Vanderbilt

One of the keys in playing against Michigan is to remain composed and execute your game plan. Getting away from what you do well in attempts to get the Wolverines to play a style other than their own more times than not results in a loss. That was the lesson for the Memphis Tigers, who in spite of their athletic talents have some maturing to do before referring to themselves as sure-fire national title contenders. Tim Hardaway Jr.

As part of our 5-Year Ranking series, here's how the SEC teams stack up according to conference wins. Unlike most leagues, there hasn't been one dominant team over the last handful of years. Florida and Kentucky have had some great years, but also some very mediocre ones mixed in. At the bottom of the league, LSU and South Carolina are close to forming a bottom rung of their own.

UNC has all but 3 of the 65 first-place votes in the latest poll, while Vanderbilt drops to 18th after losing at home to Cleveland St. The Vikings only managed 13 votes despite the impressive win.

Friday marks the first big day of the college basketball season with more than 100 games on the schedule. Sure most of the games look to be of the "opening sacrifice" variety, but a closer look reveals some intriguing matchups. It only makes sense to begin with the game that needs little introduction, the Carrier Classic game matching preseason national title favorite North Carolina and Michigan State. The game will be played on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego, which will likely cue a few "I'm on a boat" jokes. 

We've finally reached the last question in this five-part series, where some college basketball writers took time to answer who their pick to win the national title is. There was one caveat, however: the pick had to come from outside of the top four that is North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio State and UConn. That led to some interesting choices, so enjoy.

Question: Outside of the generally accepted top four (UNC/UK/Ohio State/UConn) who do you think can win the national title?

Next up in the short series of looking ahead to next season is the Southwest region, where things essentially went haywire the first weekend. Advancing to San Antonio was the top seed Kansas and seeds 10 through 12, and when the dust settled VCU won the region. A number of teams have some important personnel issues to address, but the Jayhawks won't be the lone team expected to contend for their league title out of this region in 2011-12.

The true fun that is the NCAA Tournament tips off on Thursday, beginning with Clemson taking on West Virginia in Tampa (no disrespect to the "First Four"). Sixteen games across the nation will captivate the country with thrilling finishes and routine blowouts being the order of the day. Below is the schedule breakdown by region by tip time, with one game from each quadrant being featured.

By the time Thursday's schedule is finished millions of brackets will be ruined, which should come as no surprise given the regular season.

(5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) Richmond

Southwest Region - Denver

March 17 - 4:10 TBS

 

Tulsa (March 18)
(1) Kansas vs. (16) Boston University

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