1. NC State is the type of team that could beat a one or two seed in the Round of 32
The Wolfpack already own road wins this season over Louisville and North Carolina in addition to a home triumph over Duke. The Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament is a prime spot where some of the top teams in the bracket are primed to get picked off and the Wolfpack are a team that could do just that if they get the right draw. Mark Gottfried’s squad has an extremely dangerous perimeter with Cat Barber, Trevor Lacey, and Ralston Turner along with a strong core of four big men --- Kyle Washington, Lennard Freeman, Abdul Malik-Abu, and Beejay Anya --- that give them stability up front. This team can beat most teams in America because it’s already beaten most of the top teams in the ACC. NC State is currently 20-12 overall and faces Duke tonight in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
2. Daxter Miles has quietly become a critical piece for West Virginia
This 6-3 freshman has been pressed into extended minutes during the Mountaineers’ last three games with Juwan Staten out of the lineup and he’s responded in a big way. Miles is averaging 16.3 points during that span and is shooting an impressive 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from three-point range. West Virginia has struggled to score at times this season in the half court and Miles has aided in that area of need. Bob Huggins said on Wednesday that Juwan Staten likely won’t play in today’s Big 12 Tournament opener against Baylor and that will only make Miles’ presence more critical against the Bears.
3. Indiana can not afford to lose to Northwestern on Thursday night in Chicago
The Hoosiers have lost two straight games and eight of their last twelve heading into tonight’s showdown with the Wildcats. Indiana lost to Northwestern a few weeks ago in Evanston and that was without JerShon Cobb, who will play tonight for Chris Collins' squad. Tom Crean did a tremendous job with this smaller, quicker Hoosiers team earlier in the year, but Indiana’s lack of size has really come back to haunt them in the past few weeks. This team has no presence at the rim defensively and will have their hands full with Northwestern big man Alex Olah, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting between the two teams. The Hoosiers finished the Big Ten with a 9-9 record in the regular season and can’t afford a loss tonight if it wants to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
4. Nebraska really struggled with expectations this season
Tim Miles was a media darling at this time last March, but the NCAA Tournament will be much different for Miles and the Cornhuskers this season. Many people, including myself, thought that Nebraska would finish in the top half of the Big Ten after making the field of 68 a year ago, but this team really struggled to deal with increased expectations. Instead of doing their work from the shadows, the Cornhuskers became the hunted instead of the hunter and finished the year with a 13-18 overall record following Wednesday’s loss against Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska will likely return its top two scorers next season in Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields while adding Kansas transfer Andrew White.
5. Al Skinner now has two former assistants who will coach in the 2015 NCAA Tournament
Sometimes decisions are made in this business that make absolutely no sense. I’ll still never understand why Skinner was fired from Boston College at the end of the 2010 season. The guy is the winningest all-time coach at two schools -- Boston College and Rhode Island -- and still has only been able to resurface as an assistant at Bryant, which plays in the NEC. Anyway, Skinner’s coaching tree will still be well represented in the field of 68 this March as Providence’s Ed Cooley and Northeastern’s Bill Coen --- two of Skinner’s former assistants at Boston College --- will be coaching in the NCAA Tournament. Cooley and Coen were on staff at Chestnut Hill when the Eagles reached the Sweet 16 in 2006 with guys like Craig Smith, Jared Dudley and Louis Hinnant.
