Villanova's Allan Ray

Villanova
Their four-guard starting five gives so many match-up problems for opposing teams, it’ll make the opposition feel there is six players out on the floor for the Wildcats. Don’t sleep on their inside game, with Will Sheridan and Jason Fraser being adequate fill-ins for standout senior forward Curtis Sumpter who is lost for the year due to an injury. They’ll need a healthy Allan Ray to fully recover from an eye injury to dance their way to the Final Four, but with their precise shooting, their quickness and their defensive intensity the Cats will have their eye on a national title. (no pun intended)

Nevada
The “other” Wolf Pack needed an overtime to slip past Utah State to wrap up the WAC automatic bid on Saturday night. Nevada’s 27 wins can’t go unnoticed, but a fifth seed takes away the fun of a major conference school getting upset by the 12. Nevada fits the 7th seed in my mind.

Georgetown
Save Vanderbilt and (gulp) South Florida, every team the Hoyas lost too received a 7 seed or better in the NCAA tournament. The Hoyas are a very up-and-down team, finishing 5-5 in their last 10, but with their overall record John Thompson the third deserved a 5.

Boston College
What a run they had through the ACC tourney. Craig Smith is an unbelievable load down low and he has plenty of weapons surrounding him. BC fell to Duke twice by two points and they would love to get to the tournament final to prove that third time’s the charm.

Montana over Nevada
I hate to do it because I think Nevada is even an underdog, but there has got to be a 12 seed upsetting a 5 seed and this game could be it. Nick Fazekas is a tremendous player, but outside of him the Wolf Pack does not have a threat that can score 20+ points. Montana is not that great of a defensive team (allowing 79 ppg) but Nevada isn’t that great on offense (averaging 72 ppg). Stop Fazekas, you stop Nevada.

Christian Maraker and Pacifi look to knock off another big name school for the 3rd straight year Most Outstanding Player

Pacific over Boston College
I think Pacific would beat any 4 seed in the NCAA tournament - except for the one their facing – the Boston College Eagles. The Tigers three best players are all seniors including the steady backcourt of Johnny Gray (14.8 ppg, 3.1 apg) and Mike Webb (10.7 ppg, 2.4 apg). Christian Maraker (17.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg) is a name you better remember because he can battle down low with the best. The problem is he will be battling against the best: BC’s frontcourt. UOP coach Bob Thomason is a very good one and has beaten a Big East school in the first round of the last two NCAA tourneys. Too bad BC ditched the Big East for the ACC.

Northern Iowa over Georgetown
Sorry the MVC is not that good to be picking more than one team advancing to the 2nd round (I don’t even think that will happen). Georgetown is too tough, too athletic and too deep for the Panthers

Arizona vs. Wisconsin
Both teams will be looking for their 20th win of the season and only one team will be able to get it. And still a 19 win season is considered a ‘down’ year for both programs. I don’t want to give away any spoilers in the match-up categories, but expect Lute Olson’s to advance over Bo Ryan’s Badgers.

Ohio State vs. Georgetown
Ohio State only had 5 losses this year and they were all to tournament teams. But outside LSU (a 78-76 win) the Buckeyes didn’t have a sexy non-conference schedule. However, the same can be said for Georgetown, who lost to Big Ten’s Illinois and beat the nation’s number one team at the time in Duke. This game should be very interesting in a match-up of TWO very good forwards in Ohio State’s Terence Dials and Georgetown’s Jeff Greene, TWO very good up-and-coming coaches in Ohio State’s Thad Matta and Georgetown’s John Thompson III and TWO very different styles of basketball.

Villanova
Sure, every team has to deal with injuries and go through adversity. But it's hard to imagine another program that has had to through what the Wildcats have in recent memory. Last season the Cats had a normal plane ride home go wrong in which the pilots of the plane - who told the team to brace for a crash landing - were forced to make an emergency landing. Before this season started, big man Curtis Sumpter was lost for the year due to an injury. Just last week, senior guard Allan Ray suffered an eye injury which at the time looked like he could've been lost for the year himself. The Cats have the guard play, the determination and the motivation to get past a tough road to the Final Four.

Ohio State vs. Boston College
It's tough to have Boston College in this slot instead of Villanova, but I think the Eagles showed the world that they can play with anyone after their performance in the ACC tournament: crushing Maryland, escaping a hot UNC squad and then falling to Duke by just two points in the Blue Devils' backyard. Ohio State has been one of those teams that started to climb the polls in the beginning of the season and never looked back. This game would pit two of the nation's best big men in OSU's Terence Dials and BC's Craig Smith. Interesting Note: former OSU coach Jim O'Brien coached at BC before taking the Ohio State job.