Anyone else noticing how fashionable a pick St. Joe's is?

[The Maestro]

Hey, I realize we are not Final Four material, but I guess I am so surprised that everyone thinks St. Joe's is going to beat OU. I am seeing more "expert" picks with St. Joe's over OU than the other way around. Yahoo's list of yahoo's had four of five taking St. Joe's.

Again, we are not the 88 Sooners by any means, but St. Joe's has double digit losses in a craptastic league.

By the way...who has done some St. Joe's homework? What do they have? Who are their studs?

Oh, and as my friend told me, "How long has Frank Barone been the St. Joe's head coach?"

[Eielson]

I have yet to see an expert pick us to win. Good!

[The Maestro]

Here is Joe Lunardi's pick...

41. OKLAHOMA The Sooners are banged up. Phil Martelli is 7-1 in first-round NCAA and NIT games at Saint Joseph's, losing only when Delonte West was injured in 2003. It's the Hawks' balanced offense besting the OU defense, 73-68.

Did I mention Joe Lunardi, yes, the Bracketologist, does radio color commentary for a team in the field.

His alma mater.

St. Joe's.

[birddog]

no way they score 73 on us. this game will be played in the low 60's. coach barone said it will be a physical, grinder of a game.

[illinisooner]

I wouldn't pay much attention to the ESPN guys picks. Hubert Davis picked George Mason to beat ND "because they had alot of upsets 2 years ago". Well, that's great, but the 2006 GMU team isn't playing, so it does not matter what happened 2 years ago aside from the confidence factor. Remember, we got blown out vs. Texas and that's the last thing people remember. Alot of people think they've got the classic 6/11 or 5/12 upset pegged, and it totally goes the other way. If you actually look at the numbers, we match up very well against them and if they can't shoot, it's not gonna be pretty for the Hawks. I think it's actually a pretty even matchup, certainly not a game St. Joe's should be favored in. What's the line?

[colleyvillesooner]

I believe ou -1 1/2

[soonerfan28]

I know Pat Calathes is their best player. He is 6'10, but is only listed at 210. He has a pretty good jumper and has range. Seems to be a good rebounder, but I don't think he can bang with Blake if Blake is 90%. Their guards seem to be a lot like ours, if they're on they can be really good, but when they're off it's going to be a long night. I think Godbold and Crocker can shut them down and if we can make some shots this should be our game. I know the A-10 has a couple of good teams, but how do you lose 7 games in that league.

[bri]

Calathes isn't going to be banging with Blake; he's a 6'10 shooting guard.

That, gang, is a "matchup problem".

[colleyvillesooner]

ms. Pacman champ? Woman :D

[bri]

Hey, Ms. Pac-Man is special. She's cute. She's fun. She swallows.

[soonerfan28]

Calathes isn't going to be banging with Blake; he's a 6'10 shooting guard.

That, gang, is a "matchup problem".

I meant for rebounds not for posting up down low. The guy has been able to rebound.

[bri]

Ah. Still, it'll probably be our third guard or Taylor having to check him on the boards. Both the Tulsa World scouting report and Rivals make it sound like this guy is 3 who plays like a 2. I'd be surprised if they put him on Blake on the defensive end.

[soonerfan28]

True. They have bigger players and they have a big forward who can also hit from the outside but I can't think of his name. I was on oklahoma.scout.com and they had a pretty good report, but it seems to favor St Joe's.

[bri]

I don't really blame 'em. If I wasn't an OU fan, I'd probably give St. Joe's the edge too. You know, since our two best players have bum legs in a sport that's all about being able to run and jump. :D

[soonerfan28]

The big man's name is Rob Ferguson. He's listed at 6'8 235lb and leads the team in 3-point % w/ 43.8% from beyond the arc. That could hurt us.

[bri]

Yeah, they strike me as one of those teams like Texas with big men who can come outside and make shots. Our post guys don't have the mobility to be chasing their assignments 19 feet away from the bucket.

Dude, we gotta quit talking about this. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this game. ;)

[soonerfan28]

I understand. I think we have faced better teams then this and held our own.

[Eielson]

Yeah, they strike me as one of those teams like Texas with big men who can come outside and make shots. Our post guys don't have the mobility to be chasing their assignments 19 feet away from the bucket.

It should help that they don't have AJ Abrams or DJ Augustin.:)

[Big Red Ron]

Yeah, they strike me as one of those teams like Texas with big men who can come outside and make shots. Our post guys don't have the mobility to be chasing their assignments 19 feet away from the bucketYeah, but Texass has arguably the best point guard in the country and a damn good two guard to boot.

[bri]

True. Augustin is the reason I have Texas in the championship game. I just couldn't come up with a compelling reason for them NOT to be.

And for what it's worth, I never hesitated to put us as advancing to the second round. I think we'll have to play a hell of a game, but this team has proven that they're capable of "a hell of a game". If only we hadn't been hit by the injury bug, who knows how far we could go...

[Eielson]

True. Augustin is the reason I have Texas in the championship game. I just couldn't come up with a compelling reason for them NOT to be.

I only could find one. Memphis.:D

[bri]

Nah, Memphis won't make the Final Four. I'm a C-USA guy, but I just think their free throw shooting and spotty guard play will cost them in the tourney.

[soonerfan28]

I think playing in the Big 12 has prepared us better then St. Joe's playing in the A-10. It's just the matchups that scare me.

