SB Nation - Travis Walton

Basketball Q&A with Blogging the Bracket.

Joe Kutsunis — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:01:35 -0000

The star studded week of basketball enthusiasm continues as we direct questions to Chris from Blogging the Bracket, SB Nation's resident bracketologist and basketball guru. Lets see what he says about the great grindy Big Ten.

HTTO: The Illini surprised alot of people by finishing second in the Big Ten and returning to the NCAA tournament. This year the team loses two starting guards in Chester Frazier and Trent Meacham, but gain several highly regarded freshmen, overall do you see the Illini taking a step forward or backward this year?

I think the Illini will take a bit of a step back without Frazier and Meacham, but they'll still be a contender for an NCAA bid, and maybe in the conference. Demetri McCarney is a good point guard, and if he's as motivated as the offseason chatter says he is, Illinois will have the right guy running the offense. Alex Legion HAS to be better than he was in his first year in Champaign. If Mike Tisdale can be more aggressive down low, the Big Ten better watch out. He already shoots well enough from the field and the foul line to be a force, but he's got to get himself more opportunities to up his scoring average of 10 per game. Mike Davis was only two rebounds short of averaging a double-double last season, so he's likely to have a huge year inside as well. If Bruce Weber can get good numbers out of Dominique Keller, you may see fewer three-guard sets this season.

The freshman class is a talented, local group. Weber has been criticized for not getting the big time local talent, and he did a nice job of quieting those critics with this class. D.J. Richardson's experience at Findlay Prep means he should adjust to the college game quickly. His defensive skills will help fill the void left by Frazier's graduation. Brandon Paul will be a versatile scorer, which the Illini needs. Joseph Bertrand should learn a lot from McCarney over the next two years and give Bruce Weber some good minutes at the point. Tyler Griffey, much like Keller, gives the Illini an inside option beyond Tisdale and Davis if he can show some consistency, especially on the rebounding front.

HTTO: The Big Ten has the makings of a very competitive season, with the talent gap seemingly the slimmest it has ever been. Is it still MSU's conference to lose, or will one of the many challengers take the title from them?

I really think the Spartans are going to miss Goran Suton in the middle and Travis Walton's defense, and that really gives Purdue, Ohio State, or if things break right, Michigan and Minnesota, the chance to steal the league crown from them. If the freshmen mature quickly, the Illini could even surprise and contend.

HTTO: Along those same lines, this looks like it could be a banner year for the Big Ten, with MSU going to the NCAA finals and Penn State winning the NIT and nearly all of the top talent from last year's teams returning do you see the conference flexing its muscle come tournament time? How many teams do you expect to come from the Big Ten in the NCAA tourney, and how do you rank it along with the other conferences this year.

The Big Ten is going to have a great chance to build on the strong showing it had in last year's postseason, especially with the Big East probably being a bit down and the Pac-10 likely being way down. Obviously, I think MSU and Purdue will get high seeds.

For the rest of the league, it's crucial that they make a real statement during the non-conference season. Otherwise, it could be a repeat of last season, where everyone outside of MSU, Purdue, and Illinois really beat the tar out of each other in the league and didn't have the wins outside of the conference to boost themselves out of the middle of the bracket.

From a bid perspective, I think the Spartans, Boilermakers, Buckeyes, Wolverines, Gophers, and Illini are a safe group of six. Beyond that, I feel the only two teams who don't have much hope this season are Indiana and Iowa. While Wisconsin may be down, I'm never going to discount a Bo Ryan-coached team. Northwestern has a real shot at getting their first-ever bid, but they cannot do their usual thing where they lose a headscratcher or two at the end of the year. Penn State will have some real momentum from their NIT triumph and they have a shot to get some decent wins at the Charleston Classic, but it may not be enough with how good the rest of the league will be.

HTTO: Illinois, the state that is, along with Indiana and Ohio routinely manufacture a lot of top tier basketball talent, but are also some of the most often "raided" states by other schools. Do you believe that the reputation of the Big Ten as a low scoring tough defense conference has hurt it in terms of recruiting? The up and down score happy ACC has enjoyed a more positive national reputation (and the benefit of the ACC/Big Ten challenge dominance.) In short what do you believe is the national perception of the conference, and how does it, in your opinion affect recruiting and performance?

