Every day we're getting closer and closer to the college basketball season beginning, I can't wait any longer. Every day this week I'll be previewing three of the twelve tournaments ACC teams are participating in. Yesterday, I previewed Boston College, Clemson, and Duke's early season tournaments. Today, I'm previewing Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Maryland's early season tournaments.
Florida State
Diamond Head Classic
This year's Diamond Head Classic has a lot of talent, and is the most underrated tournament of the bunch, if you ask me. But I think the most unique thing about it will be that FSU could legitimately leave Hawaii with two wins that would be a huge push regarding their NCAA Tournament status. This year's field will consist of Baylor, Butler, Florida State, Hawaii, Mississippi State, San Diego, Utah, and Washington State. The tournament takes place December 22-25.
Baylor was a team I was big on last season, and I didn't lose faith in them even after losing two starters to seniority and the draft. Why? Because neither of those guys were as impressive as the guy coming back: LaceDarius Dunn. His suspension raises questions, though, and if he doesn't return quick enough, the Bears will be very vulnerable to go from Elite Eight to the Big 12 Tournament Eight seed. So it's simple- if Dunn plays, Baylor is my favorite to win this tournament. If not, I don't think they have much of a chance.
Coming off their NCAA championship game run, Butler won't be significantly weaker then last year's team. Although Gordon Hayward is gone, Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack will lead the way for the Bulldogs this year. Butler always seems to win tournaments like this- but if FSU can knock them down, that will look extremely impressive on their NCAA Tournament Resume.
A team that should have been in the NCAA Tournament last year will try to stay stable with the loss of Jarvis Varnado and the loss of Dee Bost to the NBA. Mississippi State should actually have a pretty strong team this year- but probably not in time for this tournament. Renardo Sidney, who is expected to make big contributiond for the Bulldogs this year, will not be able to play until about mid December- about 5 days before the tournament. Good luck successfully inserting him into your lineup in that little time.
I don't see any reason to worry about any of the other teams in this tournament. Washington State is coming off a 2-9 year in Pac-10 play, a Hawaii team predicted to finish last in the WAC, A San Diego team predicted to finish last in the WCC, and a Utah team who watched their two best players transfer out.
How FSU Will Fare: The Seminoles can show the nation how good they really are if they can flex their muscles and win the tournament. If LaceDarius Dunn is eligible, Baylor will be tough to get by, but if he's not, it will be a FSU-Butler showdown in the championship.
Tournament Prediction: Florida State meets Butler in the championship game. FSU wins barely.
Georgia Tech
Legends Classic
This tournament has a really interesting format. Here's how it works: the four host teams, Syracuse, Michigan, Georgia Tech, and UTEP, all host regional rounds. But regardless of the results, the four host teams move on to the Finals, their Finals games already determined. Don't ask me how they got other teams to sign up. But let's cut to the chase and see how the Finals will play out.
Syracuse loses a lot with the departures of Wes Johnson, Andy Rautins, and Arinze Onuaku. But, as Syracuse always does, they still have a lot of talent on the team. Kris Joseph, Rick Jackson, and Scoop Jardine will lead the way, but it's not clear who the leader on the team is. Michigan, Georgia Tech, and UTEP can only hope that they don't get things together by the Finals.
Michigan won't be near as talented as they were last year. And last year's team didn't even make the NIT. That should show you what Michigan's team will be like this year. If only Denard Robinson played basketball, too...
I must be correct when wondering why anyone would want to sign up for this oddly formatted tournament. Because UTEP is a host. Things will be a lot different in El Paso now that last year's coach and two best players are gone.
How GT Will Fare: They might have stood somewhat of a chance if this tournament wasn't so weird in terms of how it works, but all Syracuse has to do is win two games. It shouldn't be that hard for the Orange.
Tournament Prediction: Syracuse and Georgia Tech meet in the championship game. Syracuse wins by 15.
Maryland
2K Sports Classic
This tournament follows under the same, freakish format the Legends Classic has. What genius came up with this great idea? It's almost a better system then the BCS. This year's participants will consist of Pittsburgh, Texas, Maryland, and Illinois. This is probably the most competitive tournament I've seen so far; all four teams are about on the same level.
After a very, very disappointing season for Longhorn fans, Texas returns another talented lineup as always that will be out to redeem the team that lost to Wake Forest in the first round. Jordan Hamilton will lead the 'Horns. Texas will still have to handle the problem of losing three players that are on NBA teams now.
Pittsburgh is always solid, and that won't change this year. In fact, this might be Jamie Dixon's best squad since he took over at Pitt. The Panthers are good enough to be able to handle the loss of guard Jermaine Dixon, and should hit the ground running this year, and while I'm sure Panther fans expect Pitt to win this tournament, they'll have to get by two solid teams to win it.
You know when your "key loss" only averaged 4 points a game, you're in good shape. Illinois is the only team in this tournament that doesn't have to deal with a big loss from last year's team. In fact, it's almost the exact opposite for the Fighting Illini this year. They've got a great team returning, and a Sweet 16 appearance would not be too much to ask at all. Illinois has played together more then any other team in the bracket, which could be a big factor.
How Maryland Will Fare: The Terps will be figuring out how to replace Greivis Vasquez until January, but the regional rounds before the Finals is a good time to figure that out. Maryland will have a lot of success this year and finish high in the ACC- I'll be awfully impressed if they can at least get to the championship game in this tournament.
Tournament prediction: Pittsburgh will play Illinois in the championship game. Illinois wins it.
That's all for today's previews. Comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading!
