Other Bracketbuster Games

[apalmison]

Throwing this one out there for Zips Nation . . . What other bracketbuster games do you have your eye on? Why? How will the games affect the Zips? (I know, I know . . . the obvious answer is that none of the games will affect the Zips now that an at-large is out of the question, but humor me a bit). Give us a preview of the games you're watching. Here's mine: I'm watching the Miami vs. Valparaiso matchup (ESPN Classic 6 P.M.). Miami is a familiar bird (forgive the pun) to all of us, so I figure I'd throw in a bit about lesser-known Valpo.Valpo (15-11 overall; 6-8 conference; 9-4 at home; current RPI of 112)is new to the Horizon league from the Mid-Continent. Valpo's season has mirrored the Zips season in a lot of ways. Like the Zips, it has been the tale of two Valpos. They started out strong with some key wins in and out of conference. Everyone was wondering just how good the team really was because of their early dominance. They led the Horizon league through early conference play. Key wins are:11/28 over Western Michigan (77-65)12/1 over Ball State (71-58)12/6 at Wright State (71-66)1/12 over UWGB (82-73)The "Can't" of the Horizon league is obviously Butler. Valpo lost the first trip to Indy on 1/5. They had their chance to face Butler again on 2/5 at home (I was at the game, with my Butler-alum wife, the game was a record crowd and aired on ESPN2). Valpo started the game with a 12-0 clinic which pretty much maintained throughout. Valpo led Butler for the entire game until the final minute when Valpo missed the first free thrown on a one-and-one and Butler nailed a clutch 3 with about 7 seconds on the clock . . . sound familiar? It gets even more familiar . . . That Butler loss (read: our loss to Can't this season) started a started a 3-game slide that only ended when VU traveled to a weak Youngstown State (read: BGSU) team. Hmmmm . . . Valpo suffers a tough loss in a rivalry game that has huge conference implications which prompts a series of losses in games against weak opponents only ending with a road-win against a weak conference team leading everyone to ask whether the skid has finally stopped or whether the bracketbuster game will reveal how deflated/injured the team really is . . . You see my analogy. What to expect: Valpo shoots a lot of threes, with the Finnish Samuel Haanpaa leading the way (.430). Their inside game isn't the strongest but the short (6'0") and scrappy Jarrod Loyd is an emotional leader/playmaker who can make things happen in the paint. Valpo's starting forward, Senior Urule Igbavboa (6'9") is a solid inside presence, but his backup, Freshman Brian Bouchie (6'11") is inconsistent and indecisive with occasional moments of abject brilliance. However, even when Butler shut down Haanpaa, Valpo still got solid performances from everyone else. In the end, VU's starting lineup isn't flushy and there isn't one big star, but it's pretty solid/balanced and unstoppable when they're on.Bottom line: this season has been the season of two Valpos. We'll see if the team that took an 8-point lead over Butler into the half and throttled Western Michigan shows up or the team that loss twice to Cleveland State and took a downward slide after the Butler loss shows up. Miami beats VU by shutting down the three and playing a physical game - which has always frustrated the Crusaders. This one's hard to predict without seeing how Akron/Miami turns out tomorrow and VU/Loyola turns out on Wednesday, but I like Valpo at home with a recently healthy squad.Affect on the Zips: I doubt much. A Miami win over a lower RPI team doesn't really make Miami look any better, which doesn't make Akron look any better - especially if we split the series against Miami. This one looked like a good matchup a month ago. But with VU's decline and Miami's surge, I'm not so sure. Moreover, because Akron, VU, Miami, etc. aren't in the at-large hunt . . . looks like just another game.