Speaking as an SEC grad who grew up watching the Big East, I admit that I make plenty of jokes throughout the season about many Big Ten matchups setting basketball back to Naismith's time. But really, if you look at non-conference and postseason performance, the criticism is pretty unfounded. I mean, eight Big Ten teams have made the Final Four in this decade, albeit with only one winning (MSU in 2000). From a recruiting perspective, it's harder to say. I honestly don't spend a ton of time on recruiting over at my site because a lot of it is a crapshoot. And the Big Ten experience is a great example of this. Sure, Big Ten schools may sign as many McDonald's All-Americans as their counterparts in the other major conferences, but they do land a lot of talented players who believe in teamwork and are coachable. When you combine those two characteristics with the coaching talent in the conference, you're going to end up with teams that feature a lot of "diamonds in the rough" who go on to shock the experts

MSU's defensive tendencies during the Tom Izzo era

KJ@theonlycolors — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:31:12 -0000

A couple weeks ago, I promised you some long-term analysis of MSU's defensive tempo-free numbers. (I'm sure you've been jumping out of bed every morning and running to the computer to see if this post has been published yet.) As it turns out, there's a good reason I haven't yet spent the time to microanalyze the season-to-season stats on the defensive end of the floor: They're not that interesting.

To start with, there's the statistical problem noted by the Wonk so many years ago (What, it was only 4 years ago? Really?):

Applying numbers to basketball aids and abets this widespread DAD--and I'm certainly not immune. Look at this blog: I post individual stats for every player in the Big Ten in four different offensive categories. But what about D? While we can record how many blocks and steals an individual records, individual defensive excellence largely eludes our efforts to make sense of it through numbers. The box score doesn't really do justice to defense--you have to see it.

To compound matters, the two individual defense stats that are available measure things that Tom Izzo has never emphasized:

Since the 1996-97 season, MSU has ranked in the top 100 nationally in steal percentage just once (1998-99). In 9 of the 13 season, MSU ranked below #150 nationally.
Over the same period, MSU has ranked in the top 50 nationally in block percentage just once (2006-07, when Drew Naymick played stater-level minutes and Idong Ibok got 10 minutes/game). In 8 of the 13 seasons, MSU ranked below #150

Perhaps the team-level defensive stats have been more analysis-friendly. Graphical display of defensive four-factor numbers after the jump:

No dice. Other than free throw rate (which always tends to be the least consistent of the four factors from game to game or season to season), there's surprisingly little volatility in those lines:

Effective field goal percentage is below 47.5% in all years outside the 3-year period of 2004-2006 (when MSU had a fairly thin/inexperienced group of interior players).
Opponents' defensive rebound percentage is never higher than 32% and more often than not below 30%.
Opponents' turnover percentage is higher than 22.5% in only one year (the steal-heavy 1998-99 season).

Generally speaking, my analysis of the defensive tendencies of last year's team holds true through the Izzo era:

By placing in emphasis on preventing dribble penetration by hedging off shooters, the team forced a lot of perimeter shots from its opponents (the primary benefit of a zone defense).

But the fact the team was fundamentally playing man-to-man defense, particularly on the interior, meant the team didn’t sacrifice anything in terms of defensive rebounding (generally the main weakness of a zone defense).
. . .

Playing physical man-to-man defense resulted in a relatively higher number of fouls that created additional free throw opportunities for our opponents. At the same time, the fact that our perimeter defenders were more focused on preventing penetration than with disrupting our opponents’ offensive rhythm meant we didn’t create a lot of turnovers.

Expressed more succinctly, Tom Izzo wants his players to stay in front of the ball, force a tough perimeter look, grab the rebound, and head to the other end of the court. While short-term circumstances may result in some tweaks to that approach (e.g., playing a zone because of depth issues or foul trouble), there's been little deviation from the basic defensive game plan from season to season.

