Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Thursday, March 16, 2006, Washington Post

By George, Look at the Locals

When college basketball's March Madness tips off this afternoon, there will be three local teams (each with "George" in its name) in the NCAA men's tournament. But the women's team from Maryland might have the best chance of getting to the Final Four. Here's how I think the locals will do, starting with the men's championship. (The Maryland men's team didn't qualify for the second year in a row.)

Georgetown: The Hoyas (21 wins, 9 losses) should beat Northern Iowa (23-9) in the first round. Northern Iowa has a veteran team but stumbled at the end of the season, losing five of its last seven games. The Panthers don't have the big men to handle Georgetown's huge front court.

The Hoyas would have a much tougher game in the second round: Ohio State (25-5), the Big Ten regular-season champion, should beat Davidson (20-10) in the first round. Georgetown would have to be nearly perfect to beat Ohio State. The Buckeyes, with four senior starters, will not beat themselves.

George Washington: Poor GW has one of the toughest schedules in the tournament. The Colonials (26-2) got an eighth seed even though they lost just twice. That means GW will have to beat the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (25-7) and then probably play Duke (30-3) in Greensboro, North Carolina. The place will be packed with Blue Devil crazies because Duke is about 50 miles away.

The key for GW is its center with the strong inside game and even better name: Pops Mensah-Bonsu. If he is over his knee injury, GW should beat UNC Wilmington and might throw a scare into Duke. But if Pops is hurting, so are the Colonials.

George Mason: The Patriots (23-7) have never won an NCAA tournament game. But they have a chance against Michigan State (22-11), which lost five of its last seven in the regular season. GMU will miss senior guard Tony Skinn, suspended for a game for punching an opponent. Still, if the shorter Patriots can rebound with the Spartans, they might pull off the upset.

The Women's Tournament

Maryland: The Terps (28-4) are the area's best bet to make the Final Four. The Maryland women lost to Tennessee, Duke and North Carolina -- three of the top-rated teams in the country. So I don't expect the Terps to lose to Sacred Heart (26-4) on Sunday or to St. John's (21-7), their likely opponent in the second round.

The Terps probably would play defending champs Baylor (24-6) and Ohio State (28-2) in the regionals. Those teams are tough, but the Terps are tougher. I'm picking Maryland to go to Boston, Massachusetts, and the Final Four.

George Washington: The GW women (22-8) have a tough schedule just like the GW men. They have to play Old Dominion University (22-8) in the first round. ODU is hot, winning 20 of its past 21. If the Colonials slip by, their likely second-round opponent would be Tennessee (28-4), which beat GW in December, 59-43.

My guess is that fans will have just one local team to root for by next weekend -- the Maryland women.