This week’s sports watch will be focusing more on the professional and collegiate level of sports as high school sports are in between season at the moment. I’ll present to you with my favorites for the NCAA Tournament, how the Tigers are doing in spring training, an update on Michigan’s quarterback situation and more.

1. NCAA Tournament Favorites

The NCAA Tournament started Tuesday night when #16 Hampton and #16 Manhattan played the first game in Dayton, Ohio for the right to play in the round of 64 and #1 overall seeded Kentucky. Since then half of the teams in the round of 64 have played and we have seem many upsets. We saw only a handful of upsets Thursday, but theyy were pretty big ones as #3 seeds Baylor and Iowa St (Big 12 teams) were bounced by #14 seeds Georgia State and UAB. Both of these teams were serious contenders and my book and I had both going to the Elite 8. Instead they will be going home after both teams lost by 1 point a piece. Here are my fve favorites for this year’s tournament.

#1 Kentucky: Easily the overall favorite as nearly have the brackets filled put on espn.com have Kentucky winning it all. This team is undefeated at 34-0 and looks to be the first to go 40-0 since Bob Knight’s 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers. Kentucky is one of the deepest teams in the country as they can go 10 players deep and have at least 5 first round picks on this year’s team. They have a unique blend of size, speed, and athleticism. It seems that this team has already been booked for the championship game, but as we saw yesterday, nothing is for sure.

#3 Notre Dame: I think this is actually one of the best teams in the country. With Jerian Grant back after missing part of last season, this team has played outstanding and personally I think they could beat Kentucky in the Elite 8 if both teams make it that far. Grant is playing out of his mind averaging 16.8 points, 6.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals a game. We has helped propel this team to a 30-5 record along with a ACC Tournament Championship. With shooters like Pat Connaughton and Demetrius Jackson and a huge scoring threat in Zach Auguste, this team has the tools to make a Final Four run.

#2 Arizona: The Wildcats are 32-3 on the year thanks to underclassmen Brandon Ashley and Stanley Johnson. This team is pretty young, but pretty talented as well. Some were worried that they wouldn’t be able to score, but after Thursday I think they put that to bed. Scoring 93 points including 5 players in double figures, the Wildcats won 93-72. In my opinion I think Arizona is thee most talented team when it comes to the forward position. They have 3 possible first round picks at forward; Brandon Ashley, Stanley Johnson, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. These three combined are averaging 38 points and 18.8 rebounds a game for Arizona coach Sean Miller. If these guys can contribute like they did throughout the season and yesterday like they did against Texas Southern (59 pts and 19 rebs) then Arizona should make this year’s Final Four.

#1 Villanova: This team has gotten a lot of hate this year and I really don’t understand why. They finished the year 32-2 and beat nearly every team that was in their way. It’s not easy to finish that well especially when you’re a team who lacks a true star. This team is not like the rest. They play great team basketball and have depth at nearly every position. This team is one of the better defensive teams in the tournament and they rarely turn the ball over (11 turnovers per game). If someone on the team can develop as a star during the tournament, then I have no doubt this team goes to the Final Four.

#4 Maryland: Every year we sit here and gush over the #1 and #2 seeds, but in reality those seeded teams seldomly win the tournament. My dark horse this year is the Terrapins. My reasoning for this pick: Melo Trimble. I know, a freshmen who isn’t even the top freshmen in his conference and I’m picking this team because of that. Well this kid is a star and he has helped carry this team to a 27-6 record this season. He’s also came up and hit some big baskets this year for Maryland. He’s averaging 16.3 ppg, but can easily got off for 25 points on any given day. The kid is a stud and if he and his counterpart Dez Wells (15.4 ppg) can play like they have the last 9 games (8-1) then this team could beat both Notre Dame and Kentucky. The Final Four is something Maryland hasn’t seen in a while, but with Trimble at the helm I can see this team going far.

2. New Quarterback On Campus?

The University of Michigan may acquire their 2nd transfer this off season and it looks to be at quarterback one again. As of Thursday March 19th, reports were that former Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock was going to be in Ann Arbor over the weekend, according to foxsports.com’s Bruce Feldman. Sources have told Wolverine247 that Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz will release transfer quarterback Jake Rudock to any school in the country including Michigan. The source also indicated that if Michigan does offer Rudock a spot on the roster that he will accept. With the uncertianty at quarterback for Michigan in 2015, the Wolverines are expected to offer Rudock. The soon to be graduate transfer is coming off a season in which he threw for 2,436 yards while completing nearly 62% of his passes. He also threw for 16 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. That comes out to a 3:1 touchdown:interception ratio. If Rudock is offered a scholarship over the weekend, expect him to take the #1 spot on the depth chart and run. As of right now he’d be the best quarterback on the roster by a wide margin.

