Some Sunday Stats To Think About, NCAA Championship...

Good morning. I know not everyone that reads this is a sports fan, but right now with the NCAA Championship game being played in my home state, in Detroit, Michigan, and also the fact that one of our teams, the Michigan State Spartans, is in the game, I have to talk about this until Tuesday at least!

So the NCAA Championship game is scheduled for tipoff at 9:21pm tomorrow night, Monday, April 6th, 2009 on CBS. The Michigan State Spartans (31-6) will be playing the North Carolina Tarheels (33-4) in what should be a closer game between the two teams than what was played back in December of this season.

Vegas odds show North Carolina as a 7 and 1/2 point favorite going into Monday night with an over/under (total points scored in the game between both teams) of 152 and 1/2. With that, I tried to figure out why North Carolina was the big favorite, and when you look at this game on paper it's apparent. Here are some things to think about, facts, when thinking about this game.

Back in December the two teams played in what was a home game for Michigan State. At the time North Carolina was ranked No. 1 and Michigan State was ranked No. 13. North Carolina was undefeated at the time and MSU was coming off an 18 point loss to Maryland, at home, the week before on November 27th.

The Tarheels crushed MSU by 35 points, 98-63. That game was brutal for the Spartans who were without the services of their big man, Goran Suton, due to a sprained left knee. MSU Coach Tom Izzo was quoted after that game as saying, "You didn't see our real team tonight, but our real team might have lost by 20...they're (UNC) definitely one of the best teams I've seen in my years at Michigan State." Maybe because that was the second worse loss in Spartan history under Izzo, the worse being a 36 point loss to Iowa back in 1996, Izzo's first year. The only bright spots in the previous matchup were Raymar Morgan who scored 21 and Chris Allen who scored 16. Big Ten Player of the Year, Kalin Lucas, was 2 of 10 for 6 points in that contest.

So those are some thoughts of the previous matchup between the two teams this season, what about the teams against everyone else? Here's how they got here:

Michigan State's Tourney Wins:

Beat Robert Morris 77-62, First Round
Beat USC 74-69, Second Round
Beat Kansas 67-62, Sweet 16 Game
Beat Louisville 64-52, Final 8 Game
Beat Connecticut 82-73, Semi-Final Game


North Carolina's Touney Wins:

Beat Radford 101-58, First Round
Beat LSU 84-70, Second Round
Beat Gonzaga 98-77, Sweet 16 Game
Beat Oklahoma 72-60, Final 8 Game
Beat Villanova 83-69, Semi-Final Game


Michigan State's Losses This Year:

Lost on Nov. 27th vs. Maryland 62-80
Lost on Dec. 3rd vs. North Carolina 63-98
Lost on Jan. 21st vs. Northwestern 63-70
Lost on Feb. 1st vs. Penn St. 68-72
Lost on Feb. 17th @ Purdue 54-72
Lost on Mar. 14 vs. Ohio St. 72-80


North Carolina's Losses This Year:

Lost on Jan. 4th vs. Boston College, 78-85
Lost on Jan. 11th @ Wake Forest, 89-92
Lost on Feb. 21st @ Maryland 85-88
Lost on Mar. 14th vs. Florida St. 70-73

With this game looking a little lop-sided in favor of the Tarheels on paper, the questions that remain are this? Have the Spartans improved enough to dominate the Tarheels with their defense? After all, beating two No. 1 seeds in the tournament is impressive. Are the Tarheels going to lose the rebounding and turnover edge in the game and still dominate the game in score like they did against Villanova last night?

Tomorrow I will let you know what I think, because even with all of this I have pointed out above, I still haven't completely made up my mind on this one. Mainly because this is my home state, and the Spartans are the only team I would ever actually root for when my Michigan Wolverines are watching on TV like me. I will explain my decision either way when I make my pick tomorrow, online, in front of everybody.

PARTING SHOT: This game looks like a freakin' disaster on paper for the Sparty's out there! But honestly, so did the Kansas game, in which they came back from 13 down to win very impressively, so did the Louisville game, where the Spartans dominated all game, and so did the Connecticut game, where the Spartans had an answer for EVERY UCONN run. COME ON MICHIGAN STATE!! Why are you making this pick so hard for me?? I can't believe this! Honestly, only the Spartans could even entertain the idea of making this a hard pick for me. That's why I temporarily feel good here being a Michigan Fan, because if I was a State fan, I'd probably being going out of my mind right now. I'll just sit back at home here, like my Wolverines are doing, and try to figure out if THEY are going to be any better next year! Later!