Legal Commentary

March Madness Sweet 16: The Law Of Gus

By Big Tent Democrat

4 games are on tap tonight in the Sweet 16 portion of March Madness.

Kicking it off is the Florida-BYU game. BYU guard Jimmer Fridette is the likely Player of the Year in college basketball. His range for tonight's matchup in New Orleans begins from Lake Ponchartrain. (BTD sidebar: I was born in New Orleans.) A year ago, these two teams played a 2OT thriller in the first round of the NCAAs with The Jimmer going for 37 in leading the Cougars to the win. Both teams are markedly better this year. Another thriller in store tonight? The Law of Gus suggests so. Gus Johnson is calling the Florida-BYU game and when Gus calls a game, any game, the chance seem to rise markedly that it will be a thriller. More . . .

Both BYU and Florida played well in their first two games of the tournament. BYU seems to have found its rhythm again after its best big man Brandon Davies was suspended for engaging in sex out of wedlock. BYU demolished Gonzaga 89-67, draining 14 of 28 3-pt attempts to just 2 of 9 for the Zags. Gonzaga dominated BYU on the boards by a margin of 11.

Florida's frontcourt is clearly superior to BYU's and should dominate the boards. Vernon Macklin has a nice low post game and Chandler Parsons is a very good all around player at the 3. Alex Tyus is up and down but should be able to be a force on the boards. A year ago, Florida also dominated the boards against BYU.

Florida's backcourt of Erving "Big Shot Erv" Walker and Kenny Boynton have been playing quite well in the second half of the season. Boynton sprained his ankle in Florida's tough win over a good UCLA team but is expected to go.

Florida's bench has been a huge strength all year, with Patric Young, Scotty Wilbekin and Eric Murphy making big contributions in key games and in pressure moments.

Florida is a 3 point favorite. The Law of Gus tells me to pick BYU (+3) (2 units.)

In the second game in New Orleans, Wisconsin faces Butler. The pace will be slow. I think Wisconsin is better but Butler has won its last 11. The line is Wisconsin (-4 1/2). I'll take the Badgers (-4 1/2) (2 units).

Dadler's San Diego State team faces UConn in Anaheim. The theory is SDSU will have a home court advantage because of the proximity. SDSU probably has the better athletes. And they won close games in the first two rounds. Nonetheless I like Kemba Walker, the star UConn guard, to make some plays at the end. The line is UConn (-1 1/2). I'll take the Huskies (-1 1/2) (2 units).

Duke plays Arizona in the second game in Anaheim. The performances of Washington and UCLA have made me a believer in the PAC 10. Duke is an 8 1/2 point favorite. Duke is not that good. And the PAC 10 champions, playing relatively close to home in Anaheim where many Zona alumni reside, are better than most people think. I not only like Arizona (+8 1/2) (5 units), I am also taking Arizona (+340) (2 units) on the money line to win the game outright.

Let's Go Gators!

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 24, 2011 (boomark / email).