Column as I see 'em March Madness starts to close in

Author: Jeff Paterson

My NCAA brackets are usually brackish, but nonetheless. Note Carefully Article's Argument. The University of the Pacific will go farther in the tournament than the 11,000 miles the Ocean is wide. Their only two losses this season came at Allen Field House to then #2-ranked Kansas and to the University of San Francisco, where they came-up three points short. San Francisco, Boston Celtic great Bill Russell's alma mater, beat 20th ranked Gonzaga this year by three points, and is no slouch.

Pacific will not be pacified in March. In the first-round of last year's tournament, the Tigers, as a twelve seed, beat Providence (and future NBA lottery-pick, Ryan Gomes) and they should be successful again this year. Key returns from that team include Christian Maraker, a Swedish national team member, David Doubly, a senior guard that has started every game this season, Guillaume Yango, who scored 18 points in the Providence game last year, and Tyler Newton, their 6' 10'' center.

This year, Pacific has more balance than a Pacific Ocean surfer, as seven different players have led the team in scoring with Maraker, Yango, and Doubly (a 43.3 percent three-point shooter) averaging 13.3., 13.3., and 12.6 points per game respectively. The team went 25-2, including a perfect 18-0 record in the Big West Conference. To the naysayer: as a team they are 74.5 percent free-throw shooters, one statistic that isn't affected by the team they've played.

With Illinois' loss to Ohio State on Sunday (which ended their bid for the first undefeated, since UNLV did it fourteen years ago), where Matt Sylvester hit a three pointer with 5.1 seconds left, Pacific owns the longest winning streak in the nation at 21 straight games. To keep this streak alive, the Tigers rallied like political activists against Utah State on February 12th, as they were down by seven with 22 seconds left. Three-point specialist Mike Webb hit two straight threes, which gave the Swede Maraker the opportunity, after Utah State missed two foul shots, to win the game with a sweet fifteen foot jump shot.

Also of note, UNC beat Duke 75-73 to win the ACC outright, even without sick star Rashaad McCants. having suffered from an intestinal sickness he did not suit-up; yet still wore a suit. Duke, up by nine with 3:07 to go, failed to score for the rest of the game, so UNC's 11-0 run, which was capped off by Freshman Marvin Williams' three-point play, bedeviled the Blue Devils.

Even though the Pacific campus is situated in Stockton, CA, don't pass on these guys.