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Thursday, February 8, 2007
Gator-hating, hoops-style
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that reeling Duke doesn’t seem to be much fun to kick around anymore, is the next best target the Florida Gators?
Who has the better ‘do?
Take our poll: Noah or Arkansas’s Hill?The national champions left Athens with a tough 10-point victory Wednesday, just ahead of Saturday night’s showdown with Kentucky. As far as floppy ponytailed Joakim Noah’s concerned, he’ll gladly take the heat. He’s got the UK hate mail to prove it.
” ‘Just look at him,’ teammate Corey Brewer said. ‘Who would you target?’ “
Imagine if he had gone to Duke.
With an intro like this to the official UF athletics side, enmity isn’t hard to conjure up. Enough, already.
Following Wednesday’s recruiting hysteria, some are cracking that Florida just earned its second mythical national championship in two months. Don’t think they care one whit in Gainesville.
Here’s a claim that the Gators still don’t have the national cachet as the Dookies.
Which is perhaps why this disclaimer was fairly recent.
The No. 1 Gators are 22-2 and 9-0 in the SEC; Kentucky’s 18-5 and 7-2. ESPN Gameday will be there. Digger and Dookie V. at the same site. Heaven help us all.
The Wildcats are putting up some impressive offensive numbers, but can they defend after giving up a 60-point half to South Carolina? There’s a video of a truly awesome dunk there, too.
Some Big Blue boosters are saying bring on the Gators. To which the Florida flock responds: If you insist.
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Tony Barnhart’s daily picks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In today’s projected NCAA field, the AJC’s Tony Barnhart first offers his conference-by-conference breakdown, then his 65 daily picks.
Following both of Tony’s forecasts, log your own opinion in our daily blog.
BY CONFERENCE
NOTE: At this moment there are 23 conferences that will receive only one bid each to the NCAA tournament. We project the remaining 42 spots in the field will be distributed as follows:
ACC (7 teams):
• In: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech.
• Bubble: Georgia Tech, Maryland.
• Comment: Duke (18-6) has lost three straight and is danger of being a No. 4 or No. 5 seed.
BIG EAST (6):
• In: Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia.
• Bubble: Louisville, Providence, Syracuse.
• Comment: West Virginia’s 60-47 loss at home to Pittsburgh puts the Mountaineers (18-5) dangerously close to the bubble.
BIG TEN (5):
• In: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin.
• Bubble: Purdue.
• Comment: Purdue (16-8) gave itself a chance to get off the bubble by destroying Michigan State (17-8) 62-38 Wednesday night.
BIG 12 (5):
• In: Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M.
• Bubble: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas Tech.
• Comment: Oklahoma (14-8) gave the selection committee something to think about after beating Oklahoma State (18-5) Wednesday night. Kansas State (17-7) should still get in but getting smacked by Kansas (97-70) won’t help its seed.
MISSOURI VALLEY (3)
• In: Creighton, Missouri State, Southern Illinois.
• Bubble: Wichita State, Bradley, Northern Iowa.
• Comment: Southern Illinois (20-5) beat Bradley 60-50 and is making a strong case for a No. 4 or even a No. 3 seed.
MOUNTAIN WEST (3)
• In: Air Force, BYU, UNLV.
• Bubble: None.
• Comment: UNLV (20-5) beat TCU 82-67 and has won six of its last seven.
PAC-10 (6)
• In: Arizona, Oregon, Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Washington State.
• Bubble: California.
• Comment: UCLA (21-2), which beat Southern Cal 70-65 Wednesday night, hasa chance to become the No. 1 overall seed of the tournament.
SEC (7)
• In: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt.
• Bubble: LSU, Auburn.
• Comment: Georgia (13-9) has one foot on the bubble after Wednesday’s 71-61 loss to Florida.
TONY RANKS THE NCAA FIELD
If he made his bracket today, AJC’s Tony Barnhart would pick these teams to make it to the Big Dance:
1: Florida (SEC champ)
2: North Carolina (ACC champ)
3: UCLA (Pac-10 champ)
4: Pittsburgh (Big East champ)
5: Wisconsin (Big Ten champ)
6: Texas A&M (Big 12 champ)
7: Ohio State (at-large)
8: Kansas (at-large)
9: Kentucky (at-large)
10: Butler (Horizon champ)
11: Memphis (C-USA champ)
12: Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley champ)
13: Oregon (at-large)
14: Marquette (at-large)
15: Nevada: (WAC champ)
16: Duke (at-large)
17: Indiana (at-large)
18: Arizona (at-large)
19: Notre Dame (at large)
20: Air Force (at-large)
21: Stanford (at-large)
22: Washington State (at-large)
23: Oklahoma State (at-large)
24: Virginia Tech (at-large)
25: Southern Cal (at-large)
26: Boston College (at-large)
27: Villanova (at-large)
28: Vanderbilt (at-large)
29: Virginia (at-large)
30: Kansas State (at-large)
31: BYU (at-large)
32: Alabama (at-large)
33: Texas (at-large)
34: Georgetown (at-large)
35: Tennessee (at-large
36: Michigan State (at-large)
37: Arkansas (at-large)
38: Clemson (at-large)
39: Gonzaga (at-large)
40: UNLV (at-large)
41: Creighton (at-large)
42: Georgia (at-large)
43: Florida State (at-large)
44: West Virginia (at-large)
45: VCU (Colonial champ)
46: Davidson (Southern champ)
47: Illinois (at-large)
48: Missouri State (at-large)
49: UMass (Atlantic 10 champ)
50: Texas A&M-CC (Southland champ)
51: Vermont (America East champ)
52: Yale (Ivy champ)
53: Winthrop (Big South champ)
54: East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun champ)
55: Holy Cross (Patriot champ)
56: South Alabama (Sun Belt champ)
57: Toledo (MAC champ)
58: Delaware State (MEAC champ)
59: Oakland (Mid-Continent champ)
60: Austin Peay (Ohio Valley champ)
61: Long Beach State (Big West champ)
62: Jackson State (SWAC champ)
63: Weber State (Big Sky champ)
64: Loyola of Maryland (MAAC champ)
65: Central Connecticut State (Northeast champ)
• What do you think of Tony’s conference choices, along with his comments?
• And how does his overall 65 picks differ from yours?
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