3. Tigers’ Spring Training Continued

Spring training only started a few weeks ago, but its been pretty eventful for Detroit. Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez look to be progressing very well and should be healthy sooner rather than later. David Price looks to be the opening day starter for the Tigers. While he hasn’t pitched great throughout spring training, nobody has made a case to steal the spot, nor could they steal Price’s spot since he’s the ace of this team. New centerfielder Anthony Gose has shown some promise by hitting .520 in his first 26 at-bats, which includes six extra-base hits. The 24-year-old has also swiped four bags and walked four times. If he can keep this up Detroit will easily have the best line up from top to bottom. One another note able thing is it seems “closer” Joe Nathan will be on a short leash this year per manager Brad Ausmus. While Ausmus says Joe Nathan is the closer until otherwise said so, but reports are that Joakim Soria is waiting in the wings if necessary. Some note ables to watch for the rest of spring training are how new starting pitchers Alfredo Simon and Shawn Greene pitch as well as how the bullpen pitches in the late innings of the game.

4. Rashean Mathis Stays In Detroit 

The Detroit Lions signed their #1 cornerback from last year to a 2 year deal, 3.5 million dollar deal. It’s a great signing as the Lions won’t have to look for a cornerback in the draft and his signing will help to develop Slay. Mathis is coming off one of the best year’s of his career as ProFootballFocus rated his productivity at a +10.5. That’s better than almost every other 30+ year old cornerback this season. His salary will be 2 million for this season and then the rest isn’t guaranteed. While Mathis can’t carry a secondary anymore, he is still a very solid player and can contribute to an already solid secondary. This should give Detroit the opportunity to draft a cornerback and give him some time to develop. With limited cap space this signing is a great one and is probably the best one of the off season for the Lions.

5. Spartans Get a #7 seed

The Michigan State Spartans ended up being the only team from the state to make the NCAA Tournament this year after Central Michigan lost the MAC championship to Buffalo. The Spartans were able to hang with the Wisconsin Badgers last Sunday in the BIG Ten Championship until it was taken to overtime. Wisconsin dominated and ended up winning 80-69 after out scoring MSU 11-0 in over time. While State played solid against the Badgers and finished 23-11, Tom Izzo felt his team got snubbed when it came to the bracket seeding.

A 7 seed?” Izzo asked back, a look of surprise on his face. “Like I said, don’t play those tough schedules.”

Then he asked of the Spartans’ opening game: “What day is it on? Don’t say Thursday.”

Told it was Friday, he said: “That’s fine, I mean, I don’t care. Just surprising that … That’s fine.”

After many projected the Spartans as a #6 seed, they ended up getting a #7 seed and the opportunity to play #10 Georgia Friday afternoon at 12:40pm est. The Spartans will have a hard time getting past the round of 32 even if they do beat Georgia because they will face #2 Virginia next. As a wolverine fan I’m not a big fan of Michigan State, but I do think they can beat both teams if they play like they did the first 40 minutes against Wisconsin. They could also get upset by Georgia as this is March Madness and you never know what to expect, especially from a team who nearly beat Kentucky (see Thursday’s results).

6. Fraser Baseball Is Back

This year’s baseball team looks to be one of the best teams Fraser has had in a long time. The team is overall solid and have good depth at most positions. While I don’t know a whole lot about last year’s team, expectations are that this should be the team to dethrone Sterling Heights Stevenson for the District title.

7. Allen Stritzinger Takes Unofficial Visit to WMU

De La Salle’s sophomore running back Allen Stritzinger took an unofficial visit to Western Michigan on Wednesday. I talked about Allen in last week’s sports watch and still am very high on him. While I don’t see him going to Western Michigan, we won’t really know until Allen commits. From talking with Allen it seems there should be a few more MAC schools offering him within the next few months as well as a couple of Midwest Big Ten schools.

8. Fraser Softball Starting Up

Fraser Softball had try outs last week and will be having their first game at home on March 24th against Chippewa Valley High School. The team looks to be decent this year, but it will all depend on whether or not Fraser’s starting pitchers can be consistent, something we didn’t see last year. Fraser’s schedule can be found here.

http://www.maxpreps.com/m/team/schedule.aspx?gendersport=girls,softball&schoolid=6ea68b7f-609a-4499-b767-833a926ad23d 

9. Track Season 

This year’s track team is getting ready for the season. They’ve been conditioning for months and look to be in great overall shape. April 1st will mark their first meet of the year when the Ramblers travel to Macomb Community College as the best of the best in the county take on one another in each event. More details to come on this year’ steam and the schedule.

10. Mr.Fraser Dies

Skip Crane has been a big member of the community and Fraser High School. Skip has worked for the District for 26 years and has helped with many fundraisers and events. He was a very nice guy and someone who was always there to talk. He cared about the kids that walked through the door everyday and helped everyday to make a change in someone’s life. “Mr.Fraser” was the voice of Rambler football games as well. Every Friday night in the fall skip was either announcing at the home games or at the away games cheering the team on. He was very involved in the school and most of the athletes life. Skip was also the security guard who protected the school, but I like to think of Skip as a man I came to know and understand. He will be truly missed in the school and community.

I can be reached at [email protected]