Looking ahead to to this season, the graduations of Travis Walton and Goran Suton (who, by the way, appears to be making a good impression with his new head coach) weight somewhat more heavily on the defensive end of the court than on the offensive end. Here are the individual defensive stats for last season (including defensive rebounding percentage as a defensive stat), with departing players bolded:

	Min%	DReb%	Blk%	Stl%
Lucas	79.8	5.2	0.6	1.9
Walton	69.4	6.7	0.1	3.2
Suton	56.3	23.9	2.2	2.6
Summers	53.4	11.2	1.9	1.8
Morgan	51.8	17.9	1.0	1.7
Allen	47.6	9.2	0.0	1.1
Roe	44.9	20.4	5.0	1.4
Green	27.8	23.0	2.5	3.0
Gray	23.8	22.3	3.9	0.7
Lucious	22.6	9.5	0.7	1.7
Ibok	10.9	11.3	5.0	0.0

Bullet point observations:

As on the offensive end, the hope is that Delvon Roe and Draymond Green can maintain their lofty rebounding percentages even as the number of minutes they play per game increases, helping to offset the loss of Suton's preeminent work on the boards. A full season of a healthy Raymar Morgan should help here, too. The ability of Nix/Sherman/Herzog to clean the glass defensively is a question mark. MSU's improvement on defense last year was driven almost entirely by its stellar work on the defensive glass; continuing to limit opponents to one shot per offensive possession will be key again this season.
With more minutes played and two healthy knees, Roe's apparent proficiency at blocking shots could become more of a factor--although the fact he was generally guarding the opposition's weaker post player last year may have helped boost his block percentage.
Walton and Suton ranked first and third on the team in steal percentage, so we shouldn't expect an increase in defensive turnover percentage this season. The good news? Draymond Green ranked second.

What doesn't show up in the numbers is the effect that losing Walton and Suton may have on our opponents' effective field goal percentage. Walton's ability to shut down opponents' top perimeter scorers is something that won't be matched by any of our returning guards. And Suton had developed a knack for frustrating opposing post players in establishing position and getting good looks at the basket.

While the experience of our core group of perimeter players (Lucas, Allen, Summers, Morgan) should help some with cohesion in playing Izzo's man-to-man scheme with an emphasis on help defense, I'd have to put my money on a slight regression by the team on the defensive end. An offsetting increase in offensive efficiency may be needed to match last season's win-loss results.

Finally, my intention had been to do a "putting it all together" post that looked at MSU's offensive and defensive efficiency in relations to each other over the last 13 years. But the Big Ten Geeks beat me to the punch today, producing this graph:

Regarding last year's team, they note the following:

Those wide splits around the 2000 timeframe indicate just how dominant the Flintstones teams were. And the 04-05 showing - where the offense jumped while the defense tighted up - shows another healthy split. But last year's team had roughly the same gap as the previous two incarnations. And yet, the Spartans ran the table in the Big Ten, taking the conference title by an impressive four games. Sure, it was an odd season, but we could also say it was Izzo's finest coaching job. He got everything he could out of that team. And as much as we love efficiency numbers, we don't lose sight of the fact that scoreboards are what matter the most. And Izzo's scoreboard still says that every 4-year player he's ever coached has been to a Final Four.

You can't beat that last sentence. So I'll leave it at that.

Checking in with The Only Colors- Michigan St. preview

everydayezag — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:47:57 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

In order to learn even more about Michigan St., we checked in with The Only Colors to get their take on the matchup between the Zags and Spartans

Browse more photos »

One of the great aspects of being associated with the SBNation network is the tremendous amount of quality blogs that we have the opportunity to use as resources. As part of our season preview segment, we are trying to check in and get opinions from the blogs affiliated with some of the top schools on the Gonzaga schedule. As part of the Michigan St. preview that went up last week, we decided to check in with The Only Colors to get their take on what this game will mean to Michigan St., and just how highly they think of the team Tom Izzo has. We would like to thank The Only Colors for taking the time to answer our questions, and we look forward to checking back in with them as November gets closer.

Slipper Stll Fits: With the surprising run to the Championship game last season, and a majority of the key contributors returning, this team clearly has high expectations heading into the season. Do you think that the deep tournament run has created unfair expectations for this group, or is this team a national championship contender?

The Only Colors: Last season went as well as anyone could have dreamed going into it: An outright Big Ten championship to end a seven-year conference title drought and an NCAA Tournament run all the way to the national championship game in our own back yard. So I think expectations have to be scaled back at least a bit.

I guess you have to say they're national championship contenders, given that they bring as much back as anyone this side of Kansas. But I'm going to reserve judgment until we see how the team fits together on the court. Good Tom Izzo-coached teams are built on depth and experience, and Travis Walton (defense) and Goran Suton (rebounding) were the kind of guys that make a Tom Izzo team go. Replacing them will be a challenge. I'm taking a cautious approach even within the Big Ten, where I expect the competition will be even tougher this season.

