It's State Tourney Time!

As the WIAA Boys State Basketball Tournament approaches this weekend, it's no surprise that Mother Nature has put snow in the forecast. As we head to the Kohl Center this weekend, a few things that I'll be watching.

#1 Oshkosh West. As much as I wanted Fondy to shock the world and pull the upset in last Saturday's Sectional Final, you can't help but to root for the Wildcats at state. The path is there for West to get back to the state final as they did in 2001 with Verona in the quarters and then either Arrowhead or Menomonie in the Semis. With King most likely getting to the Final on the other end of the bracket. The West fans have always been, great but the student section has taken it to another level and added a ton to the games that West plays in. I would also love to see the Gold Ball come back to the FVA and have Lance Randall get the job done. I don't personally know the Randall family, but everyone talks so highly of Lance and his family, I can only wish them well. Seeing the emotion on his face, when the final seconds ran off at Kolf Saturday night could have choked anyone up.

#2 The Stars: I always like to take a look at the marquee players at state, and their are a few there this year as well. In D1, you have King's Mitchell Carter, Leneal Harris and Korie Lucious, Ashwaubenon's Adam Koch, Madison Memorial's Keaton Nankivil, and of course Oshkosh West's Andy Polka and Tim Jarmuz just to name a few. In D2, I can't wait to get a look at St. John's Trevon Hughes as I haven't had a chance to see him in person yet. St. Cats and Burlington Catholic Central are also loaded with stars.

#3 The Privates; It'll be interesting to see how the private schools do at this year's tourney. There is a chance private schools could win Division's 2, 3 & 4. If that happens, I'm sure the uproar for them to be playing up a division will increase. I have a take on this, but it will have to wait for another day.

#4 Badgers & NCAA Tourney: It's always a challenge to keep up to date on the NCAA Tournament while sitting at the Kohl Center for the high school games. With Marquette, UWM and UW all playing during the day there will be many eyes on monitors on press row, and in the luxury suites. Thankfully, UWM and UW's games are somewhat sandwhiched between sessions so there may be many people sneaking out of the first sesson on Thursday and Friday a bit early to get to Brats or Wandos to watch the game.

#5 Randolph: It's weird not to see Randolph in the D4 field this year. But Seymour is back, so fo for those of you who need consistency in life, there is nothing better than the Thunder. Seven straight trips to state is unbelievable. Credit the kids and the program for getting it done year after year in the playoffs.

Those are just some quick thought's from me on the state tournament. If you have some as well, please feel free to post them here.