Who will win the National Championship in college hoops?
The team that I pick to win the NCAA Tournament is Pittsburgh.
Why?
Pittsburgh is a team that has only lost four games all year: two were to UConn, one was to Syracuse and one was Seton Hall.
All three of these teams made the tournament and two of them, Syracuse and UConn, are still remaining. And of Pitt’s four losses, all of them were by three points or less. This means that Pitt was one possession away in each game from winning or tying with a three.
Pittsburgh is also the best defensive team remaining in the tournament, giving up only 56.6 points a game. The Panthers are out of the tough Big East Conference, which placed six teams in the tournament this year, and three are still remaining.
The only other conferences to do that this year are the ACC and Big 12.
The Panthers have a key element that most championship teams have and that is solid guard play.
Pitt’s three-guard line up, Carl Krauser, Julius Page and Jaron Brown, have been scoring with the ball well all year, and Brown creates match up problems for almost every team because of his 6-4, 229-pound frame and quickness to go with it.
Krauser is averaging 15 points a game, and the senior Page is not far behind at 11 points a contest. Pitt’s big men can take over a game as well. Forwards Chris Taft and Chevon Troutman are a huge part of the Panther’s offensive game plan, and they can block shots as well.
The freshman Taft is a load in the middle, standing at 6-10 and weighing 250. He is fourth on the team in scoring with 11 points per game, and he leads the team in rebounding.
The Panthers usually go about eight deep with Antonio Graves, Mark McCarroll and Toree Morris coming off the bench to help contribute.
The only thing that worries me about Pitt is their poor outside shooting.
From the 3-point line, the Panthers only shoot 31 percent and that is 12th in the Big East.
Pittsburgh’s road to the Sweet 16 has not been easy.
After surviving a scare from a tough Central Florida team in the first round, they barely escaped Milwaukee with a 59-55 win over Big Ten Champion Wisconsin.
The road will just get more difficult from here as the Panthers face a 29-3 Oklahoma State team that manhandled Memphis in the second round.
The game is today at 7:30 and it will be on CBS.
If Pitt can get by the Cowboys, they will either play St. Joe’s or Wake Forest in the Elite Eight.
I think that Pitt can beat Oklahoma State and go all the way. What do you think?
Email Drew at thesportzcorner@hotmail.com

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