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Random thoughts as March descends into Madness...

Slu will play on Friday afternoon, mostly likely against Rhode Island.  The Rams have a lot to prove and revenge to exact from the Billikens.  St. Louis U. started URI on their trip that took them out of the dance, onto and then off of the bubble.  They can score.  SLU can defend.  We've seen this story unfold before.

Should the Bills win and move to the A-10 semi's on Sat. they will most likely face top seeded Temple. The Owls have more experience.  They have more athletic talent.  They have had a better season.   They beat the Billikens in St. Louis.  But Rick Majerus has this squad playing a little better almost every time out.  And if you like conspiracies...The Atlantic 10 at one time seemed a virtual lock to send five teams to the NCAA tournament.  Now they will only get three.  The only hope for a fourth is for someone other than Temple, Xavier or Richmond to win the A-10.  Why not SLU?

For Mizzou fans...the Tigers will be fine.  They will be in the big dance.  But can they play well enough to get a good seed?  The effort is ALWAYS there.  The one consistent problem I see is shot selection.  Too often the Tigers take the easy way out and rely on the '3'.  When they're hot not a problem.  But there are times when they are not.  I'd like to seem them work smarter to go inside out with dribble penatration and the kick.  They're too easy to guard and block off the boards when they settle for the jumper.

But, they are well coached and I expect Missouri will make a nice run to at least the Big 12 semi's...maybe more.  And they will do some damage in the Dance.  they play too hard not to.

For the Illini...my guy Bruce Weber has a disfunctional team on his hands.  His squad has become less than the sum of their parts.  Can they fix soon enough to get back inside the bubble?  I'm not so sure.

I'll preview SLU's first round match up tomorrow.