Midweek Sports Mumbling....

Tomorrow the Big Dance starts and the Utes are in Tucson getting ready for a 1:15 local tipoff against UTEP. However, despite the basketball team being away from Campus there was still a lot going on up on the hill.

Alex Smith held his personal workout day in front of more than 60 NFL scouts and coaches. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports gushes over Alex's performance in his write up today. He stated that Alex did so well that he has likely vaulted himself to the top of the draft board. This is amazing, but great news. Cal's QB Aaron Rodgers will have his personal day tomorrow and attempt to steal the spotlight. Right now its looking like Alex Smith, Aaron Rodgers, Braylon Edwards (Michigan), Michael Williams (USC) and perhaps Cedric Benson (Texas) are vying to be the top 5 picks in the draft.

Back to Tucson...

The Utes are either a darkhorse to make a run to the sweet sixteen, or a prime candidate to be knocked off. Top college basketball analysts are offering both opinions with nearly equal frequency. On one side you have the school of thought that the school with the best big man and best guard is the team that wins. Utah looks great to those people with Bogut and Mark Jackson. On the other side of the fence are those that suggest the Utes haven't played great talent and will fall when the do.

I looked for, but didn't not see any common opponents for UTEP and Utah. I did see both schools playing several patsies:
Utah: Stony Brook, High Point, Furman, Montana Western, and Coppin State.
UTEP: Panhandle St. (seriously), Occidental, IPFW, Jackson St., and Delaware State.

I expect UTEP to keep it close with their athleticism. I don't know much about them, but I think their choice of defense will be important. If they play a zone, it will be good and bad for them. They will do so to battle Andrew Bogut, but if they do, they will sacrifice the tempo they need to win. Despite their good foul shooting, I think they will get handled on the glass and lose a low scoring game. If they don't play zone, and rely on double teams to handle Bogut, they will probably fail to stop him, but may win because of the tempo. It will be interesting to see their choice. I see a close game with Utah winning by 5-6 points.