Possible NCAA matchups

[Perezident]

I haven't seen much discussion about potential WSU matchups in the tourney. Marshall and others have recently stated that a lot of success in the big dance comes down to matchups and luck, among other things. So what kind of team potentially gives us trouble? I would say a team with a big athletic front court could prove difficult. Arizona? KU (assuming Embiid is healty)? Who else?

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

I wouldn't want to be any team in SDSU's bracket.

[Rosewood]

I am afraid of no team / every team at this point and refuse to waste any brain power on anything until there is a bracket in front of me.

[Bluzrover]

I am afraid of no team / every team at this point and refuse to waste any brain power on anything until there is a bracket in front of me.

Well you're no fun! I think Cincy could be a tough match up and agree with the San Diego St comment. Florida is going to be a tough out because of those four seniors but that's FF talk and Rosewood is right, it's all pure speculation at this point.

[jdshock]

I actually like the matchup with KU this year. I think our guards eat theirs alive, and Embiid is a force defensively but he's not yet the offensive beast that has me worried down low. I have been wondering about how they'd play without Embiid. Maybe against WSU they'd play four guards and put Wiggins on Early.

This year the thing that scares me is how inconsistent good to great teams have been. Teams that could be ranked as low as an 8 seed have, at times, looked really really good and at other times looked terrible. Heck, Virginia got beat by Tennessee by 35.

[CBB_Fan]

Toughest matchups per seed:

1 - Florida, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Arizona isn't as a strong down low and has a pretty big weakness from the foul line, where we've been exceptional.
2 - Kansas with Embiid, if not Syracuse. Kansas has inconsistent guardplay at best, but exploitable size at the forward and center spots could be a problem. Syracuse has much more consistent backcourt contributions and decent bigs, but we've been playing against gimmick zones all season and have had success.
3 - Virginia. Creighton and ISU will probably end up here as well, but I think this team is above getting beaten by one-man heroics. Virginia doesn't play much depth, but they do play rock solid D and rebound, which can't be said for other 3 seeded teams.
4 - Louisville. Without any question, Louisville. In fact, I'd say Louisville is the hands-down best team outside of the #1 seeds. On a neutral court I think they'd beat most of the teams seeded above them by 5-10 points. Advanced stats put them as a 1 seed quality team (as does the AP poll), but some poor team will be playing them in the Sweet 16.
5 - Ohio State - Very good defense, and highly composed. Not a great shooting team, but Amir Williams might be an interesting matchup for our bigs at 6'11". I'm not particularly scared of the other teams on this seed.
6 - Undecided - VCU's is a team built for upsets, Texas has a lot of size down low, and UCLA has the most interesting player in the country in Kyle Anderson. We probably won't face any of these teams, but all would present some challenges.
7 - Kentucky - They may be playing poorly, but they do have the most size and athleticism of any team and are the #1 offensive rebounding team. I prefer average "good" teams that we are better at in almost all categories to teams like Kentucky that have at least some advantages.
8 - Oregon - They foul a lot, and that is a problem, but they are hot right now and can shoot from deep.
9 - Oklahoma State - Kansas State would be more fun but Oklahoma State is the better team. I'm not particularly worried about Smart (Cotton would force him into bad jumpers, and he's not a good shooter), but they have a lot of players that can shoot from long range even though they lack size inside.
10 - SMU - This is the other team I think will be completely underseeded (same way Louisville was). They are very well coached and play solid defense, but their offense can give them fits some times (very poor at making decisions).
11 - Nebraska - They are hot and none of the others particularly scare me.
12 - Tennessee - Another team likely to be underseeded; advanced stats put them as a top 25 team that probably should be a 4-6 seed. Harvard is also good.
13 - Stephen F. Austin - The 2nd winningest team in the country, haven't lost since the first month of the season. They are built similarly to VCU in 2011: lots of 3s, offensive rebounds, and forced TOs. Not great by themselves but potentially could upset a team or two.
14 - No one; maybe Georgia State? Yeah, I'll go with Georgia State.
15 - North Carolina Central - They are going to make their #2 seed sweat a little. Remember that they have Jeremy Ingram, the guy that scored 37 on us early in the season.
16 - I want to play Wofford, but purely out to get revenge for Winthrop.

