I had picked KU to win it all in my bracket (although against UCLA which by losing screwed me again like they always do - damn bastards!). I was really convinced that Memphis would play stupid and get beat by if not Texas then by UCLA; however, they pretty much mopped the floor with both of those teams. Memphis is probably the better team, athlete-wise, and if they can keep playing at the level they have been playing, I can't see them losing - yet I want KU to win. On a side note - supposedly Oklahoma State led by their major mega booster T. Boone Pickens are going to go after Bill Self hard to be the next OSU coach. Supposedly will offer him a 4.5M per year contract with a 6M signing bonus!
Line has moved from Kansas -1 all the way up to memphis -2 early today. Now it's at memphis -1.5. wish i had pulled the trigger on memphis late saturday night
I believe most models i have seen, and pomroy, have Kansas as a slight favorite. (like between 1.5 and .5 points). Both have played, for the most part, very well this tournament. That said, memphis has played a much tougher schedule all year, and during the tournament. Kansas had to go through unlv (8), nova (13) and davidson (10). While memphis had to play miss st (8), michigan st (4) and Texas (2), basically at Texas. Memphis had an easier time with miss. state than KU had with Davidson, and Miss. St. is probably better than davidson and likely any other team KU faced in the tournament before UNC. I'm not sure that either team should been considered favorites in the game. Most people, i'm assuming were pretty down on KU because of their schedule during the tournament and how they played against davidson. Their game against UNC was obviously extremely impressive as were the last 3 games from Memphis. I think it's a pick'em.
-Davidson had a decent look at a single shot that would have won them the game. -UNC made up like 25 points. It was a weird momentum game where both teams went in huge struggles, hard to judge total statistics. -Texas in neither game against Kansas looked as beaten down as they did IMO versus Memphis. -I have not seen a team wear down UCLA the way Memphis did. (UNC's crit this year had been their lack of depth and their lapses in playing defense--neither of which I had seen in UCLA). So based on the last 3 games, yes Memphis has looked more consistent and more impressive. I grant you Kansas has slightly more impressive overall stats with noticable differences in 3 point shooting and FT shooting. Overall I am calling Memphis, but I recognize it is a toss up. And based on my college BB predictions of late my prediction means you should put $ on Kansas.
Bill Self outcoached Calipari for the first 30 minutes of this game until the 11-0 run. It took too long for Memphis to decide to shut off the inside and make KU shoot jumpers. It took too long for Memphis to put the ball in Rose's hands and ask him to make plays. IMO, Memphis should have won this by 10+ points. CDR put Brandon Rush in jail and made him look very one-dimensional. If KU pulls it out, Calipari is the donkey.
The knock on Memphis all year was their FT shooting. Well, it just cost them a win in regulation. OT here we come.
If Memphis loses, I hope it's due to FTs again in overtime. Calipari has been an ass when asked about free throws throughout the season and the tournament, basically saying they are so good that free throws don't matter. It would be funny to see him have to answer those questions if they lose here.
