Read the opposing arguments from Sports Geek and Loyal Homer.
The Selection Committee, a group of people tasked annually with one of the most difficult jobs in all of sports, do not get nearly the credit they deserve! They tirelessly work for many hours during the closing days of championship week in order to put together a bracket that everyone (including all of us at TSD) will complain about BEFORE the tournament. However, without fail, the tournament annually plays out as one of the most exciting and entertaining sporting events of the entire year.
Still, no recognition is given to those whipping boys who made it all possible, and this year has been no exception.
I am turning over a new leaf! Rather than get sucked into the pre-tournament negativity that always comes from analysis of a bracket that has not yet played out, I am going to look for the positive potential that lies in a tournament which we all know will nevertheless unfold in dramatic and entertaining fashion.
What I love most about the tournament this year is that there are no sure-things. The better teams have been lumped together in the same regions, meaning that nobody is getting a free ride to the Final Four. While Kansas and Kentucky may have finished the season as the top two teams, they are by no means perfect in their execution. Therefore they do not deserve a free-ride into the Final Four just because they finished the regular season as the best teams in the nation. If they want to be considered national campions they are going to have to earn it!
On the flip side, when you look at those so-called “easier” regions of the West and South, the collective talent level of those 32 teams once again presents a greater opportunity for more competitive matchups. Sure, Duke has a weaker region to compete in, but Duke is also the weakest of the top seeds and are more likely to struggle in their games.
The 2010 bracket is set up to play out as one of the most competitive that we have ever seen. It is LOADED with potential for dangerous mid-level teams to make a “sleeper” run deep into the tournament because the parity across the regions is remarkable this year.
One team that could surprise many with a deep run is the Xavier Musketeers.
To begin with the entire Atlantic-10 Conference has been underrated and underappreciated this season (as Sports Geek will cover in his article). The conference turned in six different 20-game winners in 2010, including the AP’s #12 Temple Owls and #25 Xavier. The A-10 has arguably been the best mid-major conference of the 2010 season, and has turned out some of the most battle-tested mid-major programs for this tournament.
When you look at the West Regional – where Xavier is seeded sixth – they stand as potential beneficiaries from being in one of those “weaker” brackets where the level of competition may not be as stiff. That is not to take anything away from teams within the region, like Syracuse or Kansas State who are worthy top seeds. But Xavier would not be facing those teams (potentially) until much later in the tournament.
Their first matchup pits them against a Minnesota team that would (and should) not even be in the tournament had it not been for a fortunate draw in the Big Ten tournament last week. Minnesota’s performance in 2010 can be defined as “streaky” at best. They finished in the middle of the pack of a very top-heavy Big Ten and turned in some pretty disappointing performances against lesser-caliber teams like Northwestern, Michigan, and Indiana… not to mention a very underwhelming showing in the Big Ten championship game against Ohio State.
Assuming that Xavier does get past Minnesota (which based on the seedings they SHOULD be able to do), they will likely face three-seeded Pitt in their second-round matchup.
Pitt will present a challenge, but they are certainly beatable (and a stretch, in my opinion, for a three-seed). The Panthers have some quality wins under their belt (including wins against West Virginia and at Syracuse), but they have also laid some eggs this season. They lack a truly dominant scorer on the court, are a painfully slow-paced team at times (a problem they had to deal with last season as well), and they do not shoot well from beyond the three-point arc.
With the right matchups, and by maintaining a fast tempo throughout the game, a Xavier victory is entirely possible even against a Pitt team from the vaunted Big East conference.
Finally, do not be fooled by the fact that Xavier is led by first-time head coach Chris Mack. Although this is Mack’s first year at the helm, he is no stranger to post-season play. As an assistant with Xavier leading up to the 2010 season, Mack has helped to lead this team to five consecutive tournament appearances, including two Sweet-Sixteen appearances and one Elite Eight appearance. He knows his players very well and he has been integral in helping achieve tournament success for several years.
Mack’s Musketeers are an underrated threat, facing overrated opposition in a mid-major laden region. That sounds like a formula for sleeper success to me!
Posted by Bleacher Fan 