[jocoshock]

Toughest matchups per seed:

1 - Florida, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Arizona isn't as a strong down low and has a pretty big weakness from the foul line, where we've been exceptional.
2 - Kansas with Embiid, if not Syracuse. Kansas has inconsistent guardplay at best, but exploitable size at the forward and center spots could be a problem. Syracuse has much more consistent backcourt contributions and decent bigs, but we've been playing against gimmick zones all season and have had success.
3 - Virginia. Creighton and ISU will probably end up here as well, but I think this team is above getting beaten by one-man heroics. Virginia doesn't play much depth, but they do play rock solid D and rebound, which can't be said for other 3 seeded teams.
4 - Louisville. Without any question, Louisville. In fact, I'd say Louisville is the hands-down best team outside of the #1 seeds. On a neutral court I think they'd beat most of the teams seeded above them by 5-10 points. Advanced stats put them as a 1 seed quality team (as does the AP poll), but some poor team will be playing them in the Sweet 16.
5 - Ohio State - Very good defense, and highly composed. Not a great shooting team, but Amir Williams might be an interesting matchup for our bigs at 6'11". I'm not particularly scared of the other teams on this seed.
6 - Undecided - VCU's is a team built for upsets, Texas has a lot of size down low, and UCLA has the most interesting player in the country in Kyle Anderson. We probably won't face any of these teams, but all would present some challenges.
7 - Kentucky - They may be playing poorly, but they do have the most size and athleticism of any team and are the #1 offensive rebounding team. I prefer average "good" teams that we are better at in almost all categories to teams like Kentucky that have at least some advantages.
8 - Oregon - They foul a lot, and that is a problem, but they are hot right now and can shoot from deep.
9 - Oklahoma State - Kansas State would be more fun but Oklahoma State is the better team. I'm not particularly worried about Smart (Cotton would force him into bad jumpers, and he's not a good shooter), but they have a lot of players that can shoot from long range even though they lack size inside.
10 - SMU - This is the other team I think will be completely underseeded (same way Louisville was). They are very well coached and play solid defense, but their offense can give them fits some times (very poor at making decisions).
11 - Nebraska - They are hot and none of the others particularly scare me.
12 - Tennessee - Another team likely to be underseeded; advanced stats put them as a top 25 team that probably should be a 4-6 seed. Harvard is also good.
13 - Stephen F. Austin - The 2nd winningest team in the country, haven't lost since the first month of the season. They are built similarly to VCU in 2011: lots of 3s, offensive rebounds, and forced TOs. Not great by themselves but potentially could upset a team or two.
14 - No one; maybe Georgia State? Yeah, I'll go with Georgia State.
15 - North Carolina Central - They are going to make their #2 seed sweat a little. Remember that they have Jeremy Ingram, the guy that scored 37 on us early in the season.
16 - I want to play Wofford, but purely out to get revenge for Winthrop.

Generally agree. Definitely on Louisville. Ohio State sucks (in my opinion). Don't sleep on Michigan State now that they are getting their players back.

[1979Shocker]

Any team that can drive and get us in foul trouble would cause us problems. If we can get them in foul trouble, too, then it's a wash. Then it will depend on who has the depth.

[Play Angry]

Teams I would love love LOVE to see in our region:


16- doesn't matter

8/9- KSU, ASU, GW, UMASS

4/5- OU...the rest look pretty tough

2/3- Duke, KU, Creighton

[Kung Wu]

Just throw 'em in the hopper, baby.

This is what we are going to do to all NCAA opponents:

[Shock Therapy]

There is no matchup that I would be outright scared of and a ton that intrigue me. That is how confident I am in the versatility of this team. For me to make an unqualified statement statement like this is ridiculous. I love to qualify the hell out of everything that I say.

[ShauXTyme]

The "hoppa"?

[kcshocker11]

Any team with a slow down pace. Such as Wisconsin

[jdmee]

I think the team that will give us the most trouble is Wichita State.

[shocks02]

North Carolina Central might be working their way into 14 seed territory with all these tournament upsets.

Give me Virginia and Michigan State and I'll be happy.