Thursday, March 21, 2013

Who will win the NCAA Tournament?


        After hours of hair pulling and torn brackets, I have finally picked who I think will win the NCAA Tournament. Entering the tournament, there has yet to be a clear #1 team like Kentucky was all last year en route to their national title. But here is my breakdown of each region and who will win it all:
            Midwest: Louisville was awarded the overall #1 seed and should not have a problem until the Sweet Sixteen where they could face #4 Saint Louis. I see one upset in the second round in this region as I believe the #12 Oregon Ducks will defeat the #5 Oklahoma St. Cowboys. Oregon got thrown under the bus and were awarded a horrible seed after winning the PAC-12 Tournament. They are playing great basketball right now and I think they will defeat the Cowboys in a close game. The Sweet Sixteen matchup of #2 Duke and #3 Michigan St. already has me excited but I think the fact that Duke has Ryan Kelly back will be just enough to advance to the Elite Eight setting up a matchup against Louisville. These teams met on November 24th with the Blue Devils winning 76-71. But the Cardinals were without C Gorgui Deng for that game. In the end I think the Blue Devils led by Senior F Mason Plumlee will defeat the Cardinals in an overtime thriller and advance to their 16th Final Four.
            West: The Gonzaga Bulldogs were awarded their first #1 seed in school history after going 31-2 during the regular season and winning the WCC Tournament. Gonzaga will have a problem with #8 Pittsburgh who I think will beat #9 Wichita St. The Panthers have a stingy defense that ranks 6th in the nation in points allowed at 55.4 per game. Although they will be pushed the whole game, the Zags will escape the upset and face #5 Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen. Unfortunately, the Zags spectacular season will come to an end, as the Badgers will defeat the Zags. The Badgers are playing great basketball as of late as they defeated Michigan and Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament before losing to Ohio St. in the championship game. The one upset I see in this region is #11 Belmont beating #6 Arizona. Arizona has been inconsistent lately losing 3 of their last 5 and Belmont is not afraid of playing with the big boys. They are a great shooting team as they shoots 49% from the field and 39% from three. The other Sweet Sixteen game will feature the Mountain West Champion New Mexico Lobos against the Big Ten Champion Ohio St. Buckeyes. The Buckeyes enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams and the duo of PG Aaron Craft and F Deshaun Thomas will be too much for the Lobos to handle. In a rematch of the Big Ten Championship Game, the Buckeyes will once again defeat the Badgers and advance to their 11th Final Four. These teams have already met three times this season with Ohio St. winning 2 of 3.
            South: The South Region is loaded as there are at least five teams that could win the region. Kansas was awarded the #1 seed and could face former coach Roy Williams if #8 North Carolina can beat #9 Villanova. Plus the ever so dangerous #5 VCU Rams are in the region. The top half of the bracket, I see Kansas facing #5 VCU, who will upset #4 Michigan in the third round. VCU’s full court press defense is relentless but the senior guard duo of Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford will be able to handle the press. Kansas will advance to the Elite Eight. The loss of G Jordan Adams (15.3 points per game, 2nd on the team) is big enough for the #6 UCLA that they will be upset by #11 Minnesota Golden Gophers in the second round. The other Sweet Sixteen matchup in the South Region will be between #2 Georgetown Hoyes and #3 Florida Gators. These two games were supposed to play on November 9th but that game was cancelled. I think that Georgetown will advance and face Kansas in the Elite Eight. Georgetown is entering the tournament having won 12 of their last 14 and their defensive pressure along with Otto Porter Jr. will be too much for Kansas as the Hoyas will make their 6th Final Four appearance.
            East: The East bracket is set up perfectly for #1 Indiana to meet #2 Miami (FL) in the Elite Eight. But will it happen? Indiana will meet #5 UNLV in the Sweet Sixteen as the Rebels will defeat #4 Syracuse in the third round. Both teams have lottery picks on their team with the Rebels having freshman F Anthony Bennett and Indiana with perhaps the best player in the nation in F Cody Zeller. Indiana has too much firepower for UNLV to handle as Indiana will win by double digits. Miami will meet #3 Marquette in the Sweet Sixteen and their incredible season will continue as they will advance to their first Elite Eight in school history. Miami will have to slow down the #3 ranked offense in the nation if they want to win but will not as Zeller will lead the Hoosiers to their 9th Final Four appearance.
            Final Four: The first Final Four game will be a rematch of the November 28th game won by Duke as they scored 50 points in the second half to defeat Ohio St. 73-68. The senior leadership of Plumlee, G Seth Curry, and Kelly will carry the Blue Devils into the national title game as Ohio St. will lose in the Final Four for a second straight year. The second game will be a dandy as Indiana as one of the best offenses in the nation and Georgetown has one of the best defenses. Indiana will win the game because of how explosive they are on offense setting up a great national championship game between Indiana and Duke. There will be some great individual matchups in that game as Cody Zeller will go one on one with Mason Plumlee and/or Ryan Kelly. Victor Oladpio is a great defender and he will have the task of shutting down Seth Curry of Duke. Indiana started the season as the #1 ranked team in the preseason poll and will end the season #1, defeating the Blue Devils 68-60. It will be Indiana’s 6th national title.
            It’s been a great year of college basketball and these next 3.5 weeks will not disappoint. It’s March Madness baby!

            images were used from sportsillustrated.cnn.com, cleveland.com, cbssports.com, and espn.go.com

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