My initial thought was that this is a basic pick’em type of game.. That I loved drawing a team where there is a lot of tape on them… love drawing a team with limited post play.

The more I read, the better I feel about this match-up.

Cal is well coached, from a ‘BCS’ league, with strong guard play…… they will have the full attention of MD, and will have the athletes that want to go up and down the court… that is the type of team MD does the best against.

While MD has horrible 3pt defensive stats, and Cal is a great 3pt shooting team… I think that matters little… MD’s stats are skewed because their guards have sagged on post-defenders, to help rebound.

Without a post-presence for Cal, MD will get out on their shooters and compete.

If you look at some of Cal’s losses… FSU, @Missouri, @ASU, UCLA, and USC twice… you get a good idea of what troubles Cal.

MD can certainly lose Thursday, and if they do… there is no shame in losing to a Pac10 team… but honestly, I have moved from thinking this is a basic pick’em type of game to thinking MD should be slightly favored.

I really want to win that first game, and have a chance against Memphis in the 2nd round.
While I have picked the Memphis Tigers to advance to the NCAA Final… I think MD would have great opportunity to push Memphis.

There will be a lot of talk about Gary vs Calapari in ’94-’95 with MD vs Umass… but I remember a more-recent MD vs Memphis match-up, where Gary’s flex caused a lot of problems for Memphis.

Obviously MD would not be intimidated playing the Tigers… when you face the quality teams that MD has, and you have a program used to beating number 1 teams… you are not going to be scared playing Memphis.

The Terps would relish the opportunity to play them with no pressure, or expectations on their back.

Ultimately, I would pick Memphis to win… they are a 2 seed with reason… their length would greatly bother MD… but the Terps showed in games vs UNC, and Wake they could handle that type of athleticism, and would have more than a puncher’s chance.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

X