Why they might be good: Virtually the same team that gave Florida a scare in the Elite Eight returns. Missing leader Aaron Brooks will be tough, but Tajuan Porter is good enough to fill the hole. The Ducks will be able to out-shoot just about anyone and Hairston will bring experience and leadership to what should be a fun and exciting team.
Why they might suck: Tajuan Porter can't fill Brooks' shoes, the shooting goes cold and Hairston doesn't step up and lead. All possible, but unlikely.
This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 20 through 16.
From left to right: still there, gone, ???, still there, transferred, still there, still there, still there, still there.
See a trend?
Oregon, which went an outstanding 29-8 last season before losing a close game to Florida in the Elite Eight, has virtually ever piece of the puzzle back, minus point guard and leader Aaron Brooks (No. 0 and second from left). The Ducks have an experienced leader (senior Malik Hairston), entertaining spark plug (sophomore Tajuan Porter) and two stud freshman to solidify the team.
I get the feeling that Oregon would have been really happy if Michigan had tried to lure Ernie Kent away, despite an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Oregon and Ernie Kent agreed on a new five-year extension. The deal gives Kent more money but less security. The contract puts Kent's compensation right around $1 million per year through the 2011-2012 season.
Unlike his prior contract, however, there is no rollover clause to automatically extend the contract. Another interesting feature is that it reduces the buyout from the school if he is fired before the end of the contract. It had been the total remaining years on his contract, Now, it is simply a flat fee of $1 million dollars. Whether he would be fired after next season or just before the final year of his contract. The final feature suggesting Oregon wouldn't mind Kent seeking another job: no buyout requirements from Kent if he leaves.
Usually, a school wants some assurances the coach will stay after an extension and a raise. Here, Oregon seems to be begging him to keep looking.
We're just a few hours away from today's big Oregon-Florida game, and ESPN.com's Pat Forde has a good column about how Oregon got to the Elite Eight, including recruiting players from the Detroit Public Schools. But I imagine every teacher in Detroit who read the column cringed at this comment from one of those players, Tajuan Porter:
"I didn't even know Oregon was a state."
That's not a ringing endorsement for Porter's geography skills, but it's fascinating to see how the Ducks turned into a college basketball power by recruiting Detroit high school star Malik Hairston, and then landing his high school teammate Porter two years later. Forde's column shows how if the Ducks advance to the Final Four today, they'll have recruiting in the Motor City to thank.
For the first 56 games of the NCAA tournament, the biggest story has been the lack of upsets. But for the last seven games, the story will be what the lack of upsets has wrought: The best collection of teams ever in the Elite Eight, and perhaps, 36 hours from now, the first time in history that we can say unequivocally that the four best teams in the country really did advance to the Final Four.
Sure, George Mason was a great story last year. But in late March, don't you want to watch the best teams in the nation? I do, and that's what we're getting. It doesn't get much better than back-to-back games of Memphis-Ohio State and Kansas-UCLA today ... except that I think tomorrow's games, Florida-Oregon and North Carolina-Georgetown, are even better.
There is also, of course, the little matter of your office pool. If you're like most people, you still have your entire Final Four remaining -- that's another reason you'll find the Elite Eight intriguing. And you're probably glad you didn't listen to those fools who told you to pick a few upsets.
It's being remarkably under-discussed how Oregon Head Coach Ernie Kent is basically daring the Oregon administration to fire him or extend him. Keep in mind, that this is the same head coach who came into the season on the warmest seat in the PAC-10 and the subject of FireCoachKent.com (since pulled, but you have to love Google cache). A coach who isn't exactly fully supported by the outgoing Athletics Director (AD) and the present AD, Pat Killkenny.
Oregon has been one of the more surprising teams all season. Two or three seasons of completely underachieving and it finally comes together this year. Apparently Ernie Kent has been feeling pretty good about his bargaining position. The day Tommy Amaker was fired from Michigan and the day before Oregon's second round game against Winthrop, Kent didn't hide any interest or why.
Said Kent: "I have an agent, and he's been contacted by some people. All I'm going to say is that I want to be at Oregon as long as they want me there. But if they don't want me there anymore, and Michigan wants to talk, Oregon owes me the opportunity to listen."
Kent said he never would pursue a vacant job. But if they want to talk, he's all ears. Also, Kent said he prefers to wait "until we've finished our own tournament run," before talking more about his future.
