RTC Region by Region Tidbits: 03.23.10

Posted by THager on March 24th, 2010

Each day this week during the regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament we’re asking some of our top correspondents to put together a collection of notes and interesting tidbits about each region.  If you know of something that we should include in tomorrow’s submission, hit us up at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Midwest Region (Tom Hager)

  • Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson has insisted that his players are handling the added attention well, but it is hard to keep your composure when you walk into a lecture hall and receive a standing ovation, as Ali Farokhmanesh experienced on Monday.
  • Many people know that Farokhamnesh transferred to UNI, but most people do not know that UNI, like most other schools, knew about him in high school and passed up on him.
  • According to Dan Blank, the key for Michigan State will be to push the ball (something Kansas failed to do when they let Jordan Eglseder score 14 points in 18 minutes).  However, given the injuries they have recently sustained, Blank says hastening the pace may not be so easy.
  • Ohio State has been criticized for a lack of bench production, but Blank points out that the short bench may benefit the Buckeyes.
  • The Buckeyes are underdogs in this game, but Inside Tennessee’s Patrick Gibson reported that the Vols had a solid practice session on Monday.  That should come as no surprise, as this week Doug Gottlieb listed Bruce Pearl as one of his top coaches in the country.

West Region (Andrew Murawa)

East Region (Ryan Restivo of SienaSaintsBlog)

  • Kentucky is now a 2:1 favorite to win the NCAA Tournament. Cornell coach Steve Donahue talked to ESPN Radio in Chicago. The Big Red’s amazing season  has come at a time where there were six suicides on campus. Alumni are getting excited on where they can see the Big Red this week.
  • Washington coach Lorenzo Romar has kept on moving forward. Meanwhile West Virginia will be without guard Darryl Bryant who will miss the rest of the tournament with a broken right foot. Still Da’Sean Butler and the Mountaineers remain confident.

South Region

THager (49 Posts)


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