Monday, March 17, 2008

USD capable of pulling off NCAA upset


You know what?

The University of San Diego may have an upset in the making coming in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday vs. the University of Connecticut in Tampa, Fla.

Why?

These Toreros don’t seem to be intimidated on the big stage.

They went on the road in December and won at Kentucky, arguably one of the top four all-time national programs.

They won back-to-back games … albeit at home … against Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

UConn will be a tall task in more ways than one. The Huskies feature All-Big East Defensive Player of the Year Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 sophomore center who averaged 4.5 blocked shots a game this season.

Albeit the Huskies (24-8) have won 13 of their last 16 games, they’ve also lost three of six since a 10-game winning streak. And they were defeated by West Virginia, 78-72, in last week’s first round of the Big East Tournament.

USD (21-13) must try to offset Thabeet inside with 6-8 center Gyno Pomare, who has averaged 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds.

As one might expect, the Toreros are a virtual unknown to UConn. Huskies coach Jim Calhoun mainly knows a little about Pomare.

“He's had some very good games. It's going to be an interesting battle, because we have a big guy, too,” Calhoun told the Connecticut media.

San Diego State? The Aztecs travel to Florida on Wednesday to play the two-time defending NCAA Champions in the NIT Tournament.

Say goodbye to the Aztecs!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh hell yeah USD's going to pull one big upset this tourney. It's a shame the Aztecs can't do that. Hey I saw this really sweet NCAA brackett contest over at the AM 1360 XTRA Sports web page if anyone's interested. Here's the link: http://xtrasports1360.com/cc-common/globalcontestfinder.html?contest=26250 Grand Prize for whoever makes all the correct calls is a whopping $100,000. 1 or 2 missed games gets $10,000 and 3 missed games still gets $1,000. They're also giving away an iPod and hotel accomodations to The Palazzo Las Vegas. You have to sign up SOON though 'cause once the tourney starts you can't sign up.

Anonymous said...

You know there are always some first round upsets in the NCAA tournament. It would be nice if the Toreros were one of them but they do have a tall order to fill in UConn, due to their history of experience in the NCAA tournament. But it sure does not hurt for Cinderella to dream. Go Toreros!