Had we been the 9 seed on the other side of the bracket with Virginia, there is a decent chance we would have made a deep run, possibly all the way to being the Villanova sacrificial lamb in the finals instead of the 2nd round.
Our toughest game probably would have been a rematch with UK in the Sweet 16, but with Donta Hall back I like our chances. The tall Sudanese guy Gabriel that clobbered us in the SEC tourney was pretty cold against the 9 seed Kansas State when they played on that side of the bracket. He was 7-7 for 3 pointers against us but 0-2 against Kansas State. CAJ said that Donta would have guarded that guy had he played that day.
We would have faced 8 Creighton, 16 UMBC, 5 Kentucky, 11 Loyola-Chicago, and 3 Michigan before getting slautered by Villanova in the finals, if we made it that far. Had we made it past UK, Loyola or Michigan may have knocked us out. You don't get that far in the tournament without some ability, but I think we would have made a respectable showing at least. There is not a big gap between us and those teams, if any. Now, we are not even close to the level that this incarnation of Villanova is playing at, but neither was the rest of the field.
In other words, #buckleup.
Bama was initially projected in that bracket until other teams' losses moved them elsewhere. They should have made the Sweet16 there, with tough but winnable games afterwards. But no one was going to beat Villanova.
Total Members: