NCAA Tournament Crystal Ball
by Dan Hauptman and Michael Protos
Jan. 26, 2007
Dust off your Cyndi Lauper cassette and solve that Rubik’s cube. The year is 1987 and Bob Knight’s Indiana team has just won the NCAA championship in N’awlins. The General hasn’t won a title since, but if the past week shows anything, then the rest of the nation must be wondering: Does his Texas Tech squad have the “Smarts” to script a Hoosiers story 20 years later?
Now put your leggings back on and take a ride on your flying hoverboard from Lubbock, Texas, to the bright lights of New York, New York. In the heart of Manhattan, Madison Square Garden was the site this week for two remember-the-80s St. John’s surprises. The selection committee is not yet on code red, but the Johnnies’ performance has their fans hoping they are headed back to the future.
In the week since Dan Hauptman and Michael Protos last peeked into their Crystal Basketballs, the Red Raiders defeated top 10 conference rivals Kansas and Texas A&M, while the Red Storm floated onto the bubble with impressive home wins vs. Syracuse and Notre Dame. Hauptman and Protos looked into their Crystal Basketballs and saw many other visions this week and, thankfully, not all of their hallucinations brought back scary 1980s flashbacks.
One vision shared by Hauptman and Protos feels like a throwback to a different sport circa November 2006. Let’s rewind two months to the epic gridiron battle between Ohio State and Michigan, which determined the top-heavy Big Ten’s championship contestant.
Now let’s snap back to college basketball reality. The Big Ten is a two-headed beast this season, with Ohio State and Wisconsin likely battling for the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament – and the easier road to the Final Four that a top seed bestows. Wisconsin claimed the first game of the series, but Ohio State is eager to return the favor in Columbus. This pair has a good chance of meeting a third time in the Big Ten Conference Tournament in a game that almost certainly would seal each team’s seeding fate.
Hauptman and Protos agree that Wisconsin is the favorite for that No. 1 spot. But Protos has the Badgers in a slightly more secure spot. Teetering on the verge of blasphemy, Protos has moved Wisconsin ahead of Florida because the Badgers are playing dominant basketball against a statistically more impressive schedule than Florida’s. The Gators – and this is no fault of their own — are taking opponents’ best shots every night and still find a way to win. But single-digit wins against schools from Mississippi just don’t impress.
Speaking of unimpressive, Florida’s SEC brethren are a disaster. In the past week, the hottest teams not named the Gators have been Georgia and Vanderbilt. If anyone has a Crystal Basketball that saw that coming, please pass it to Hauptman and Protos. Hauptman prefers the Dawgs from Athens, while Protos chose the Nashville-roaming Commodores. Both Hauptman and Protos consider LSU on thin ice, despite the Tigers’ potential to make a deep run if they ever play to their talent level. Meanwhile, Alabama and Arkansas have been allergic to consistency.
In addition to disagreeing on Georgia and Vanderbilt, the fields for Hauptman and Protos differ by three other teams. Hauptman gave the nod to Syracuse, West Virginia and Bradley. Protos picked Arkansas, Purdue and Northern Iowa instead.
The Pac-10 continues to boost its profile in the Crystal Basketball as Stanford makes its debut in the fields. Washington State is one of the biggest surprises of the season, and Hauptman likes the Cougars to earn a No. 3 seed right now. Protos isn’t as sold that the Cougars are a top four seed yet, and he puts Washington State as a No. 5. Before it’s all said and done, Hauptman thinks the upstart team of the year from the Pac-10 will probably earn a spot among the No. 2 seeds.
Let’s take a look at the rest of this week’s picks by Hauptman and Protos.
| Hauptman’s Hoops Horoscope | Protos’ Prognostications |
|---|---|
 Florida UCLA North Carolina Wisconsin |
UCLA North Carolina Wisconsin Florida |
 Ohio State Kansas Pittsburgh Oregon |
Ohio State Oregon Kansas Pittsburgh |
 Oklahoma State Washington State Arizona Memphis |
Texas A&M Memphis Butler Duke |
 Air Force Nevada Butler Texas Tech |
Virginia Tech Arizona Clemson Oklahoma State |
 Texas A&M Marquette Duke Kentucky |
Air Force Texas Tech Marquette Washington State |
 Southern Illinois Virginia Tech UNLV Clemson |
Indiana Nevada Southern Illinois Kentucky |
 Creighton Syracuse Boston College Indiana |
Villanova UNLV Tennessee Texas |
 Tennessee Notre Dame Alabama West Virginia |
Georgetown USC Notre Dame Boston College |
 Villanova Bradley Texas Gonzaga |
Gonzaga Michigan State Alabama Vanderbilt |
 Georgia Tech Georgetown Florida State Michigan State |
Maryland Creighton Arkansas Georgia Tech |
 VCU Georgia Stanford Maryland |
Missouri State Stanford Davidson Florida State |
 USC LSU Missouri State Appalachian State |
VCU LSU Purdue Northern Iowa |
 Xavier Ohio Holy Cross Western Kentucky |
Winthrop Western Kentucky Holy Cross Penn |
 Oakland Long Beach State Winthrop Penn |
Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Rhode Island Oral Roberts Toledo |
 Vermont Austin Peay Marist Idaho State |
Idaho State Delaware State Vermont Marist |
 Sacred Heart Texas A&M – Corpus Christi East Tennessee State Delaware State Jackson State |
Austin Peay Central Connecticut State Cal State Fullerton Jackson State East Tennessee State |
 Last 4 In:Maryland USC LSU Missouri State |
Last 4 In: Stanford Florida State Purdue Northern Iowa |
| Last 4 Out: BYU California Connecticut Arkansas |
Last 4 Out: West Virginia Syracuse Drexel Virginia |
| Shooting Stars: Texas Tech Marquette Stanford Georgia |
Shooting Stars: Marquette Texas Tech Villanova Vanderbilt |
| Sinking Ships: Missouri State Texas USC Tennessee |
Sinking Ships: LSU Georgia Tech Arkansas Alabama |
| Conference Breakdown: ACC: 8 Big East: 7 Pac-10: 6 SEC: 6 Big 12: 5 Big Ten: 4 Missouri Valley: 4 Mountain West: 2 23 one-bid conferences |
Conference Breakdown: ACC: 8 SEC: 7 Pac-10: 6 Big 12: 5 Big East: 5 Big Ten: 5 Missouri Valley: 4 Mountain West: 2 23 one-bid conferences |
Whose field looks more accurate to you? Or are both Hauptman and Protos off target? E-mail us your comments on the Crystal Basketball or give us your own NCAA Tournament prognostications. Then check back throughout the next two months, as Hauptman’s and Protos’ visions for the Big Dance become clearer as the days until Selection Sunday count down. The calendar reads January. This journey just began.
