Bill Connelly of SB Nation has his predictions out for the 2012 NCAA Tournament and the Missouri Tigers are quicky becoming the pick du jour of several sportswriters to come out of the West region. While Michigan State is the No. 1 seed, Connelly says he has to go with his gut on this, even though the move could “backfire.”
Connelly writes, “We are disrespecting the hell out of Tom Izzo and Michigan State at this point — virtually everybody is picking the Tigers, it seems — and that will almost certainly backfire, especially with the potential for Missouri to slip up against Florida/Virginia or Marquette. But I go with the smoking hot team regardless, even though it makes me nauseous to pick my alma mater to go that far.”
The Tigers won 30 games in the Big 12 and smoked the Baylor Bears in the conference title game, so it's not a stretch to see them emerging from the field. They score at will, are very efficient and are red hot at the right time.
For more on the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket, stay with SB Nation’s Selection Sunday StoryStream, and stick around SB Nation’s NCAA Tournament hub for a complete printable NCAA Tournament bracket and tons of analysis on who was snubbed, who got the best bracket, and who will make it all the way to New Orleans and the Final Four.
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