0003310206
DETROIT FREE PRESS
000331
Friday, March 31, 2000
METRO FINAL
2S
MITCH ALBOM; DREW SHARP; JEMELE HILL; NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA;
DAVID A. MARKIEWICZ; MICK MCCABE; MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Copyright (c) 2000, Detroit Free Press
STAFF PREDICTIONS
MITCH ALBOM: Don't call it homerism. Call it a defense of the seeding process.
No. 1 beats No. 8. And No. 1 beats No. 5 or No. 8. It's a simple matter of
numbers, which Michigan State has. And, by the way, if you believe in heart
over numbers, Michigan State has that, too.
DREW SHARP: The Spartans could play two Final Four games that should have been
second-round games between a first and eighth seeds. That just tells you how
much of a dog this Final Four could become. If you stay awake long enough,
you'll see the Spartans beat Wisconsin in the semifinals, 28-25, in triple
overtime. And in a rematch from December, they'll beat North Carolina for the
championship. If the Spartans don't win, this could go down as one of the
biggest collapses in Final Four history.
JEMELE HILL: Here's the predicament: trying to think of a single reason
Michigan State shouldn't win the championship. Everything has fallen into
place for the Spartans, from second-half comebacks to all the other No. 1
seeds' being knocked out. That being said, MSU beats Wisconsin in the national
semifinal. The Citrus Bowl matchup repeats itself in the final, and the
Spartans bring home their first championship since 1979 with a double-digit
victory over Florida.
NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA: Potent shooters and pestering defenders should enable
the Red Wings ...oh, sorry. Still have hockey on the brain. Anyway, as far as
this Final Four thing goes, my money's on Florida. That Pavel Bure. He's
really something.
DAVID A. MARKIEWICZ: If the Spartans can hold Ron Dayne to 100 yards rushing
Saturday they should have no trouble beating Wisconsin and reaching the
finals, where they'll meet Steve Spurrier and his Florida Gators. What? We're
talking basketball? Well, no matter. Football or basketball, the Badgers play
a ball-control game that'll keep the score down to gridiron-like numbers but
leave them little chance for an upset. Come Monday, it'll be see ya' later,
Gators.
MICK McCABE: From the person who gave you Connecticut as the national champion
a year ago -- Wisconsin-Michigan State? Please. The Badgers will take eight
minutes to hit double figures and MSU wins easily. Florida is too young to
realize it is not supposed to beat North Carolina so the Gators set up the
Citrus Bowl replay. MSU coach Tom Izzo looks to former coach Jud Heathcote for
help and asks him to sit on the bench -- Florida's bench. Izzo pulls even with
Jud with one national championship apiece. More to come.
MICHAEL ROSENBERG: Florida must wonder what it's doing in this Final Four. The
Gators are like Michael Johnson asked to compete in a speed-walking contest;
they play considerably faster than the other three teams. That will get
Florida past North Carolina. But in the final, Michigan State will slow the
pace enough to frustrate the young Gators. It will be close, but the Spartans
take the title.
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE.
COLLEGE;MSU;BASKETBALL;PICK