Slipper Still Fits: In Kalin Lucas, Michigan St. has one of the elite point guards in the country. What makes Lucas so dangerous, and where do you think he needs to improve to take his game to the next level?

The Only Colors: Lucas has a rare blend of speed and strength. He can beat you on the fast break, and he can pull up in the lane, take a hit, and convert the big basket. The two areas Lucas can improve in are (1) distributing the ball to other scorers more consistently and (2) becoming more of a factor defensively (something that will be required with Walton's graduation).

Slipper Still Fits: While Lucas is regarded as one of the premier players in the country, Delvon Roe and his health is a very important factor to the success of the team. What have the reports been for Roe, and has he made the jump that many think he is capable of to an elite player?

The Only Colors: Roe's knees are reportedly back to 100% and there's every reason to think he'll be a major force this season. Last year, he was able to focus primarily on rebounding and defense. But he showed flashes of scoring ability, particularly in getting to the free throw line with frequency. With the basketball intelligence he showed as a freshman, I think he could end up being right there in the discussion for the greatest big man of the Tom Izzo era when his career at MSU finishes up.

Slipper Still Fits: As he typically does, Tom Izzo brought in another tough and talented recruiting class. Of the newcomers, which should we expect to see playing time early in the season? Will any of the newcomers be key contributors to the rotation?

The Only Colors: The two incoming freshman are both big men: 6'10", 235-pound Garrick Sherman and 6'9", 275-pound Derrick Nix. Both come in as solid, but not elite, high school prospects. At least one of the two of them will need to step in and play 10-15 minutes behind Roe and Draymond Green. Another guy who's not technically a newcomer, but is a bit of an unknown, is redshirt junior Tom Herzog. Herzog is a 7-footer who's had a hard time putting on weight. We're hoping he becomes a useful contributor this season, though.

Slipper Still Fits: What perception does Gonzaga with Michigan St. fans? Obviously, the game from the Maui Invitational was a classic, but how is the Gonzaga program viewed?

The Only Colors: To me, Gonzaga is one of the great success stories of contemporary college sports. A team with decidedly mid-major resources that has managed to become a household name among even casual college basketball fans (evidence: my mom know who they are). There aren't that many teams Tom Izzo can schedule for a game at the Breslin Center during the nonconference season that will get the Spartan fan base buzzing. Gonzaga is one of them.

Sunday Night Links . . . says if you can't beat 'em, promote 'em*

KJ@theonlycolors — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:16:48 -0000

Candidates named for Big Ten officials coordinator - Mike DeCourcy - College Basketball - Sporting News
Ed Hightower is among the candidates. I agree with Bob Baptist: Give him the job, if only to get him off the basketball court.
Hummel satisfied with bronze medal :: Sports :: Post-Tribune
Bo Ryan and co. defeated by the dastardly Russians.
Gray, Walton enjoy opportunity to learn | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Marquise and Travis getting some practice time as they look to pursue professional basketball careers.
Hey, Joe: The best games
Latest in Rexrode's series of top ten lists. Has there evern been a better overall year for Spartan athletics in terms of pure excitement?
Could Spartans have all-Ohio OL class? | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Only one more offensive line commitment this year?
In Defense Of: Andre Rison - It's Just Sports
Andre Rison: Crazy, but also a pretty darn good NFL wide receiver.

Not a lot of news this week. Things should pick up in the next couple weeks as the start of football practice approaches. LVS and Pete will be doing position-by-position previews of the football team. (And I will be looking to close out my player-by-player review of the 2008-2009 basketball season within four months of the season ending.)

*We're still looking for a snappier title for these news roundup posts (e.g., Nitt Picks, Unverified Voracity, etc.). We'd come up with "Watch the Links Keep Growing" previously, but that's kind of wordy to be able to attach a pithy verb phrase to. Anyone who dreams up a winning idea will win . . . the gratitude of three bloggers.

A KenPom Preview: Michigan State

rockchalk — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:55:09 -0000

As always, these are based off of the KenPom pages. Here is Michigan State's.

