Lucky for me, Clemson is only 45 minutes from Greenville. I had the luxury of seeing many of these teams at UOA SEC’s and ACC’s, and at the last big east coast fall tournament CCC in Athens, GA.
Alabama – UOA SEC’s and CCC
I have watched Alabama battle out some tough games against seemingly lesser opponents while playing up to higher competition. It’s no secret that Alabama is led by Tim “True Grit” Brady. Tim played through some injuries during the UOA SEC tournament, and it was clear that Alabama wasn’t getting the job done without him. It seems that at CCC they were able to muster up a few big wins, but not by much. I expect them to go undefeated in pool play with a 2-3 point win over a feisty FSU team. Come Sunday, I expect them to be at least in the semi finals.
Can they be consistent enough to make it through two tough opponents?
Clemson – UOA ACC’s and CCC
I observed Clemson when they faced Virginia Tech on Sunday morning of the UOA ACC’s. It didn’t give me the best look for this tournament because VT was storming through competition that weekend. Clemson got third that day and made into championship play at CCC’s. Being the 4th seed, they are my pick to be most likely upset in pool play facing a Georgia southern team that did well in the chumpionship bracket of CCC. I see a semifinal exit.
FSU – UOA ACC’s and CCC
This might just be the scrappiest team I’ve watched this fall. FSU has played many opponents close at CCC and UOA ACC’s but haven’t been able to get over the hump. I don’t doubt that they’ll give Alabama a game, and wouldn’t be surprised if they were able to pull off an upset on Sunday. They’ve got a great coach, whose name unfortunately escapes me, who gets them to show up for every game. However, It’s going to be a struggle for them to reach the semi’s.
Auburn – UOA SEC’s
Auburn had a rough SEC tournament losing to Arkansas by 2 and Alabama on a universe point grab by Tim Brady. They certainly showed that they had some talent that could hang with the other teams big guns. The biggest issue is their depth, and it’s clear that they are going to have to find some more players to pick up the slack. I don’t think they’ll make it past pre-quarters on early Sunday morning, but not because they don’t have enough talent.
South Carolina – CCC’s
South Carolina had a very strong CCC’s where they battled Alabama out for 5th. I was busy watching the Florida – Virginia championship game, and was unable to watch. The results alone are enough to say that they will be in contention on Sunday.
Overall Thoughts:
East Carolina is listed as the number one seed after having a lack luster fall results wise. They certainly have the reputation as being a tough team to win against. They will be the biggest wild card in the tournament, having to hold up while being savage. I think that Clemson and ECU are the top seeds in most danger of not winning their pool. I think Alabama and South Carolina will go deep into this tournament.
Prediction: The game of the tournament will be played in the semifinals with South Carolina narrowly edging Alabama for the right to win the finals for the $500 cash prize.
I’ll be tweeting scores through No_Look_Scoober
http://twitter.com/#!/No_Look_Scoober
Comments Policy: At Skyd, we value all legitimate contributions to the discussion of ultimate. However, please ensure your input is respectful. Hateful, slanderous, or disrespectful comments will be deleted. For grammatical, factual, and typographic errors, instead of leaving a comment, please e-mail our editors directly at editors [at] skydmagazine.com.