Experts' short list for Final Four - SMU

[Harry0569]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college ... basketball

SMU Mustangs (1 of

I would not be surprised to see the Mustangs reach the Final Four because ... "the Mustangs have been steadily improving all season long. Yanick Moreira and Nic Moore form an all-conference-level inside-outside duo, and Larry Brown's defense has held American opponents to well under a point per possession. The main problem with this group last season was a high turnover rate, and that's been fixed (mostly). SMU is the strongest team out of the league that gave us last season's national champion." -- John Gasaway

[LA_Mustang]

and from an ESPN writer. I want to get in the tourney first, but why not? Let's do this!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Wow.

[gostangs]

I would have to quit my job.

[skyscraper]

Damn, I'd pass out if we made it to the Sweet 16, much less the Final Four.

[Harry0569]

Final 4 is Easter weekend...

[PonyFan32]

Assuming we make the tourney, I am going to pick us to make the Sweet 16 because I think we have the talent to surprise some good teams. But I'm not ready to say we can beat 4 good teams in a row...

[S....M....U]

wowwwwwww

[Harry0569]

Assuming we make the tourney, I am going to pick us to make the Sweet 16 because I think we have the talent to surprise some good teams. But I'm not ready to say we can beat 4 good teams in a row...

who said they were gonna be good?

Ultimately, it all comes down to match-ups. Teams without interior size are teams that we can bully down low.

e.g. UVA would be an awful match-up - they pack the paint and defend extremely well. We can't capitalize on their packing because we have 1 above average 3 pt shooter.

[Grant Carter]

Assuming we make the tourney, I am going to pick us to make the Sweet 16 because I think we have the talent to surprise some good teams. But I'm not ready to say we can beat 4 good teams in a row...

If we get a decent seed it might just be 3 good teams in a row.

[PonyFan32]

Away from Moody, any team that makes the tournament qualifies as a good team to me. I don't expect us to get a high enough seed to play any of the Cinderella conference tournament winners no one saw coming.

Matchups are one of the reasons I see us going further than people might expect. The point about us overwhelming teams without good post presence is a good one.

[Pony_Law]

Our team is built to be able to do well in the tournament. We have good size and depth at size, we have a guard that can take over a game, and we are strong rebounding and defensive teams. Our weaknesses are we are inexperienced at the tournament, we tend to play sloppy for periods of possession, and we are shallow when it comes to outside shooting and at the guard spots.

With the right matchups and the team playing well we could make a deep run in the tournament. We could also easily flame out in the first round. This is why the NCAA tournament is so much fun.

[diamond_tom]

Here we go!

[Harry0569]

Here we go!

!!!!!!!!! #praying

[LA_Mustang]

25-to-1. We are getting a lot of respect in Vegas.