March 16, 2010, at 4:52 pm
In the second slate of games on Thursday afternoon, the fourth seeded Vanderbilt Commodores and thirteenth seeded Murray State Racers play no where near each others home towns. With the game in San Jose CA, expect a small number of Vandy and Murray supporters but a large number of upset minded people. According to Vegas, Murray State is only a 3 point underdog, making them a fan favorite for a first round upset. Rule of thumb always seems to be if the public loves the underdog, go with the favorite but that may be a very unwise move. Murray State has made thirteen tournament appearances and while they’ve only won one of those games, I fully expect them to win this and perhaps their next game. Lets take a look at an overrated four seed vs an extremely underrated thirteen seed.
(4) Vanderbilt Commodores (24-8) vs. (13) Murray State Racers (30-4)
Game Time 2:30 ET Thursday, March 18th 2010
The Vanderbilt Commodores exceeded beyond expectations in the SEC conference this year, compiling a 12-4 conference record. The SEC was one of many conferences having a down year and while a 12 win campaign is usually a sign of great things to come, anyone could see it was only impressive on the surface. Even with all of the negatives, Vanderbilt did manage to finish the season on a somewhat strong note, although they were bounced from the SEC conference tourney on their home floor against snubbed Mississippi State. The Commodores are led by a trio of quality players that all average around 14 ppg. Guard Jermaine Beal, forward Jeffrey Taylor and center AJ Ogilvy can all take command of the court and if Vanderbilt wants to move on to the next round, all three will need stellar performances.
Coming out of the Ohio Valley conference, the Murray State Racers compiled a 30-4 record and should they have lost their conference tournament, they would not have sniffed the chance of an at-large bid. Strangely enough, even though the Racers absolutely plowed through their schedule, they do not have a single go to guy on the roster. Five players average double figures but none of them more than 10.5 points! Murray State plays an NBA line-up with Tony Easley at a true center position which matches up perfectly with the big men of Vandy. The pace of Murray State morphs from game to game depending on their competition and with the up and down that Vandy plays, expect a high scoring affair.
Murray State has been plagued with the turnover bug for a good part of the end of their season and if they turn the ball over as much as they have, there’s no way they are going to advance past the Commodores. With that said, this game will most certainly go down to the wire and even though Vanderbilt has the better seed, expect the Racers to come through in the clutch.
Final Score Prediction: Vanderbilt Commodores 72 – Murray State Racers 76
Your preview of Vandy is full of mistakes. The Commodores were preseason picked to finish 2nd in the East behind Kentucky which is exactly where they finished. I hardly think that is exceeding expectations. Also, the SEC is the only conference to have a team (Tennessee) beat #1 and #2 in the same season (UK and Kansas) and Vanderbilt beat Tennessee twice, convincingly. You mentioned they were bounced from their HOME floor??? Last time I checked Vandy plays their home games in Memorial Gym, not the Bridgestone Arena. Murray won a lot of games, but Vandy would have been undefeated with that schedule. Vandy has wins at St. Mary’s, Missouri beat Tennessee twice and went 6-2 on the road in the SEC.
I due believe it will be close contest for a bit, but if Vandy plays to its capability, they will dominate the paint and open in up outside for Jenkins and Beal.
Thanks for the comment Casey. Watching the game you must admit Vandy was a bit overrated no?
Murray State moves on to the next round as expected! Nailed 14 out of 16 yesterday. (G-Town, Texas losses)