The Pinkie Previews the 2010 West Region: A-to-Z

A is for “Arinze Onuaku”
#1-seed Syracuse’s big man, Onuaku got hurt in the team’s Big East tourney loss to Georgetown.  Supposedly his quad injury is day-to-day, but reports show a cloudy outlook of him being able to play the first weekend. The ‘Cuse opens with Vermont on Friday.

B is for “Bouldin, Matt”
Bouldin joins a long list of Gonzaga guards who have filled it up for the Zags (15.8 ppg). He’s the ninth Gonzaga player to win West Coast Player of the Year honors in the past 10 seasons. Long live Blake Stepp, Dan Dickau, and, Lord of the chest hair, John Stockton.

Another shaggy haired baller from Gonzaga

C is for “Chandler Parsons”
Parsons hit two game-winning shots for the tenth-seeded Florida Gators this year, helping them snap a two-year tournament hiatus. His 12 points per game help make up a starting five that all averaged in double figures.

D is for “Derrick Caracter”
The UofL castoff is now playing for UTEP, who is trying to win their first tourney game since 1992.  Caracter is the only player on the Miners’ squad who has been to the NCAA tournament.

E is for “El Paso”
Home of the UTEP Miners, El Paso is located right on the US-Mexican border. Of the seven schools from Texas who are in this year’s tournament, only the Miners have ever won a championship. This was done when they were Texas Western in 1966. Remember ‘Glory Road?’ That’s them.

F is for “field goal percentage defense”
Leonard Hamilton’s ninth-seeded Florida State team lead the nation in field goal percentage D. It will be an interesting contrast to see how they match up against the shooters from Gonzaga.

G is for “Golden Gophers”
If this were Scattegories, I would get two points. Alliteration aside, Tubby Smith’s Gophers were left for dead after getting stomped by Michigan a few weeks ago. They rose from the ashes in the Big Ten tourney and snuck into the field of 65 as an 11-seed facing Xavier.

H is for “home court advantage”
Syracuse will play the opening two rounds just down the road in Buffalo, meaning the arena will most likely be decked out in all orange. If/when they get past Vermont, their second round opponents (Florida State/Gonzaga) may as well approach it as a road game.

I is for “Ivan Aska”
Ivan is the leading scorer on a balanced Murray State squad, who had six players averaging in double figures for most of the season. The 6’7″ sophomore hit almost sixty percent of his shots, but will have to deal with Vandy’s front line as the Racers try to pull the upset from their 13-seed.

J is for “Jacob Pullen”
Pullen leads one half of second-seeded Kansas State’s solid backcourt. Pullen scored in double figures in all 33 of K-State’s games, as the Wildcats went 26-4 against teams not named the Jayhawks.

K is for “Keith Benson”
Keith is averaging a double-double this season for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, who are the 14-seed in the west. Benson is a beast (17ppg, 10rpg), and Oakland was 17-1 in the Summit League. We’ll see how he can match up with Pitt and some Big East muscle.

L is for “lunatic”
This is what Kansas State coach Frank Martin looks like when he is forced to call a timeout. He seems to be one step away from choke slamming one of his players. #15-seed North Texas is hoping Martin spends the entire game like this on Thursday.

Frank Martin is a madman.

M is for “Marqus Blakely”
Vermont’s Marqus not only has a unique spelling of his first name, but is also the only player in the country to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks, and steals. This begs the question for Blakely and his Vermont teammates: Is he that good, or are the Catamounts that bad?

N is for “North Texas”
The Mean Green, who took the Sun Belt conference crown, are in the tournament for the first time since 2007. The last few years, Western Kentucky has owned the Sun Belt. Their 24 wins are a school record.

O is for “Ogilvy, AJ”
Vanderbilt’s Aussie with highlights was DeMarcus Cousins’ whipping boy when they played earlier this year. After being a preseason SEC Player of the Year candidate, Ogilvy didn’t play as well as expected. Him and the ‘Dores hope to take care of Murray State in the west’s 4-13 matchup.

P is for “Pittsburgh Panthers”
Yes! Another two-pointer. Pitt lost their studs from last year’s team that was a #1 seed, but managed to prove the haters wrong by having a solid season and earning a three seed. Guard Ashton Gibbs was voted the Big East’s Most Improved Player.

Q is for “Q’Doba”
I couldn’t think of any Q themes, and I’m hungry.

R is for “revenge”
Back in 2005, Vermont upset a 4th-seeded Syracuse squad in the first round of the tourney. Jim Boeheim isn’t going to be messing around with the Catamounts this time.

S is for “Stevens, Brad”
Stevens is in his third year as Butler’s head coach, and the team has made the big dance all three seasons. Stevens, who has been at Butler as an assistant for the entire 21st century, will face UTEP in the opening round.

Brad Stevens

T is for “thirty”
That’s how many wins 13-seed Murray State has this season, thanks to a 17-1 record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Murray will be looking to make the Bluegrass state proud in a matchup against Vandy. In 1990, Murray State almost became the first 16-seed to win when it took Michigan State to overtime.

U is for “Utah”
Home state of 7-seed Brigham Young University, and the regional finals, which will be in Salt Lake City. While BYU has been a tournament fixture of the last decade, they have been what ladies would call a one-minute man. Seven tournaments in the last 10 years, but no victories.

V is for “Vanderbilt”
Mega-rich shipping and rairoad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt provided the first endowment for Nashville’s prestigious university, hence the name. Vandy has been in the tournament three of the past four years.

W is for “winning streaks”
In a 5-12 matchup, Butler takes on UTEP in a contest of teams that have been hot down the stretch. Butler has the nation’s longest winning streak (20), while UTEP had the nation’s second longest such streak (16), until it was upended by Houston in the C-USA title game.

X is for “Xavier”
The sixth-seeded Muskies have been to five strait NCAA tournaments, and nine of the last 10. In those nine appearances, they have advanced past the first round in all but two.

Y is for “Y is Oakland called Oakland?”
The Golden Grizzlies are located in Rochester, Michigan. I would love to hear an explanation on why their school shares the name with one of the most notorious cities in America. That being said, I’m down to see them pull the upset.

Z is for “Zags”
Nickname of the eighth-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, who have been to 12 consecutive NCAA big dances. That is tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the NCAA.