Don't get excited it's not a to catch a predator party. Just me babbling about some of the games. I guess I will post my plays. Not going to track my record as I had a different thread that was losing at the time of death but had none of my Sat/Sun plays due to family obligations. Please discuss!
#11 Dayton vs #10 Stanford
Can't say I am shocked to see Dayton here. Ohio State and Syracuse have both been overrated for the latter part of the year and Dayton is a team everyone seems to be sleeping on. Let's not forget Dayton was actually ranked at a time early in the year. They have some good wins on their resume; Gonzaga, Cal, @ GT, Iona, @ Miss, Umass, @ Stl, and George Washington to go along with a 1 point defeat to Baylor. Dayton's insane depth is both a strength and a weakness to this club. They go 11 deep but lack a breakout scorer, they play like a team and share the basketball. Don't get me wrong they have talent. Three guys who can shoot the lights out and Sibert who transferred from Ohio State. This is a well coached TEAM that plays hard nose man to man defense that absolutely stifled both Ohio St and Syracuse last week. Dayton has shown the ability to play fast or play slow and I can't help but continue to gush over how good a job Archie has done all year.
Stanford has been very impressive but seemed to get a big break last round. Kansas can't win with Embiid out AND Wiggins refusing to takeover and taking six shots. It just can't happen. Missing Embiid really hurt as the big Stanford boys did a lot of damage in the paint and Bill Self never found an answer. With good wins scattered across the schedule like @ Connecticut, @ Oregon, vs UCLA, and two wins over ASU there is no doubt Stanford can play. The alarming thing is their record against the whole field of 68. Just 4-9 coming into the tournament against the rest of the field is a little alarming considering most of those schools are in-conference. Stanford is also a very experienced team which they really showed in both wins last week keeping their cool despite furious rallys from the Lobos and Jayhawks.
So how do they matchup? Well that experience for Stanford is big but they are also very thin which could cause problems against the deepest team left in the tournament. If Stanfords bigs get into foul trouble too much will be put on the shoulders of Randle. Both teams shoot the 3 very well but Stanford ranks 250+ in the country at defending the 3 ball. These two teams are fairly even but I think the matchups favor Dayton making the + points my play here. Since February Dayton is 11-2. Stanford just 5-4 last 9.
Dayton +3 (Medium Play)