A 6-pack of NCAA Tournament questions to crack open with Mike DeCourcy
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Whenever March rolls around I love talking about college basketball with Mike DeCourcy. An alum of Elizabeth Forward, Point Park and The Pittsburgh Press, DeCourcy now covers the sport for Sporting News, Fox Sports and the Big Ten Network.
Assuming a few six-packs will be consumed around our region during the course of these first four days of March Madness, I thought it appropriate to pick out a six-pack of hot button NCAA Tournament questions with DeCourcy on today’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast.
He dispenses some analysis which could help you win your office pool.
1. Can Villanova go through Pittsburgh and win the whole tournament like they did in 2018?: “I don’t think Villanova is built to win this tournament. Great culture. Great kids. I love their team. But they just aren’t big enough.
“That’s a big part of it. At some point, you have to block somebody’s shot. Somebody is going to take the ball to the rim, and you have to have somebody who can take it down. Villanova just doesn’t have that.”
2. Who has the best shot of taking out Kansas in the Midwest?: “I have Kansas making it because I think it is a weak region. But to me the biggest threat to them getting there is Iowa, if Iowa gets through its first two games. Kansas versus Iowa is a game that could decide that region. I really believe in Iowa.”
3. Hunting for big first-round upset potential: DeCourcy advanced one possibility in the Midwest — the Colgate Red Raiders versus the Wisconsin Badgers.
“For a 14 playing a 3, I think they have a pretty good matchup. They aren’t playing a super dynamic team. Wisconsin has a great player in Johnny Davis. All-American. First-round (NBA) draft pick. They’ve got that talent there. But the rest of their guys are just really good players. I think that is the kind of team Colgate can walk on the floor (against) and think, ‘This isn’t a team with a ton of pros. They have got one and not many others. So we can play in this game.’”
4. What’s Duke going to do in Mike Krzyzewski’s last tournament?: “Duke could win this thing by 10 points in every game. They have by far the best talent in this tournament. Not even close. Four or five guys who could be first round picks. But none of them is a point guard.
“It’s like having a football team with a bad quarterback. It’s hard for everything to get to the right place and flow the right way. And in basketball that’s also true at the defensive end. The point guard is the key player at both ends of the floor because the point guard is usually the one defending the basketball. That struggle at that position alters the horizon for Duke.”
5. If it’s not Duke in the West, does Gonzaga get back to the Final Four for the second year in a row?: “I have Gonzaga going through. Part of it is, I think the strength is in other regions. When you look at the East, teams that could beat Gonzaga — Kentucky on a good day, Purdue on a good day — they are tucked safely away from the Zags until maybe they get to New Orleans.”
6. Who wins it all?: “I have Gonzaga in the final, having played Purdue in the semi. Then I have them playing Arizona, which would play Kansas in the semi. And Arizona winning the championship. Arizona is the least untrustworthy team in the tournament.”
Like Duke, DeCourcy says point guard play may be one of the few weaknesses for the Wildcats. Sophomore Kerr Kriisa suffered a nasty looking sprained ankle in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament. But because many teams are lacking standout point guard play, that issue may not be quite so glaring.
“Arizona to me is the least flawed team of a very flawed tournament. A tournament of flawed teams. They are the toughest team to pick apart.”
Listen to Tim Benz’s full conversation with Mike DeCourcy here