2011 NCAA Tournament Preview
Perennial Powerhouse Duke Looks to Repeat

by DeMarco Williams

There were talks of the NCAA Tournament expanding from 64 teams to 92. We’re guessing the planning committee imagined how ridiculous your bracket would look, so it wisely elected to go with 68 teams, 31 automatic qualifiers and 37 at-large schools. Another big change to this year’s installment of March Madness is the fact that Turner Sports will be airing 41 of the tourney’s games. The other 26, including the national title contest in Houston on April 4, will come on CBS. INsite is picking a Nolan Smith-led Duke team to ultimately cut down the nets a second consecutive year, further proving the more things change about college basketball’s biggest stage, the more they stay the same.

The Fab 4

Duke
Smith (21 pts/game) may lose the player of the year honor to BYU’s Jimmer Fredette, but we’re guessing he, Kyle Singler and crew would rather hoist a national title.

Kansas
The Jayhawks are the top-shooting team in the country. Two very similar reasons for that fact: twin towers Marcus and Markieff Morris.

Ohio State
Jared Sullinger, the nation’s top freshman, is deserving of the attention. David Lighty, one of the Big Ten’s quiet stars, has earned some headlines too.

Texas
They can kill you from the inside (Tristan Thompson), outside (Cory Joseph) and just about every other side on the court (Jordan Hamilton).

The Steady 16

Arizona
If there’s a more athletic guy in the college ranks than Derrick Williams, we haven’t seen the SportsCenter highlight of him yet.

BYU
We’ve seen Fredette drop 30 on everybody. But if the Cougars are to stay in the tourney a while, Brandon Davies and Jackson Emery must get in on the fun too.
Charleston- Even though the Cougars beat the Vols and lost by just five to the Tar Heels, they’ll need to win the Southern Conference tournament to get a Dance invite.

George Mason
Five years ago, these Patriots made one of the most memorable marches through the Madness. Double-double machine Ryan Pearson is revving for a repeat.

Georgia
Who cares if UGA only has one quality win on the year? If they make the Dance, we can almost guarantee the Trey Thompkins-led team will be in the Sweet 16.

Kansas State
Star senior Jacob Pullen (20 pts. in a Feb. 28 upset of Texas) couldn’t have picked a better time to start playing like one of the country’s top 10 guards.

Louisville
That the Cardinals are sixth in the nation in assists (nearly 18/game) speaks to a winning, all-for-one attitude instilled by coach Rick Pitino.

Missouri
If Marcus Denmon’s Tigers could ever figure out how to win big games away from Columbia, they’d be prone to pounce on anyone in their way.

North Carolina
Though we’re still not sold on frosh Harrison Barnes, we are believers in Roy Williams’ ability to get his team prepped for a grueling postseason run.

Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish haven’t only knocked out the Big East this year, but they’ve also given Gonzaga, UGA and Wisconsin some serious lickings.

Pittsburgh
Taking nothing away from Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker’s tough play, but our favorite Panther is super-energetic center Gary McGhee.

Purdue
Not sure what we love most, the way the Boilermakers withstood the loss of Robbie Hummel or the way JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore win in transition.

St. John’s
Since late January, Steve Lavin’s surprise squad has beaten four top 10 teams and made about four million believers across the country.

Temple
College basketball is better with the Owls playing well. The Owls are nearly unstoppable when Ramone Moore is playing to his abilities.

Virginia Tech
In this down year for the ACC, the Hokies managed to not only survive, but the Malcolm Delaney-anchored group shocked the Blue Devils on Feb. 26.

UCLA
Since a Thanksgiving lull, the Bruins have feasted on the competition—none more ferociously than 6-10, 305-pound bear Joshua Smith.

The Overrated 8

Connecticut
Kemba Walker averaged 30/game in the Huskies’ six November wins. Contrastingly, he put up about 16 in UConn’s four February losses.

Florida
We love Erving Walker and Alex Tyus as much as the next Gator fan, but we’re not silly enough to believe either has what it takes to carry a team for an entire month.

Georgetown
Austin Freeman (nearly 18/game) and a healthy Chris Wright are certainly a fine enough backcourt duo to steady the Hoyas’ up-down-right-back-up season.

Kentucky
There’s nothing in particular that troubles us about these young Cats. There’s just nothing that screams they’re a Sweet 16 team either.

Michigan State
It hurts to put our beloved Spartans in this category, but MSU had three losses by more than 20 last month. It seemingly lost its oomph even before that
.
San Diego State
Though we respect the coaching job Steve Fisher’s done with the Aztecs, we feel this bunch’s reliance on athleticism will tire in the long run.

Syracuse
The thing with the Orange is that you don’t know if you’re gonna get the team that beat the Hoyas on the road or lost to lowly Seton Hall at home by 22.

Wisconsin
Of the Badgers’ 12 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, they’ve lost in the first or second round eight times. We feel another early exit from the underachievers.

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