By Peyton Wesner
Formally known as the Old Spice Classic, the Orlando Classic has been around since 2006 when in the inaugural tournament the Arkansas Razorbacks beat the West Virginia Montaineers for the championship crown, 71-64. Last season, one of the best Orlando Classic championship games transpired when number 5. ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys played the number 21. ranked Memphis Tigers in a rematch of a game that occurred a little over a week before in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The first game Oklahoma State hosted, they demolished Memphis 101-80 giving the feel that the championship game would have the same result. It didn't as Memphis upset Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics Rookie) and the Cowboys, 73-68.
This year's tournament features three teams that made long runs in the NCAA Tournament and two of those teams are currently ranked in Top 25. The two in the AP Poll's Rankings are the number 11. ranked Kansas Jayhawks and the number 20. ranked Michigan State Spartans who are on a crash course to play in the championship game on Sunday, November 30.
Game 1-12:00 PM EST-ESPN2
2-2 Santa Clara Broncos
1-1 Tennessee Volunteers
The Santa Clara Broncos had a less than ideal season last year as they finished the season with a record of 14-19 and a second to last finish in the West Coast Conference. But times are beginning to look up for the Broncs this year as the team is more experienced and has their top two scorers from last season retuning in Jared Brownridge (SO) and Brandon Clark (SR). The Tennessee Volunteers had a very great season last year led by seniors Jordan McRae, Jarnell Stokes (Memphis Grizzliez Rookie), and Jeronne Maymon. The Volunteers fought there way out of the SEC and was one of the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament. First they had to head to Dayton to play in the First Four against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The game went back and forth as it took 45 minutes for a winner. Eventually the Vols pulled away and won 78-65 in Overtime. After the win to get them in the round of 64, the Volunteers were not done as they upset the number 6. seed in the Midwest region, the Massachusetts Minutemen and later defeated the number 14. seed, Mercer Bears who had the upset of the tournament by beating Jabari Parker (#2 Pick of NBA Draft to Milwaukee) and the Duke Blue Devils. With a three game winning streak, Tennessee was in the Sweet Sixteen with a legitimate shot to get to the Final Four. Their new obstacle though was the number 2. seed Michigan Wolverines. The battle was very similar to the game against Iowa as with ten seconds left Michigan found themselves up 72-71 with an inbound pass under Tennessee's basket. The pass was thrown to Caris LeVert (JR) but he stepped out of bounds when catching it giving the ball back to Tennessee. Tennessee's had a chance to win the game! The ball was thrown to the Volunteers' best player, Jarnell Stokes. Stokes. He faced up to the rim, started his move with the dribble and was called for the charge on a questionable call. Tennessee would then be forced to foul Nik Stauskis (Sacramento Kings Rookie), the best free throw shooter on Michigan (82%) with 2.1 seconds left in the game. The first free throw from Stauskis was made but the second was MISSED. Tennessee had no timeouts so they rushed the ball upcourt and heaved a prayer that went over the backboard. The journey was over. This year the star of Tennessee has to be the contributor from the 2013-2014 Tennessee Volunteers team, Josh Richardson (SR). This season, the Vols lost the first game of the season against number 15. ranked VCU but going into today's tournament they are looking like a team that could cause some "bracket busting." I feel like Tennessee is too big of a school to lose to Santa Clara. My matchup of the game is Santa Clara's Brownridge and Clark versus Tennessee's defense. If the Santa Clara duo scores over 40+ combined, Tennesse will lose. If the Volunteers contain the Broncos' scorers, they will march into the second round.
