Blog Wars: NCAA dark horse

Who is your NCAA Tournament dark horse (6 seed or worse)?

Ryan Voyles
I really don’t have an attachment to them, but I like Texas A&M to make it to the Elite Eight.  They have great size, and went 9-7 in a tough Big 12.  Besides, I think they have the easiest road.  They play a tough BYU, but their size matches up well against an undeserved No. 1 seeded Connecticut.  Get past that and then they probably play an inconsistent Michigan State team.  Then A&M’s Cinderella run will be ended by my Final Four pick, Memphis.

Sean McGahan
Loyal Blog Wars readers will remember that history was made in the Monday edition as No. 16 seed Chattanooga was picked to upset No. 1 UConn. Head coach Jim Calhoun has a great team that would beat Chattanooga 19 times out of 20. But the magical month of March will allow the Mocs to do what no 16-seed has done in the history of the 65-field tournament — beat up on the biggest boys.

Luis C. Medina
It’s hard to envision a team that has reached three straight final fours and has the most college basketball championships to be a dark horse, but here we are.  UCLA will battle being its lowest seed in years, a cross-country trip to Philadelphia and possibly playing Villanova in what will basically be a road game.  But the Bruins will prevail. They’ve got strong guards with Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Jrue Holiday. Guard play wins games in march, and Ben Howland’s bunch are among the country’s best.

Brian Feldt
My gut reaction was to go with Missouri for a sleeper to reach the Final Four. However, Blog War administrators swiftly informed me that sleepers are only constituted by a No. 6 seed or above. So my answer quickly had to change. But the West region is obviously the most ideal environment for a sleeper to emerge — even if that sleeper is the preposterous Chattanooga over UConn pick. I’ll go with No. 6 seeded Marquette to advance. They’ll have to get past Utah State in the first round and then likely Missouri and Memphis before going to the Elite 8. Every other region has a dominant team or two that should make it harder for sleepers to come about. The West is weak and teams like Marquette and Missouri should be able to take advantage of it.