, because they cut the corners so fast. If you play basketball and you cant beat the guy left or right, what you do is you dribble with ur back to the defender, when you do that, the help defence is so fast, its just scary. They will mentally f**k you up, you start making stupid decisions. You also have dieng in the middle to erase the mistakes you make which is to bound to happen when you press that hard. I personally also think the entire teams defensive mentally is on the same page, same paragraph, same sentence, same word. They are all pin point. Louisville will win by more than 9 easily here. It's not louisvilles press that win the game, its their overall defence. From deflections, to blocks, to speed on man to man defence. It incldes everything. This team is one of the top 5 college teams i have seen in my lifetime.

I'm guessing your pretty wet behind the ears then.

[jimm246]

"This has all the markings of a Trap Game, and oh Boy did Vegas make it the Mother of all Traps and the Public is ALL FALLING FOR IT. "

I think the only trap here is you taking the +10. Vegas is good making you think the way you thing but BOL to pal today.

[Reno_Thor]

My heart is with Witchita but my mind and money are on Louisville. Won't cry either way.

GL

[CapperGuy]

Wichita State Shockers have now "shocked" three top 10 teams to get to the Final Four. #8 Pittsburgh, #4 Gonzaga, and #5 Ohio.St. Louisville has had the easier path to the final four in only beating one top 5 team in Duke. These rankings are according to the highly rated KenPom site.

Louisville is riding a 14 game win streak that is about to end come Saturday to the Wichita.St Shockers. Wichita.St has looked impressive throughout the Tourney and seem to be the hottest team right now going into the Final Four. They demolished Pittsburgh, had Gonzaga on the ropes throughout the game and stayed Poised and showed they wont quit when they were down 7 in the 2nd half. They then demolished La Salle, and embarrassed Ohio.St.

Ohio State Buckeyes had a top 10 defense and what experts say the best on ball defender in Aaron Craft. They are the BIG 10 Tournament Champions who nobody can argue were the best Conference in college basketball this year. Ohio State was a team that everyone had beating Wichita State by double digits due to Wichita State not having faced a defense as to the caliber of Aaron Craft and the Buckeyes. Well lets remind the people how Wichita State faced that top 10 defense. They dominated all game and were up by as much as 20 POINTS at one point. They had a double digit lead going down to the last few minutes and would have kept it, if it were not for the refs trying to get Ohio State back in the game.

Lets talk crowd advantage. Crowd advantage wont make any difference as Wichita State has been outnumbered in the Tourney to Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, and maybe even LaSalle.

Lets talk tournament experience. Louisville just went to the Final Four last year which many will say is a plus. But for those that haven't taken notice. Wichita State has been nothing but calm and humble throughout the tournament. They are acting like they have been there before and through interviews, a lot of the players are saying they are excited but aren't satisfied until they win the whole thing. So being in the first Final Four since 1965 wont be such a big deal to these players as they are determined to make history of being the first #9 seed to win the Tournament.

The pressure is all going to be on Louisville's Shoulder as nobody has Wichita State advancing. Louisville has struggled to MVC teams this year, beating UNI 51-46, Illinois State 69-66. Pittsburgh a team Wichita State had no trouble with also gave Louisville a hard time, Pittsburgh losing @ Louisville 64-61.

All the stars will Align for Wichita State to pull the upset yet again and take down another #1 seed Saturday. Wichita State has the Offense, Defense, Depth to get it accomplished. They have faced a top tier defense in Ohio State and Louisvilles defense wont be anything new. Wichita State has shown to stay Poised and Focused when being down.

Put your money on WSU and you wont regret it come Saturday when they "SHOCKED" Louisville

I like it! BOL to you on your wager.

[DennisT]

Scary play.Too many people on one side.! smell a TRAP a big TRAP!!!

[PharaohUB]

Why does every mother fcker in here think that every outcome is predetermed by "vegas" or some other force. This isn't for the op, just seeing it all over the board on this damn game and it's pissing me off.

Good luck with your play i'm on wichita as well.

[Potentate]

Why does every mother fcker in here think that every outcome is predetermed by "vegas" or some other force. This isn't for the op, just seeing it all over the board on this damn game and it's pissing me off.

Good luck with your play i'm on wichita as well.

I was thinking the same thing earlier... Vegas doesn't reflect the outcome of the game. Vegas reflects what bettors think the outcome of the game will be.

[TheSituation87]

Hows it looking :-).

[detroitlionsfan]

shockers looking good early

then again so did fgcu vs florida

[Brebos]

shockers looking good early

then again so did fgcu vs florida

I mean fgcu wasnt up by halftime, and you can't compare wichita to fgcu to be honest

[TheSituation87]

CAS$$$$$$HHHHH that shit 1st half. I feel bad for the people who took the over. Refs Suck. Terrible Calls on WSU.