---Tennessee 68, Santa Clara 58
Game 2-2:00 PM EST-ESPN2
2-1 11. Kansas Jayhawks
3-0 Rhode Island Rams
Two top three NBA Draft picks and another undrafted player to make it to NBA rosters but no Sweet Sixteen appearance? That was the story of the 2013-2014 Kansas Jayhawks Men's Basketball season. Kansas dominated a good Big 12 conference last year but the loss of Joel Embiid for the Big 12 and NCAA Tournament due to a stress fracture in his back was a huge blow. In the Big 12 Tournament, Kansas was solidly defeated by, number 16. ranked Iowa State in the semi-finals. Despite the loss in the conference tournament, the Jayhawks were still expect to get a good seed in the NCAA Tournament. They received a number 2. seed in the South region and were matched up with the Ohio Valley Conference Champions, the number 15. seed Eastern Kentucky Colonials. In the first half, Eastern Kentucky hung around with Andrew Wiggins (#1 Pick in NBA Draft) and the Jayhawks, making the crowd feel as if maybe, just maybe they were about to see a number 15. seed beat a number 2. seed. Coach Bill Self must have gave his team a very motivational speech or a loud butt chewing because Kansas came out, took over the game, and won by the score of 80-69. Upset Avoided. In the next round, Kansas would face the number 10. seed, Stanford Cardinal. In the first half, Stanford gave Kansas all they could handle and despite Kansas being up 24-22 at halftime, there was that feel that Kansas could be upset on the Sunday afternoon. In the second half, Stanford would take the lead and have a 58-51 advantage with 33 seconds left in the game. Kansas was now officially looking like they were in trouble. Then the freshman came into the game and started hitting threes. No, it wasn't Joel Embiid, he is hurt remember. No, it wasn't Andrew Wiggins, he only scored four points in the game, the same amount his brother did against Kentucky for Wichita State. Conner Frankamp, who averaged just 8 minutes of playing time that season, started drilling threes. Next thing you know because of Frankamp's threes, Stanford was up only two points with Junior Anthony Brown at the charity stripe. The first one was good but the next shot was missed allowing Kansas to have an opportunity for the tie. The ball was passed to Frankamp with 6 seconds left, he dribbled towards the top of the key and picked up his dribble. Then he shot faked, and rose up with the game hanging in the balance. The ball was wide left. Upset Not Avoided. The Wiggins-Embiid Era was over in one year as Andrew Wiggins was drafted #1 to the Cleveland Cavaliers (then traded to Minnesota for Kevin Love) and Joel Embiid was drafted #3 to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 NBA Draft. If the Rhode Island Rams would have made it to the Round of 32, their fans would have been overjoyed. The Rams went 14-18 last season under 2nd year Head Coach Dan Hurley. If the name Hurley rings a bell it is because Dan is the younger brother of Bob Hurley, Duke Point Guard on the 1991 and 1992 Championship teams. A bright spot last year for the Rams was E.C. Matthews. Matthews is now a Sophomore but last year as a Freshman he averaged 14.3 PPG and has the talent to play at the next level. So far this season both teams have played ranked opponents. Kansas played in the Championship Classic last week in Indianapolis and was steam rolled by the number 1. ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 72-40. The Rams had a different result as they pulled off the upset against the number 21. ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers by the score of 66-62 in overtime. Can the Rams win today and pull off back to back upsets? Personally, I do not think Rhode Island can pull off the upset on a neutral court. Matthews (SO) had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams against Nebraska. He will not be able to put up those stats when going up against the big Kansas bodies like Wayne Seldon Jr. (SO), Frank Mason III (SO), and Perry Ellis (JR). Lastly, Kansas has so many scoring weapons...too many to guard from a Rhode Island standpoint.
