elite 9

Las Vegas - Can anyone beat GonZILLA? Probably not, but at +9 points, USC might be a live dog and worth a taste. Here's why. Gonzaga's starting five are THE BEST in the country, without a doubt. They're smart, can run, shoot, defend and score in bunches. But if there is one Achilles heel, it's the lack depth. Playing against a team like the Trojans with outstanding bigs, foul trouble could factor into the equation. Against Creighton, the Zags starting five logged most of the available minutes, and points, with two bench guys scoring only 10 points. The Trojans have been exceptional in the tournament, beating Drake by 16 points, Kansas by 34 and Oregon by 14. Not saying they'll spring the upset, but would lean, yea, a Leaning Tower of Pisa, to Southern Cal plus the nine.

In the nightcap, gonna tickle Michigan -7 points against UCLA. Very conflicted about this game. LOVE the way the Bruins came back from a DAGGER by the Alabama kid, Alex Reese, to force OT. Showed a ton of grit. But Juwan Howard has these Wolverines playing, like, crazed Wolverines. And they're WAY bigger than UCLA. KenPom, the college hoops stats guru, even has a stat for effective height, and if you're ready, here goes. The Wolves rank 48th in size but 9th in the effective height stat, which means, they use their height effectively. They also shoot foul shots WWWAAAYYY better than Alabama. In the last game, 'Bama hit only 11 of 25, which works out to 44%, and that's one of the main reasons why the Tide lost 88-78. Michigan hits at 76.5% from the free throw line, so if the Uclans decide to commit 21 fouls again, they're gonna be on the wrong end of the final score. Gimme the Fab Five alum, Juwan, for the money. But just a small amount of coin.

----------------------------------------------------