Tilting at Windmills

We’re not going to talk about it.

Take it one game at a time. The hurdles are getting larger as each successive one appears, so thinking about the hurdles still to come and the accolades that would come by surpassing them is silly when the first one is so important.

You don’t want to mention to Jeff Capel that he has a 300 bowling game in the works. You just want to wish him luck on getting another strike.

By the way … OU’s one game away from the Final Four, baby. Oops.

This afternoon’s game against Sobbin’ Roy and MJ’s alma mater would solidify Jeff Capel’s arrival on the national scene. What he’s done in three years at Oklahoma is nothing short of a miracle. It’s on par with the job Bob Stoops did when he took over OU’s moribund football program in 1999.

But beating North Carolina in the Elite 8 and advancing to the Final Four? Again … open that checkbook, Joe Cash, and pay the man whatever he wants. I’ll even chip in a hundy, if it helps.

Hijinx submitted a great, in-depth breakdown of what to expect from the Carolina blue, but at a high-level, most of us know what they bring to the table, mainly the two All-Americans Lawson and Hansbrough. The former is hands-down the best guard OU has seen this year and the latter the best big man on the Sooners’ schedule. OU won’t just have their hands full today … they’ll need two trips.

Hansbrough knows all about needing two trips ...

Capel will counterpunch with perhaps the best 1-2 combination UNC has see all year, too. Blake Griffin scares people just by walking in the door with his wrap-around Gargoyle sunglasses and God-knows-what lurking beneath his army jacket. Alliteration aside, when Willie Warren winds up, he’s as good as any 2-guard in the country. Also, if they play at their best (which we’ve seen lately), Tony Crocker and Austin Johnson can follow-up that jab-cross with an uppercut and knockout right hook.

The DOK’s Berry Tramel said it best in his blog today:

North Carolina is better than OU. Not a lot better, but a little. The Tar Heels would win a series against the Sooners. More elite players. More depth in general. But the NCAA Tournament is not a series. It’s a shootout. One and done or one and won.

The Sooners don’t have to play over their heads to win. In fact, play like they did against Syracuse, and OU will win.