---Kansas 70, Rhode Island 65
Game 3-6:30 PM EST-ESPN2
3-1 20. Michigan State Spartans
2-2 Rider Broncos
Michigan State had a typical "Spartan Season" last year." "Sparty" won the brutal Big Ten Tournament as they had to go through TWO future 2. seeds in the NCAA Tournament in the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines. Then, they received the 4. seed in the East Region that featured the teams of Virginia, Villanova, and Iowa State. After waltzing through the Colonial Athletic Association Champion, Delaware, in the Round of 64, Michigan State faced the annual Cinderella of the NCAA Tournament, the number 12. seed Harvard Crimson. The first half was all "Sparty" as they jumped out to a 45-33 lead. The second half would be a different story. Led by the scoring power of then Juniors Steve Moundou-Missi and Wesley Saunders, the Crimson would tie the game at 55 with 9 minutes left in the 2nd half. Michigan State would then trial 62-60 with 7:11 left after a made jump shot by Harvard. Would Adreian Payne (SR) and Keith Appling's (SR) career end in the Round of 32? No it would not! Michigan State went on an 8-0 run to retake the lead at 68-62 and win by the score of 80-73. In the Sweet Sixteen, Michigan State had to face the number 1. seed in their region, the Virginia Cavaliers. This would be the Spartans biggest test yet as Virginia was a team orinated on defense. If the Cavs would turn the game into a low scoring affair, Michigan State would be susceptible to being defeated causing their Final Four hopes to be crushed. The Spartans started off quick as Adreian Payne scored seven points in the first four minutes to give MSU a 10-7 lead. Michigan State would sustain the lead and be up 31-27 going into halftime. The game would be close down the stretch as with 1.4 the Spartans had future NBA First Round Pick, Gary Harris at the free throw line with a one point lead. He made the first free throw to increase the lead to two with 1.4 seconds left in the game. The next free throw was missed intentionally by Harris because Virginia had no timeouts. Since Virginja was out of timeouts they only had time to rebound the ball and throw it at the rim. The shot missed and Michigan State was one step away from the Final Four. Because of an upset, Michigan State had to face the number 7. seed Connecticut Huskies. Should be an easy win right? It would be close until the end. At halftime, Michigan State looked as if they were on the road to victory with a 25-21 lead. Then UCONN came and stole the lead with 11:49 left with a DeAndre Daniels jump shot. In the last minute Connecticut had the ball up two and Keith Appling did the unimaginable as he fouled Shabazz Napier (Miami Heat Rookie) on a three point field goal giving Napier three shots at the line. He would nail all three increasing the Huskies lead to 56-51. In the next possession Michigan State threw up a three but it was off the mark and UConn was headed to the Final Four. To this day, it still shocks me that UConn won against Michigan State who had Gary Harris (Denver Nuggets Rookie) and Adreian Payne (Detroit Pistons Rookie). Although Michigan State lost Appling, Harris, and Payne they still have two starters from last year's team (Branden Dawson (SR) and Denzel Valentine (JR)). Also they have a key bench player from last year'a team in Senior Travis Trice. Sure, Michigan State won't be as good as last year but they will still be a dominant force in the NCAA Tournament. Rider didn't have a bad team last year but not exactly a good one either. They finished the season with a record of 14-17 good enough for a middle of the pack spot in the MAAC standings. They would not win the conference tournament therefore meaning they did not make the NCAA Tournament. Rider is not predicted to be a contenter in the MAAC this year as they lost their two top leading scorers from last year. The Broncos problem is that at times they cannot score the basketball, which contributes to another problem of them not having enough scorers to begin with. Even though Michigan State's Dawson is sitting out tonight's game with flu like syndoms, there is no doubt in my mine that Michigan State wins...convincingly.
---Michigan State 72, Rider 54
Game 4-8:30 PM EST-ESPN 2
2-2 Marquette Golden Eagles
3-0 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
After co-winning the Big East in 2012-2013, the Marquette Golden Eagles struggled in the "new Big East." They finished with a record of 17-15 (9-9 in Big East) while losing their last four games of the season. Despite the record being over .500, Marquette's season could be classified as a failure and was not invited to play in any post season tournaments. Basically the same exact thing happened to Georgia Tech last season. The Yellow Jackets finished the year with a record of 16-17 (13 losses came from ACC teams). Going into the conference tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina, GTech had a two game winning streak. They would win in the opening round of the ACC Tournament in a close battle against Boston College but they could not escape K.J. McDaniels and Clemson. Winning streak over, season over. Both teams playing in this game hope to continue their early season success in Orlando with the thought that it could propel them to wins in conference play. Marquette lost their top four leading scorers last season while Georgia Tech has lost three of their top four leading scorers. Both teams are basically starting with fresh teams as much of last year's starting five is gone. With that being said, I think Georgia Tech prevails in a close game because they have four double-digit scorers on their team (Quinton Stephens (SO), Charles Mitchell (JR), Demarco Cox (SR), Marcus Georges-Hunt (JR)). I believe the four man scoring crew will be too much for Marquette. Lastly, how am I suppose to trust the Golden Eagles, they lost to the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Last time I checked that should be a win for any power conference team.
---Georgia Tech 57, Marquette 55
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