Hyping Up the NCAA Tournament

Syracuse getting into the NCAA tournament is the right call by the committee. The body of work down the stretch earns them a spot in the field of 68. Wins over North Carolina and Clemson, and a close loss to Virginia made the difference. San Diego State is no easy matchup, but the way Buddy Boeheim is shooting the basketball makes the Orange a tough out.

Dan Dakich overall agrees with my take and joined the program to react to the NCAA Tournament news. Here are some of the highlights from the interview:

• There really was not a team that was left out that we are losing our minds over. Louisville, St. Louis are the top backup teams right now and their resume wasn't impressive enough to warrant outrage on being left out.
• Rick Pitino might be one of the best college basketball coaches ever! Honestly after all that happened at Louisville, he went to Greece and won championships and then now has taken Iona to the NCAA Tournament.
• Gonzaga is really good. They are cool, calm and collected and any deficit in this tournament is not going to be safe.
• Georgetown is a dangerous team. Those players are playing hard for Head Coach Patrick Ewing. It is tough for young players to get up for playing for Ewing because it really is the Dad's he is recruiting but in all seriousness, this squad has bought in.
• Illinois is a really good team. They just won the Big 10 tournament and have a lot of talent. Look for them to be the team to beat behind Gonzaga.