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| Ali Farokhmanesh's shot that beat Kansas in the 2010 NCAA tournament was fun. More fun things may happen in 2013 also. |
Of course, you are going to be watching the buzzer-beaters,
down-to-the-wire finishes, and some other third thing that involves hyphens
first—but after that, which games will provide the most entertainment? We here at Unentertainment like to think of
ourselves as a community service, and I have compiled a list of teams that
should be most interesting to watch to help answer that question.
1. Ole Miss
Let’s get an obvious one out of the way. Marshall Henderson is the most interesting
player in college basketball. Henderson’s
exploits have been well-covered by the media at this point, so I’ll just
recap: He’s been to 4 universities in 4
years, basically a result of having a near psychopathic personality—he has used
cocaine and marijuana, been investigated by the FBI for using counterfeit money
to attempt to purchase drugs, been suspended multiple games for punching an
opposing player during a game and has gotten into verbal altercations with his
own coaches. He’s also the only white
player for the Rebels to get substantial minutes and he rocks a faux-hawk. Finally, he is responsible for one of the
best .gifs ever, when he taunted the opposing student section after his free throws clinched a victory over
Auburn
But even if you put his antics aside, you are left with the
closest thing to this year’s Jimmer Fredette/Stephen Curry. He leads the SEC in scoring and can (and will)
shoot it from anywhere. Ole Miss apparently has some other athletes on the team
as well—some physical shot blockers—but you’ll be watching for number 23
first.
2. Creighton
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Not a creative pick, but it cannot be overstated how awesome
it is to watch potential national player of the year Doug McDermott. He is undersized for a post and too slow to
play extensively outside, yet he excels at both, scoring at will from inside
and shooting about 50% from 3-point range.
His clumsy look is exemplified by the oversized t-shirt he wears under
his uniform, which makes his performances seem all the more unlikely.
3. VCU
Weird, the Rams are good again. Oh, and they also still run that full-court
press, dubbed “havoc.” No other team
presses like them. And that puts Virgina Commonwealth on
this list.
4. South Dakota State
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| The St. Cloud, MN, native Wolters is averaging 22 pts/6 reb/6 ast. |
Remember when North Dakota
State made the NCAAs and took Kansas
5. Wisconsin *Homer
Alert*
Yeah, I haven’t missed a Wisconsin
game since I was, like, eight, and they would make this list regardless of what
kind of team they had. But this year’s
version of Badgers basketball should actually be pretty interesting. Known for slowing the pace of the game down
and playing stingy defense, Bo Ryan’s 2013 team is no exception, and is in fact
ever stouter when not in possession of the ball than usual.
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| Brusewitz |
A tournament matchup against a run-and-gun team would be a
lot of fun, seeing which style of play takes over (typically Bo’s). Besides that, Wisconsin
6. Wichita State
My second homer pick also excels on the defensive end. But even if you don’t care for defensive
basketball, Carl Hall and Cleanthony Early’s offensive game are worth giving a
look. Hall is possibly the best scorer
from 8 feet and in I’ve seen outside of Alando Tucker, and he’s even better on
the offensive glass. Early is a
potential NBA-level talent playing for a school that hasn’t seen one since
Xavier McDaniel in the early-80s. I’m
hoping their current three-game skid is an aberration, because they need
redemption after their early-exit in the 2012 tournament.
7. New Mexico State
They trail Louisiana Tech in the WAC, and certainly have no
shot at an at-large bid at this point, but if the Aggies manage to win the
conference tournament, they should create a fun second-round game—even if they
are unlikely to win it. The reason they
make this list is freshman center Sim Bhullar, who is listed at 7’5’’ 360 lbs,
and looks every bit of it. He isn’t
quite as interesting to watch as NC-Ashville's Kenny George was in the late 2000's, but Bhullar actually has had
more of an impact, averaging about 10 points and 5 rebounds while logging 20
minutes a game. Also, human beings
shouldn’t be able to do things like George did, anyway:
8. Ohio State
I don’t really like the Buckeyes, personally speaking, but
if I can put that feeling aside, I have to admit they’ve got a fun thing
going. Mainly, it is because, while
their defense (starring Aaron Craft) is
very good, they have basically one decent offensive player and nobody else I
would have any confidence in on that end of the floor. Fortunately, that player is Deshaun Thomas,
who is huge, but has finesse. And the
lefty can shoot a little bit also.
One-man shows are always interesting in March, and that is exactly what Ohio State
9. Davidson
The Wildcats lead the Southern conference and should make the NCAA’s via auto-bid. If they do, they will once again bring a
unique, European-style team-ball to the dance, which could pose a problem for a
higher seed they will face in the second round.
(By the way, can we call the second round the first round
already? The First Four should not count
as “round one” when it is four games among teams that will have no effect on
the Final Four whatsoever (VCU notwithstanding). Call that the play-in round. Sheesh.)
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| Cohen in the post |
From an individual standpoint, I’ll be watching Jake
Cohen. The senior forward is undersized
in the post, but can do a little bit of everything, and is the epitome of how
good a glue-guy can be.
10. Air Force
There is a decent chance the Academy doesn’t make the NCAA’s
at all, but if they do, this would be a potentially fun team to cheer for in a
12-5 upset. They have no real impressive
size or athleticism, but seemingly everyone on the roster can hit
three-pointers. If they get hot, the Falcons could be that double-digit seed
that makes a run to the Sweet 16.
11. Indiana State
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| Odum looks like Wisconsin's Josh Gasser and may be a better distributer. |
The Fighting Trees made the NCAA’s courtesy of a MVC tourney
championship two years ago, and didn’t put up a great fight against Syracuse
12. Indiana
The Hoosiers have a sweet mix of athletes, and Christian Watford,
Cody Zeller, and Victor Oladipo are all a treat to watch. But the guy I really enjoy is Jordan Hulls,
who can shoot it from anywhere with a lightning-quick trigger. It’s cool when the shortest, most un-athletic
guy on a likely one-seed is arguably the most dangerous.
13. Bucknell
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| Muscala |
Bucknell could conceivably get in even should they bow out
of their conference tournament early, but I don’t think that will come into
play. The Bison rarely make an
appearance on television, so we don’t really get to see center Mike Muscala
play that often. Which is too bad,
because the senior is averaging 19 points and 11 boards. Also he is from Roseville , Minnesota
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