birmingham moneyline (+190) over kansas
duke (-6.5) over illinois
*even though cbs is treating uab like a cinderella, i think thats a little inaccurate. this team hasnt exactly come out of nowhere, and theyre not doing it with mirrors. theyre just a solid team. they gave us a little tease when they had an excellent conference usa tourney last year and then went 22-9 this year. theres no real stud on the team but their "arkansas circa 1995" style of play really suits them well and fits their talent. kansas has had a free pass to this round, getting a good draw vs an undersized ill-chi team in the first round and then some outclassing pacific. kansas has proven susceptible to good midmajors this year (see: 12/21 nevada....see also: 1/22 richmond). kansas would be wise not to take birmingham lightly.
*going with my original feeling on this one, and sticking firmly to my belief that duke will smash illinois if this game gets into a track meet. sure illinois has knocked down 19 threes in 2 games in the tourney so far and dropped 92 on cincinnati, but anyone following cincy knows how disgusted huggins had been with the bearcat defense this season. so that 92 doesnt carry as much weight as it would in years past. if illinois is gonna stay in it, they will have to do it big10-style. compared to the other big10 teams, illinois does have more offense than their conference contemporaries. but its all relative. you dont beat duke in a track meet, and if you try- you often get ripped a new ass. just think illinois is walking into a buzzsaw here. ill put the duke magic number at 74. if duke scores 74 points- they cover. if they score 80, i think illinois gets routed. we'll see.
duke (-6.5) over illinois
*even though cbs is treating uab like a cinderella, i think thats a little inaccurate. this team hasnt exactly come out of nowhere, and theyre not doing it with mirrors. theyre just a solid team. they gave us a little tease when they had an excellent conference usa tourney last year and then went 22-9 this year. theres no real stud on the team but their "arkansas circa 1995" style of play really suits them well and fits their talent. kansas has had a free pass to this round, getting a good draw vs an undersized ill-chi team in the first round and then some outclassing pacific. kansas has proven susceptible to good midmajors this year (see: 12/21 nevada....see also: 1/22 richmond). kansas would be wise not to take birmingham lightly.
*going with my original feeling on this one, and sticking firmly to my belief that duke will smash illinois if this game gets into a track meet. sure illinois has knocked down 19 threes in 2 games in the tourney so far and dropped 92 on cincinnati, but anyone following cincy knows how disgusted huggins had been with the bearcat defense this season. so that 92 doesnt carry as much weight as it would in years past. if illinois is gonna stay in it, they will have to do it big10-style. compared to the other big10 teams, illinois does have more offense than their conference contemporaries. but its all relative. you dont beat duke in a track meet, and if you try- you often get ripped a new ass. just think illinois is walking into a buzzsaw here. ill put the duke magic number at 74. if duke scores 74 points- they cover. if they score 80, i think illinois gets routed. we'll see.
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