JC's Preview: Connecticut v. Boston U (12/2 XL Center 7 PM)

As I watch a rematch of the 2008-09 national championship game, I'm thinking the same thing everyone else is thinking. When will a team from the America East or a mid-major conference finally win the National Championship?  It has to happen eventually, right?  In College Basketball there is tournament so every team has an equal shot once they get there, right? What if a team like BU made a George Mason like run to the Final Four?  No, wrong, it will never happen, don't get your hopes up.

JC's Preview

Here is the preview from the BU website. Also, see my post about why I am rooting for my alma mater (BU) over the team I gre up rooting for as a kid (UConn)

I don't think there is any question who will win this game.  This is a match up nightmare for the Terriers. The Connecticut Huskies will win and win big.  

What did the Harvard game show?  BU still has a lot of work to do.  Pelage and O'Brien combined for only eight rebounds, that worries me.  Versus UConn's more physical and more athletic forwards (Stanley Robinson, Gavin Edwards, and Alex Oriakhi) that is not going to cut it. The Terriers inability to be consistent in any game they have played all season, that worries me.  They do not have a complete win all season. 

The strength of BU's team is undeniably their guard play.  But BU does not have any advantage in this aspect of this game.  Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker are quick and talented, they will go right by you.  The two players that matchup against Dyson and Walker the best are probably Lowe and and Strong. 

How does BU stay competitive with a more athletic, physical and bigger team? I don't know, it's probably not possible. I really don't see any phase in this game which the Terriers can exploit, especially since they are so poor from the field and from three so far this season.

Terrier Keys to he Game:

• Have an outstanding game shooting the three
• Take advantage of loose-balls and turnovers
• Don't commit a lot of turnovers
• Make all of your free throws
  

If they can do that they might have a chance.  It's basically the four things that any coach at a mid-major school tells their players, "if we make very little mistakes and we can force them to make a few, we can win this game."

So to reiterate, BU has little to no chance.  This game will not even be close.  The question is not if BU will lose, it's by how much.  I predict UConn 90 - BU 64. UConn will clobber BU.

Notes:

• The game will be broadcast on espn360.com.  Anyone with comcast internet can go online and watch for free.
• The last time BU beat a ranked team was in 1959. 
• Calhoun used to coach for the Northeastern Huskies when they were in the same conference as BU. 

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