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Show Utah, BYUin Final Four ? By Jim Smedley It's on every Utah basketball fan's mind. Is it possible for BYU and Utah to make the final four? Sure. Why not? If Cinderella schools Birmingham and Wichita State can make it to ihe final four in the regionals then anything can happen. And probably will. Las Vegas oddsmakers have installed Utah, Indiana, Virginia and Lousianna State as the favorites to reach the final four. Part of their rational was because Utah and Indianna were hosting their respective regionals and LSU was playing at New Orleans. BYU looks like a good bet against Notre Dame on March 19. Cou&ar renter C rlnv ! 'ic middle 'ike ? man possessed against UCLA and should dominate there aginst the Irish. Notre Dame's 6' 9" forward Orlando Woolridge will be playing, if at all, with a badly bruised thigh that reduces him to half his normal speed. The Cougars are also faster than the Irish and once they get ahead the loosen up with their devastating fast break, as BYU's speed should confuse thelrisli and their rugged inside game, with Kite Fred Robers and . uinbo doing the rebounding, should confound the Irish. So, confused and confounded the Irish should fall. If Virginia makes it by Tennessee, as they are favored to do, the Kite - Ralph Sampson matchup could be the telling point of the game. The Utah North Carolina battle may rest on what star of either teams' talented front lines fouls out first or, and most likely, whatever team puts the last basket in will win it. Utah's Danny Vranes seems to be comming out of an end-of-the-season slump. He was brilliant inside with 25 points and 1 1 rebounds. Tom Chambers was also masterful in the middle with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Utah's "other All-American", Karl Bankowski, had a busy night also pouring in 15 points and gathering six rebounds. The Utes will be tough up front. Acknowleged college basketball expert and television Please turn to page 6C More Utah, BYU Continued from Page 2C commentator al McGuire said he thought UNC had the best front line in college basketball. And they definately have the credientials to back up McGuire's statement. Up front are James Worthy and Sam Perkins, both 6' 9" musclemen who can make life under the basket unpleasant for the Utes. UNC's leading scorer Al Wood is said to be able to hit a jump shot from anywhere and is comfortable at either forward or guard. He said he enjoys rebounding and his 5.9 per game average indicates. If UNC has an edge at all it is because they successfully played many fine teams on the road and had a 11-5 record against 1 6 teams who later went on to the NCAA tournament. The winner of the Utah - UNC game sould be going to Philadelphia where they will meet the winner of the east regional Utah vs. BYU? " ' ' |