[Eielson]

Nah, Memphis won't make the Final Four. I'm a C-USA guy, but I just think their free throw shooting and spotty guard play will cost them in the tourney.

It's not like they didn't have bad free throw shooting all year, though. If CDR hadn't gotten hurt at the end of the Tennessee game they probably would have a 34 game winning streak with it, I think they could manage 4.

[King Crimson]

UW-Milwaukee was also a fashionable, national upset pick a few years ago in the first round....based on matchups. and, well.

[bri]

Yeah, but you can never discount the pressure of a "one and done" situation. If you don't make your free throws against UAB, it doesn't matter. If you don't make them against Texas-Arlington, you could make the bad kind of history.

I have them getting to the regional final, but I just don't think they'll be able to overcome the Texas guards. Also, playing in Houston, not ideal for Tigger. :D

[Eielson]

Yeah, but you can never discount the pressure of a "one and done" situation. If you don't make your free throws against UAB, it doesn't matter. If you don't make them against Texas-Arlington, you could make the bad kind of history.

I think they could miss every single free throw they shoot and still beat Texas-Arlington.


I have them getting to the regional final, but I just don't think they'll be able to overcome the Texas guards. Also, playing in Houston, not ideal for Tigger. :D

It could go either way. I wouldn't necessarily give Mason, Abrams, and Augustin the edge over Rose, Douglas-Roberts, and Anderson. Especially when it comes to rebounding. Texas is already going to have their hands full with Dorsey and it makes things worse when you have two of the best rebounding guards.

[Vegas Sooner]

St. Joe has a chance. But .... Capel can get these guys goin'

[Eielson]

We've done pretty good this year against teams that are worse than us but close. We've had a little trouble with some of the teams clearly worse than us and some of the ones clearly better.

[jthomasou78]

This team hasbeen such a rollercoaster ride all year. Ive been ready to write them off several times and they go to stillwater and win without Blake Griffin. If and it is a big if we stay out of foul trouble down low. We should win going away.

[primetime43]

I was listening to the Herd the other day on espn radio and he basically said because we've struggled in big games in football there's no reason to think that basketball will be any different. What? How can you even compare that? I immediately turned him off!

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

I can see why it is a fashionable pick to bet against us. We have had several games this year where we have really looked bad. St Joes is perfectly capable of beating us. Then again it isn't like they haven't had some bad losses this year and they didn't play Memphis, KU and Texas twice so if we go out there and work and hit a few outside shots we should win.

[soonerfan28]

It seems like Capel has the team in the mindset that this is a different season and after what happened in the last game we played, then it would be nice to think that way. I feel like if they can forget the season and play like this is the 1st game then we can go out and beat St. Joes. He'll have the team ready.

[The Maestro]

I looked at their schedule. A 22 point win over Villanova and two wins over Xavier are all I could find to brag about...although those are three good things to brag about.

I heard Bob Huggins on the radio out here in Phoenix today and he made a simple yet great point about what determines the winning team.

Who hits more open shots. Both teams get them, but the team that hits open shots usually wins.

Now I am real scared!!!

[Eielson]

I was listening to the Herd the other day on espn radio and he basically said because we've struggled in big games in football there's no reason to think that basketball will be any different. What? How can you even compare that? I immediately turned him off!

I don't think I could make enough dumb comparisons to be a sports analyst.

[shaun4411]

Hey, I realize we are not Final Four material, but I guess I am so surprised that everyone thinks St. Joe's is going to beat OU. I am seeing more "expert" picks with St. Joe's over OU than the other way around. Yahoo's list of yahoo's had four of five taking St. Joe's.

Again, we are not the 88 Sooners by any means, but St. Joe's has double digit losses in a craptastic league.

By the way...who has done some St. Joe's homework? What do they have? Who are their studs?

Oh, and as my friend told me, "How long has Frank Barone been the St. Joe's head coach?"

21-12 and 9-7 in a conference ou would dominate.

unless i counted wrong, st joes has 4 seniors and 3 juniors. that is a pretty young team. not as young as ou. usually, at-large teams who arent in the national spotlight who make deep runs in the tourney are teams with a lot of experience and a few 4 year guys starting. that doesnt appear to be the case here. i think ou has the edge, but ole st joes has played well against the only ranked teams theyve played. their two best players are a 6'10 sr guard/forward and a 6'9 jr forward. meaning longar and griffin will have to play very well to win. i forsee the ou guards playing like we all dream them to play and perhaps johnson/godbold/crocker will be practicing their 3 point game all week.

mutual opponents: they lost to gonzaga at home in OT. other noteable games are against xavier (2-1) and almost won their conference.

their conference is pretty weak, and dont have many quailty wins because of it. but they have played well against a good xavier(ranked #10,#12, 26-5 and 2 of those were to st joes) team and lost by 4 in their only loss to them at xavier.

score prediction: Oklahoma 189- St Josephs 68

[illinisooner]

UW-Milwaukee was also a fashionable, national upset pick a few years ago in the first round....based on matchups. and, well.

They also had 5 senior starters and pulled an upset of BC the year before (I think it was a 4-13 upset) so I understand that pick as fashionable...but not St. Joe's.

[Statalyzer]

OU should beat St. Joes. Blake's a tougher matchup for them than any 3-point shooting forward is for you. And, as someone already said, "St. Joe's has double digit losses in a craptastic league. "