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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