Opening Thoughts

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I forgot how absolutely nerve-racking the Sweet 16 is. Really, though, there isn't a whole lot to be nervous about. For one, and more importantly, we've already surpassed expectations. And even the heightneed, ballooned expecations of early March were to get to the Sweet 16. We're already there. Everything else is absolutely 100% gravy. So, no need to put undue expectations on the team. If they lose, awesome season. If they win, incredible.

And for two, this game is a toss-up. A 50/50 affair. I would be equally unshocked with both a win or a loss. So, just let the ball tip and see where we end up.

Relax.

The Background

Wait, did you hear? Apparently, these two teams matched up in the regular season. Still, with how much has changed in the past two months-and-change, I don't think you can learn too much at all from the January 10th contest. Sure, Sparty has gotten better since too, I'm sure, but I highly doubt they've made the same strives we've made.

But, just in case you think it plays a role. They whooped us up pretty good in the first half, with our young'uns still learning how to react on the road and the massive Breslin Center crowd had fun yelling and stuff. Sherron turned the ball over approximately 187 times in the first half, and our offense was absoltuely, completely non-existent. And then, there was halftime. When the second half started, we were a more composed team. We were no longer handing the ball over or offering them free paths to the basket or missing wide open shots. In the second half, we outscored the Spartans. Were a potential Sherron Collins three in transition to find the bottom of the net, cutting the lead to only 6 with plenty of time left, we may be talking about an entirely different game.

So, even in a game that was played so long ago (to show you how long ago it was, check this out: on the same day, Missouri played Nebraska to open up Big 12 play. They lost to the Cornhuskers, and scored only 41 points. Fastforward to Thursday night, where they scored triple-digits against the best defense in the country to move on to the Elite freakin' Eight. Yeah, things have changed) we are practically a brand new team now, we could have won. Add in what should be a neutral environment (although, who knows just how loud KC and Company can be), plenty of road experience if there is to be a crowd, and we should be money.

Rest of the preview, well, you know where it is...

The Offense

The inconsistent aspect of Tom Izzo's squad. They'll have some games where they are hitting their shots, working it down low and (shock of the century) getting out in transition for easy hoops, and score 94 (vs. Oklahoma State) or even 78 (@ Ohio State). And then there are some games where none of that is really going on, and they only manage 54 (@ Michigan, @ Purdue). I have absolutely no idea which unit is going to show up Friday night.

Four Factors

eFG% (126th) -- Talk about inconsistent. This should be key. If Sparty's hot, well then that just sucks. And, there isn't a whole lot we can do. So, just pop out and stick hands in faces, try and force them to take jump shots. they aren't Dayton, but they still are more of a slashing team who like to work towards the goal. Keep them on the perimeter and make them get crazy hot to score.
Turnover% (198th) -- The main key, though, as far as Sparty's offense goes. They aren't good at holding on to the ball. Like, whatsoever. And I know that we're no Missouri when it comes to actually stealing the ball, but hopefully we can have a good day. I have a feeling we'll need extra possessions to win this one, and this should be the easiest way to pick them up.
Off. Reb% (4th) -- Yeah, this is what concerns me. We actually held them lower than their season average the first time we played, and that was with Cole and a host of players who had absolutely no idea what was going on. Hell, Matt freakin' Kleinmann got 3 first-half minutes. Nobody showed a single flash of boxing out or rebounding or any of that in the first game. And, while we still aren't great at it, we're much better. Box out, my friends.
FTA/FGA (39th) -- Like I said, they like attacking the rim. It's fine if you foul some of them, while others are quite dangerous from the free throw line. In any case, stay out of foul trouble Cole, please. And try not to foul.

Misc.

3-Point FGA/2-Point FGA (22% 308th) -- See what I mean? They don't like the long ball. Chris Allen and Durrell Summers both shot in triple digits, but that's it. They'll take open ones, and they aren't terrible at actually making them, but their offense is outside-in. So, pack it in, Bill. Make them hit the long balls to beat you, please.

The Defense

While their offense is incredibly inconsistent, their D is quite stout. Like, always. Typical, rough, in-your-face D that we've been seeing in East Lansing for years.

