The Panthers went from national obscurity to media overkill in a matter of days. Please don't misunderstand me, I love it, but they're blowing up like Tiger during Thanksgiving.
Ali Farokhmanesh has been on ESPN First Take, The Dan Patrick Show, The Scott Van Pelt Show, featured in The New York Times and USA Today, and now will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It couldn't be happening to a more deserving guy, but, damn, that's a media circus.
Ben Jacobson was on The Jim Rome Show and the whole team has been on the front page of pretty much every paper in the country. This is what happens when you win games with dagger threes and take out the #1 overall seed.
The Panthers will be ready to play, despite the national media pumping them up to, presumably, watch them fall. All this hype can be distracting, but it's usually kids that are full of themselves that get caught up in the circus. The Panthers aren't full of themselves, but they're not robots. They've heard how great their run has been. This will be a true test for their focus and desire.
Some talking-heads are picking UNI to beat Michigan State. The Vegas line has MSU favored by a mere 1.5. Kalin Lucas is out. All these things make it easy for the Panthers to let-down slightly. But they can't and won't.
This game will be a battle. UNI FIGHT!
UNI 63 MSU 60
I thought Michigan State did a great job defensively against UNI, but some of those shots the Panthers were taking were too terrible to watch. From what I saw MSU's length was causing problems all night long for the Panther's offensively (passing and shooting). Also, did Ali just physically look different during the game, or was I reading too much into it? Overall, the Spartans did deserve to win that one as much as it hurts to say it. UNI proved that it can play with the "Majors" even when they don't play so well, a quality of a GREAT basketball team. Hopefully next year they can be as exciting to watch and root for. Great season for them.
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