Everyone was wondering if the NCAA Tournament would have the nation’s leading scorer in the field. It took a few minutes, but Oklahoma’s name was read off as an at-large team. Trae Young will be able to show off his incredible talents on the national stage.
The Atlantic 10 gets overlooked quite a bit, but there were some really good teams in the conference this season. Rhode Island was one of three or four A-10 teams worthy of a tournament bid.
Can Trae Young get the Sooners back on track and advance into the second round?
Who do you think will win?
Do you have #7 Rhode Island Rams or #10 Oklahoma Sooners?
The Rhode Island Rams take a very sabermetric approach to basketball. If you don’t turn the ball over yourself, but force turnovers on defense, you’re going to win a metric buttload of games. They just do everything well and their seniors will out-hustle their opponents. This team is just so clean with their fundamentals. Head coach Dan Hurley has outdone himself this season.
On January 1st, if you told me Oklahoma would be a #10 seed in the NCAA Tournament, I wouldn’t have believed you. Trae Young was a beast and was beating double-teams in every game. His shooting cooled off and the Sooners did as well. A lot of people will just blame Young for all of Oklahoma’s problems, but it’s the entire team. They are 322nd in the nation by averaging only 0.97 points per possession. They are the anti-Rhode Island in the efficiency department.
As I said before, it’s really hard for a single player to carry a team in the NCAA Tournament. You see it time and time again. Trae Young has a future in the NBA and his pro career will start sooner than he would like.
Prediction: #7 Rhode Island Rams
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.