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A two-seed improvement greets the Albany Great Danes in the 2015 NCAA tournament. In the 2014 tournament, the Great Danes gave the then No. 1 seed Florida Gators a worrisome run until finally relinquishing a 12-point defeat. This year, the Great Danes take on another large public university from a Power-5 conference in the Oklahoma Sooners.
Oklahoma finished second in the Big 12 conference, and notched big wins against the Kansas Jayhawks, Butler Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns, and also bested the arguably challenging UCLA Bruins.
Albany possesses no such track record. The Great Danes bypassed the at-large line and won the America East Conference tournament. Riding a crushing one-point defeat at the hands of the Stony Brook Seawolves, Albany could take advantage of this second shot at tournament life granted by the game-winning three-pointer from the hands of Peter Hooley.
What To Watch For
Look for Albany to scheme a way into remaining competitive through the midpoint of the second half — just as the Great Danes did last year against Florida — but also look for Albany’s effort to collide with Oklahoma’s resolve and expect the Sooners to make a strong push in the end. Albany could make it exciting, but Oklahoma should be too physically stifling for the Great Danes.
Prediction
Oklahoma is 23rd in the country in offensive rebounding, and fifth on the defensive end, so Albany will struggle to get second-chance shots. Unless the Great Danes can stoke a fire from the field, it’ll be the Sooners claiming a spot for Round 3.
Oklahoma 70, Albany 60
Jerry Landry is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow Jerry on Twitter at @Jerry2Landry, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on Google.
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