#1 Albuquerque Chickenhawks vs. #12 The Walk Ons
The theme to an old television show (or, the “Blues Brothers”) comes to mind here: “Rolllin’, rollin’, rollin’; rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rawhide…as the Chickenhawks seem unbeatable. Yes, The Walk Ons are “interesting.” Bradley can go big and in fact, is more likely to than not. Felton is generally on the right side of 20, Omier is…well, Omier. Wolf is good. Hargrove and Lawson are not so predictable. Except for Hargrove they were “hot” vs. the Cal Bears. Meanwhile, the ‘Hawks are always hot. They feature a lot of Carolina based guys who are generally the consistent types while getting a little more oomph from Broome and Timberlake. One thing that can make this more interesting is the fact that AC is substituting Fleming for Schieffelin. There’s been a change in how St. Joe’s has been playing of late and Fleming has suffered. So, despite his gaudy season average, this is a bit of a gamble. The Walk Ons are subbing Darrion Williams for Lawson and that’s also a gamble, but since Lawson is not a sure thing, a lesser one but I find it an interesting move since Williams is likely to be facing much tougher Big 12 competition. Gotta’ like AC’s chances in this one.
#2 South Austin Horns vs. #3 Boeheim’s Army
This should be a very close match. SAH needs Riley, Hamilton, and, Ciani to all pull their weight. A big ask. And let’s not forget that Goldin has not been “golden” that often and Queen just had his best week of the year, so, the law of returns is in play against him. That law of returns works in BA’s favor with freshman Blake Harper who just had his worst week of the year and is bound to have a better one. Both teams will have two frosh in their lineup. Jevon Porter really the only question mark for BA. Again, while this should be close, Boeheim’s Army is rolling out the better lineup, IMHO. Can the “blessed” South Austin Horns prevail once again? I don’t think so but this could go either way. Edge on paper to BA. Metaphysical edge (how do they keep on winning?) to SAH.