Kent's contract actually runs through 2010, but unlike previous years it hasn't been rolled over prior to the start of the season. It's not like Kent is in the last year or even 2 years from his contract expiring. He's got 3 years. Michigan has denied any contact with Kent.
How that short little bit about his agent being contacted and his willingness to listen, can not be construed as pursuit of a vacant coaching job, is only if you take it as an attempt to leverage a new deal and/or extension from Oregon. Thank goodness he would rather wait to discuss this.
Well, I guess Kent just likes to make sure his name is out there.
Illinois had an opening in 2003, and hired Southern Illinois coach Bruce Weber. But not before Kent looked at the list of candidates, and asked friends if they would contact various media, and inquire why he wasn't being mentioned for the job.
He's like John Calipari in that respect. Always loves to see his name mentioned for other jobs.
Have to give him some credit for guts, since that sort of talk and if Oregon had fallen flat against Winthrop, he'd be taking heat for needlessly distracting his team in the NCAA Tournament. He would likely be looking for work at a mid-major. Instead, they handled Winthrop with ease and now look like a strong shot for at least the Elite Eight. Still, few programs like to be threatened like that, and Kent's popularity isn't that strong. He had best get to the Elite Eight if he wants to get an extension from Oregon or a serious offer from Michigan.
Of the freshman basketball players who entered Ohio State from 1996 to 1999, just 10 percent graduated. The graduation rate at Kansas wasn't much higher, and for three schools in this year's NCAA Tournament -- Florida A&M, Eastern Kentucky and Oregon -- the graduation rate was zero.
But that doesn't necessarily say anything bad about those schools. The term "graduation rate" and the term "academic standards" are often treated as if they're synonymous, but they're not. There's nothing inherently good about having a high graduation rate. A school could put all its basketball players in the easiest classes on campus, and then pressure the professors to slide for good measure. That school would have a high graduation rate, but it wouldn't have high academic standards. Conversely, another school could demand that its basketball players take the most challenging courses and kick players off the team if they don't pull A's in those courses. That school would have a low graduation rate, but it wouldn't have low academic standards.
When we assess college athletics, we ought to look at more than just a school's graduation rate. It would be nice to know, for instance, what the athletes' attendance rates are: Do athletes skip class more often or less often than the typical student on campus? And instead of just telling us what the basketball team's cumulative grade point average is, tell us how that grade point average compares to students taking the same classes: Do athletes take the kinds of classes where you just have to show up to get a passing grade, or are they really being challenged?
I've said before that if I were Greg Oden, I probably wouldn't go to class. And now I'll add that in 10 years, when another study comes out bemoaning Ohio State's graduation rate, I won't particularly care that Oden didn't get his sheepskin. A low graduation rate isn't the black mark on a school's record that it's often made out to be.
Okay so #1 seed Florida is looking good for the Sweet 16. They have Jackson St. and then the winner of Arizona/Purdue.
Arizona and Purdue seems about right for an #8/9 game. Arizona has been up and down all season, while Purdue has overachieved a lot this season.
Mid-majors are going to be pissed about a 5-12 game with Butler and Old Dominion. Way to make sure two of the dangerous mid-majors will have to knock each other off.
Maryland might get a good game against Davidson, but it's not a bad draw.
Wisconsin will be a challenge to make the Sweet 16 after their first game.
UNLV/GT for the 7-10 will be a good one. I also like either team to give Wisconsin trouble.
Oregon should roll over Miami
That Notre Dame-WInthrop game is going to be a sexy "upset" pick.
I get the feeling that Oregon would have been really happy if Michigan had tried to lure Ernie Kent away, despite an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. 
We're just a few hours away from today's big Oregon-Florida game, and 
For the first 56 games of the NCAA tournament, the biggest story has been the lack of upsets. But for the last seven games, the story will be what the lack of upsets has wrought: The best collection of teams ever in the Elite Eight, and perhaps, 36 hours from now, the first time in history that we can say unequivocally that the four best teams in the country really did advance to the Final Four. 
It's being remarkably under-discussed how Oregon Head Coach Ernie Kent is basically daring the Oregon administration to fire him or extend him. Keep in mind, that this is the same head coach who came into the season on the warmest seat in the PAC-10 and the subject of FireCoachKent.com (since pulled, but you have to love 
Of the freshman basketball players who entered Ohio State from 1996 to 1999,
Okay so #1 seed Florida is looking good for the Sweet 16. They have Jackson St. and then the winner of Arizona/Purdue.
