Why Memphis Will Win The National Championship

Every year the Memphis Tigers roll into the NCAA tournament as a 1 or 2 seed only to be eliminated before the Elite 8. Each year, Memphis is a talented squad who are just missing one piece, their superstar. Thanks in part to the NBA Early Entry rules, this forced those superstars that committed to Memphis, but ultimately took the money that came with the NBA (example: Amare Stoudemire). This year, the Memphis Tigers have five returning starters and a freshman phenom in Chicago's Derrick Rose. I make it no secret of my man crush on Derrick Rose. He's already my favorite player in the nation and maybe the nation's most talented. Rose isn't the only future pro on the squad. Chris Douglas-Roberts has looked great in the two games this season. Joey Dorsey is another NBA prospect, but has yet to play in a game this season. PG Willie Kemp has taken a backseat to Rose and will play as his backup for the season. Robert Dozier, Antonio Anderson and Shawn Taggart round out Memphis' remaining important pieces.

A big part of Memphis' struggles in the past NCAA tournmanets have been them not being tested until the NCAA tournament. The Conference USA has been a joke since Marquette and Louisville left for the Big East. Coach John Calipari loaded up the non-conference schedule with games against USC (and O.J. Mayo, will be an extremely hyped games), Cincinnati, Georgetown, Arizona, Gonzaga and Tennessee. Some of those games could be instant classics will all the talent in the games and possible tournament previews. How Memphis does against those teams will be a big part in how the Tigers fare in the dance.

Rose will ride the success of this season into becoming the #1 pick in the NBA draft joining Kevin Durant in Seattle or Oklahoma City, beginning the best NBA duo since Shaq & Kobe.

I'll probably be blogging about college basketball more than anything with an emphasis on my favorite college teams. Those teams being Ohio State, Southern Illinois, Duke and Syracuse. Taylor King, next Duke great. Watch out people.