Looks like Mr. Lunardi has posted his most recent version of bracketology. He places the Devils as a four seed with a first round matchup against Buffalo, out of the MAC. The Bulls are 0-1 against the AP top 25 with a loss to UCONN 68-64. The Bulls are 4-1 within the MAC, but they are no match for the fiery Sun Devils. Devils move on to round 2.
The second round places the Devils against the winner of the Oklahoma St./Syracuse game. I am going to go with the Orange in that matchup. 'Cuse brings a tough matchup for the Devils, with 5 players averaging double digit scoring. Syracuse is 4-3 against the AP Top 25, with wins over Florida, Kansas, Memphis, and Notre Dame. Their losses(2 of which happened this past week) were against Georgetown, Pitt, and Louisville. Having played 7 ranked teams, Syracuse won't be frightened by the Devils. However, Syracuse has a tougher schedule playing in the Big East and this will drain them come tourney time. I think the Devils win this one by less than 3 points.
On to the Sweet 16 we go. Bring on the Huskies of Connecticut, another Big East foe. The Huskies bring a tough matchup with 7-3 center Hasheem Thabeet and 6-7 forward Jeff Adrien. The Devils only chance in this one is to be hitting from the outside as Pendergraph most likely would be shut down. The good news is that James Harden can win it from the outside. I never put every 1seed in the Final Four, so it is time for UConn to bow out gracefully.
The Elite 8 brings us another Big East team, Marquette who will be coming off an "upset" win against Michigan State. The Golden Eagles can put up a lot of points, but rarely do the Devils give up many. Our stingy D will hold us in this game, and James Harden will knock this one time mid-major school out of the tournament.
Final Four. Wake me up, surely I am dreaming. Its a battle between the sun and the color blue. That's right, Sun Devils and Blue Devils. Coach K vs. a familiar foe, Herb Sendek. Duke is currently the number 1 team in the nation, and I can see them playing in the National Championship game. The road ends here for the Sun Devils, and the James Harden ERA.
Until the next Lunardi update... GO DEVILS!