Izzo good but also lucky

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Winnipegopher

Winnipegopher

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I know you just beat who you line up against but I am willing to bet that a team has never had as easy a run to the Final Four as Michigan State. They can get to the championship game without playing a one, two or three seed, that is amazing.

So far they have beaten a 12 (New Mexico State) a 4 (Maryland), a 9 (Northern Iowa) and a 6 (Tennessee). They get a 5 (Butler) in the Final Four.
 

Was he lucky when his best player went down for the season with a torn achilles?

How many teams could survive losing their best player (Butler: Heyward or Mack; Duke: Scheyer, Singler or Smith; Kansas: Aldrich or Collins; Kentucky: Wall; Ohio State: Turner; Syracuse: Johnson; West Virginia: Butler) 1.5 games into the NCAA Tournament yet still make it to the Final Four?

Luck has nothing to do with Michigan State's appearance in this year's Final Four. It's not like Tennessee is chopped liver. The Vols beat both Kansas and Kentucky, not to mention Ohio State.
 

So far they have beaten a 12 (New Mexico State) a 4 (Maryland), a 9 (Northern Iowa) and a 6 (Tennessee). They get a 5 (Butler) in the Final Four.
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Izzo is about to " lucky " his way into winning the final if he can convince his guys not to overlook Butler.

If it's a West Virginia / Michigan State final I'm taking Michigan State.

The Kentucky youngins' didn't know how to deal with WV's 1/3/1. That should NOT be a problem for Michigan State as they will be quite familiar with it from playing Big 10 teams.
 

Izzo is amazing, but it was incredibly fortunate that they got a 9 and a 6 after losing Lucas.
 

Winnipegopher said:
So far they have beaten a 12 (New Mexico State) a 4 (Maryland), a 9 (Northern Iowa) and a 6 (Tennessee). They get a 5 (Butler) in the Final Four.
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I don't know how you call that lucky. MSU has beaten the teams that took down consensus 1 Kansas and also OSU. Maryland and Tennessee are both very good teams in their own rights.

Now they have to play what is probably the hottest team in the country. 24 game win streak, unbeaten in 2010, and just coming off back-to-back wins over (1) Syracuse and (2) K-State. Both of those teams were legitimate championship contenders.
 



Izo is the best coach in the country Tourney time. Seriously, does he even have a first round nba talent on this team? I like Tubby but Izo is amazing this time of year.
 

Does it really matter who they beat? And you're wrong, just two years ago Kansas was a #1 seed and had an "easier" run to the FF. Here was their run to the Final Four: (16) Portland St, (8) UNLV, (12) Villanova, (10) Davidson. They won the national championship. I don't think people look back and say, wow, that team was lucky, they say that was a darn good team that won the title.

I understand what you mean, they may not have won had they played Kansas or OSU, but the fact that those teams went home early tells you all you need to know about what might have happened had MSU met those teams instead of the ones they did. And now, they get a 5 seed, okay. A 5 seed that was a top 10 preseason, as well as finishing 8th in the coaches poll. And they are playing a virtual home game 7 miles from campus. If MSU wins that game, and then beats Duke/WVU to win the title, they will have earned that title just like any teams playing chalk seeds on their way to the title.
 




Duke had the easiest route the Final Four, especially with the assist from the officials against Kentucky.

MSU's luck was having someone else knock off Kansas and tOSU in their tourney bracket. Watching Lucious at the point had to be nerve wracking but when Green called the play for two points, I found myself clapping at home.

Really surprised MSU is in the Final Four after Lucas went down. Izzo is the best coach in the Big Ten, and one of the top 5 in the nation.
 

"Duke had the easiest route the Final Four, especially with the assist from the officials against Kentucky."

As a #1 seed, Duke had to play the hardest route to the Final 4 (seed-wise) possible with the exception of #3 Baylor instead of #2 Villanova of all of the remaining teams. As Gary Parrish said this morning, Duke's route proved to be anything but easy. Just because Kansas can't get past UNI to match up against the Lucas-less Spartans or Syracuse can't get past Butler to play KSU doesn't mean Duke's route was easy as a #1 seed. Playing a team of Baylor's caliber in the Elite 8 in front of 40k Baylor fans is anything but. In fact, if A&M beats Purdue, Duke would have had to beat 2 games on the road to get to the Final 4.

Duke has had to play an 8, 4, and 3 seed, the latter was a road game.

Other's that supposedly had a more difficult route:

Kansas lost 48 hours into the tournament against a 9 seed
Syracuse never beat a team higher than an 8 seed, losing to 5 seed Butler.
Kentucky's first game against a team seeded higher than 9 was in the Elite 8 against West Virginia.
Villanova couldn't get past a 10 seed
Kansas St didn't beat a team higher than a 6 seed
West Virginia's first game against a single-digit seed was in the Elite 8 against Kentucky
Ohio St's didn't play a team higher than a 6 seed and lost to that team (Tennessee)

As a #1 seed, Duke's route proved to be tough. Butler is a good team but as a #1 seed, Syracuse is supposed to beat them so using the excuse that there road was tough because they lost is moot. Only Kentucky as a #1 seed played as tough of a game as Duke's game against Baylor and the Wildcats lost while Duke won.
 

Not that any Final Four team ever needs to justify its presence, one way or another you've gotta' win 4 straight. ... that's no easy task, no matter how we slice it.

I agree with Pewter. Duke will never be a favorite of mine (thanks to the persistent butt-kissing by Dukie V), but the Dukies earned their way into the Final Four. Certainly beating Baylor in Houston was no small task. They have nothing to apologize for, nor do Butler, Michigan State or West Virginia.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Not that any Final Four team ever needs to justify its presence, one way or another you've gotta' win 4 straight. ... that's no easy task, no matter how we slice it.

I agree with Pewter. Duke will never be a favorite of mine (thanks to the persistent butt-kissing by Dukie V), but the Dukies earned their way into the Final Four. Certainly beating Baylor in Houston was no small task. They have nothing to apologize for, nor do Butler, Michigan State or West Virginia.
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+1
 



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