[Displaced Flames fan]

Last night I watched a replay of the Wichita State/Ohio State game from the Elite 8 last year on the Big Ten Network. It was nearly as much fun this time as it was last year!

The reason I'm mentioning it here, though, is that watching this game again only reinforced my theory/position/belief that this year's team is vastly superior to that team. The evolution of Fred Van Vleet, Ron Baker and particularly Tekele Cotton is absolutely astonishing when compared to how they were playing in last year's tournament.

Carl Hall was a huge presence inside for WSU at the tournament last year, but they've replaced him with a three-headed monster that has 15 fouls to give and are probably better defensively. Those three together average nearly what Hall did on the offensive end.

I'm convinced they are capable of winning it all. Not going to say they will, there are several really great teams out there capable of it as well, but don't sleep on this team. They are the real deal.