Mar 16 2008
Portland State headed to the Final Four
The road to the NCAA Tournament championship shapes up pretty good for the mighty Portland State Vikings. They got drawn in the Midwest region, which is probably (on paper) the weakest bracket in the tournament. It’s the perfect opportunity for the Big Sky champions to cut down some nets.
They’ll have cupcakes in the first two rounds, Kansas in the opener then the Kent State/UNLV winner in the round of 32. The first real test will come in Detroit in the Sweet 16 when they’ll likely be facing Clemson, a team that took North Carolina down to the wire in the ACC tournament final.
Hopefully the Vikings won’t be eyeing that game to the extent that they overlook their first two opponents. Take care of business in Omaha, then we’ll deal with Clemson as needed.
After Clemson has been dispatched, the Viks will be looking at either Wisconsin or Georgetown provided those two avoid the upsets. Once all those pieces fall into place, it’s on to San Antonio.
Go Viks! Stay focused and keep your eye on the prize.
You have obviously done your research well. I agree about the cupcake rating of the first round opponent. After all, any team which split conference meetings with Missouri must have spiked to contents of the water cooler the selection committee was drinking from to get a number 1 seeding. That said, I continue to look for great things from the Viks throughout the tournament. By the way, I took time yesterday to wash the rear window of my pick-up so my PSU decal would shine like a diamond for all to see.
I’m pretty sure Kansas swept the matchup with Mizzou this year, a rare occasion indeed. But still, the Chickenhawks got in the big dance based solely on the fact that they happened into the Big 12 tournament championship.
Lucky them. After all, there’s a reason Roy Williams left for North Carolina.
Yes, you are right. My bad. It was an unexpected win over K State, after Missouri players had been suspended for team rules violations, that I was thinking of. I stand corrected.
[...] In an unrelated note, my friend Curt apparently doesn’t feel the same way I did about our alma maters squaring off Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. He didn’t have any qualms about predicting that KU woudl fall toPortland State. The gloves are off, my friend. I hope you have a pillow handy because your Vikings are going down. Hard. [...]