Vegas Open Preview

Trouble in Vegas marks the beginning of the college season for many teams across the country. It's the largest tournament of the season that still draws an elite field, and it boasts one of the most regionally diverse lineups ever. Teams from all 8 regions are in attendance, and after the weekend is over we should have a sense of how they stack up. The elaborate schedule and A-bracket are posted at scorereport.net.

The most interesting elite matchup is in the D-pool (as usual) as Colorado takes on Oregon in a matchup of the #3/#9 and #7/#4 teams in the NUMP Rankings and MSSUI Power 16. Can Dusty Becker, Eli Janin, and Kevin Stout lead Oregon over last year's finalists? Without Beau and Martin, Stout will still have his hands full with Mac Taylor and Jolian, but Oregon's fast-motion offense and breaks might be too much for Colorado to overcome with their big-play offense at sea level. Upset special!

In the lower tiers, look for Pool E to be a real battle. LPC and Central Florida were the #26 and #27 vote-getters in the NUMP poll, and Washington is building up a program in the tough Northwest Region. Pool K should also be interesting, as UCLA tries to get through a Cornell team that beat Pittsburgh at Regionals last year and MIT, a solid New England team. In the lowest tier, both Messiah and Carleton-GOP seem massively underseeded and should move up as the weekend continues.

Predicted Power Pool Standings
AA
Wisconsin
Carleton
Colorado
UC Santa Cruz

BB
Oregon
Florida
UC Santa Barbara
UC San Diego

CC
California
Texas State
UCLA
Utah

DD
UBC
Humboldt
Colorado State
Wesleyan

EE
Harvard
Dartmouth
Texas A&M
Richmond

FF
Illinois
LPC
MIT
Boston College

GG
Whitman
Washington
Cornell
Va Tech

HH
North Texas
Central Florida
San Diego State
Miami

II
Western Washington
Tufts
Davidson
Florida State

JJ
Claremont
Oregon State
LSU
Arizona

Predicted Bracket Results
Prequarters
Wisconsin d. Claremont
California d. UCSD
Florida d. Whitman
Colorado d. Illinois
Oregon d. Western Wash
UCSC d. UBC
Carleton d. UNT
UCSB d. Harvard

Quarters
Wisconsin d. Cal
Colorado d. Florida
Oregon d. UCSC
Carleton d. UCSB

Semis
Wisconsin d. Colorado
Oregon d. Carleton

Finals
Wisconsin d. Oregon

Boring? Maybe ... the actual results are usually far more exciting. Tomorrow: QCTU Preview