Four Factors

eFG% (89th) -- Not as good as I expected, actually. We'll likely get some open looks, but most likely not from three. They lock up the perimeter, more-or-less, making it paramount you hit the few open chances you get (coughBradycough). However, they'll give you your fair share of chances inside. Hey, Cole, you ready? Plus, Sherron should be able to get into the lane a bunch, as well.
Turnover% (192nd) -- Way lower than I thought. This is awesome, because I'm petrified of teams that force turnovers, with our turnover-happy tendencies as it is. They still have the potential to turn us over, but we should be in pretty good shape. Hopefully.
Off. Reb% (6th) -- Think the Spartans dominate the boards? Geez. Again, the key here is the Morris Twins plus Mario Little. Gotta rebound, gotta get those invaluable second-chance points. They will likely be the difference in the game.
FTA/FGA (147th) -- Eh. Nothing to see here, move along.

The Players

Michigan State plays quite a few players, as they are incredibly deep, but there are 7 key players. That's who I focused on below:

Kalin Lucas (G) -- Big Ten Player of the Year. Not that good of a shooter, with a decent stroke from 3, but draws fouls pretty well and never gets called for them himself. Keep him out of the lane, though, and you should be fine. Sherron?

Travis Walton (G) -- Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He blew up against USC, but is usually extremely reserved on the offensive end, serving exclusively as a role player. Has zero long-range, hanging out around the mid-range game. He's almost assuredly where we'll hide Tyshawn, and shouldn't be hard to contain.

Durrell Summers (G) -- Probably their best perimeter shooter, Summers can also drive. The real underrated star of the Spartans, IMO, and will liekely be guarded by Brady. Unless, of course, we go crazy like the last time we played them and slide Brady on Raymar, leaving our 4 on the 6'4" Durrell. I actually think we'll go with the latter, meaning Summers could explode. Watch out.

Raymar Morgan (F) -- He's been cold for awhile, but could explode at any second and has off-the-charta athleticism. Whoever is on him, whether it is Brady or the Law Firm, keep him out around 15-feet. He's solid out there, but not nearly as consistent as when he's driving towards the lane and stuff.

Goran Suton (C) -- The number one reason I'm freaking out, really. Dude was just recovering from an injury when we played them last, and only played 20 minutes. He's pretty much a stud, though, who can occasionally pop out and knock down threes. Still, I'll live with that shot as long as he doesn't live on the offensive glass. That, I won't tolerate.

Chris Allen (G) -- Another pretty solid long-range bomber, he's all right at driving the lane. In a lot of ways, he's a helluva lot like the player who starts in front of him, Durrell Summers. Not quite as good, but virtually the same player. Play him the same way.

Delvon Roe (F) -- Another athletic freak. Dude is almost as ridiculous of a rebounder as Goran Suton is, we need to make it a priority to box him the hell out. Minimal offensive impact, and doesn't have a whole bunch of range, but can finish quite well really close in.

The Keys

1) Offensive Glass (i.e. 3M, Show Up) -- This is where the game should be decided. Michigan State makes up for all of their other struggles, and there are quite a few, by being the second-or-third best rebounding team in all of the land. They freaking dominate you on the glass, even if you have 3 Dennis Rodmans on your frontline. So, while Cole will surely show up and get his double-figures, the key will be the matchup between 3M (Marcus, Markieff, Mario) and Michigan State's Delvon Roe, Marquise Gray and Draymond Green. If our 3M can outscore them off of the second-chance points and pile up the defensive rebounds, we should be in fine shape. So, please, whatever it takes, play well 3M. Please, please, please.

2) Three-Ball -- I'll keep on saying it. We managed to sneak through Minneapolis without really shooting the three well. That won't fly against the better teams we'll be facing from here on out. Please, somebody needs to get hot from out there. Sherron is shooting all right, not outstanding but pretty solid. But the rest of the team sucks from way out there.

3) Pressure-Free -- All of the pressure is off. While the game is really a 50/50 affair, nearly everyone I've seen in the media (save Digger) is choosing Sparty. No disrespect, Bob Stoops, but none-pressure, neither. Like I said in the opening, we've already exceeded expectations. So, go out there and have fun. Play loose.

After all, we're wearin' the blues.

Remember last time we wore the blues in the NCAA Tournament? Yeah, last year's Final Four. That was then that team finally felt truly like an underdog, and they responded with two incredible games en route to a National Freakin' Championship.

So, let's have the same attitude. Pressure-free, no need to go out and play up tight.

Wearin' the blues.