It’s that time of year again: March Madness. And as is always custom during March Madness, your KHH bloggers have filled out a bracket with our picks. Check out these picks below, and feel free to leave comments agreeing, disagreeing, or anything in between.
South Region
South Region Picks
Comments:
In this bracket, Kentucky is obviously the favorite. They are the number 1 overall seed in the tournament and have only lost twice all year (though they did lose their last game to Vanderbilt). However, Kentucky has always had talented teams since Calipari arrived and those teams have always underperformed in the NCAA tournament. And in my opinion, some of those teams were more talented with John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, and many others. I only see Kentucky going to the Elite Eight this year. A team that Kentucky will play in the second round is an underrated Iowa State team. They are going up against last year’s national champs UConn, but that is obviously a very different Connecticut team without current Bob’s Cat Kemba Walker. The Huskies will give Iowa State a good fight, but they just really aren’t that good of a team and they will not have a run like they had last year. A very interesting game is the 5-12 matchup in this bracket, Wichita State vs. VCU. VCU made an insane run to the Final Four last year, but I don’t see it this year. Wichita State has been good all season and they play in a surprisingly good Missouri Valley Conference. If Indiana beats Wichita in the second round and New Mexico State in the first round as I am predicting, we should see a great rematch between the Hoosiers and Kentucky. The Hoosiers handed the Wildcats their only regular season loss this year, defeating them on a buzzer-beating 3. Kentucky’s definitely out for revenge, and I expect them to dominate Indiana in that Sweet 16 matchup. Moving on to the bottom half of the bracket, where UNLV will play Pac-12 champ Colorado. Although I want to go with my college hometown Buffaloes, the Pac-12 is frankly awful and UNLV is a high-powered, fun team. Sorry CU, but you’re not getting to the next round. Notre Dame is a pretty bad tournament team, and they are really just boring. Also, I like Xavier this year. I like them so much that I think they will beat mighty Duke in the second round. Duke is a talented team, but they sometimes simply do not show up, and I think mid-major Xavier will take advantage of them. This will lead to a Sweet 16 matchup with Baylor, who is just too big and powerful to lose to Xavier. Baylor lost in the Big 12 tital game to Missouri, but I think this team is going to be going places this year. They have a ton of NBA talent, and this team is due for a big tourney run. In the regional final, the Bears will be matched up with Kentucky, and this is where Kentucky will fall. Baylor just will want it more and will win a close game to advance to the Final Four. NBA scouts should definitely watch this one.
West Region
West Region Picks
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This is probably the weakest region out there and this is where I expect to find a ton of upsets. It is also home to the KHH fan favorite Iona Gaels, but I will talk about them later. The 1 seed is Michigan State, fresh off of its Big 10 championship. The Spartans always seem to go far in March, and I think this might be another one of those years. I’m picking them to go all the way to the Final Four, and quite frankly it shouldn’t be too hard for them to get there. In the first round, they will be playing LIU Brooklyn, who plays just a few blocks away from the Barclays Center. This means that they will take the Nets’ stench of failure with them to the tournament and get blown out by Michigan State. My first major upset of the bracket takes place in the upper half of the west region. I am picking Long Beach State to upset New Mexico. Now, I have nothing against New Mexico, but the reason that upset is in italics is because Long Beach State is a very good team and really should be higher than a 12 seed. They’ve played top level competition this year, including victories at Raphi’s hometown Pittsburgh Panthers, Xavier, and Auburn. Additionally, they have played close games with great teams like San Diego State, Louisville, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kansas State. Now that’s a schedule! Most of those teams are better than New Mexico and The Beach will be ready for battle. One of those teams that LBSU lost to, Louisville, will be playing Stephen Curry’s Davidson team in the first round. However, Curry is not on that team and it should be an easy victory. But then they will have to play The Beach again! And The Beach now understands Louisville’s style of play and will knock out the Big East champs. Moving on to the bottom of the bracket, where Colorado State will play Murray State. The Rams are another hometown team for me, but Murray State has lost one game the entire season! How are they not a better seed??? They are ranked in the top 10 in the country and they got a 6 seed. It’s a travesty! (Travis Outlaw would not be pleased). They should be able to beat the Rams. Below them will be a play-in game between BYU and Iona, with the winner playing Marquette. Here at KHH, we are huge Iona fans after seeing them in person (you can read about it here), and I am so happy that they made the tournament as an at-large bid. They are probably the last team to get in, and I really don’t understand why, but they are in now and they are ready to rock ‘n’ roll. Hopefully they will crush a Jimmer-less BYU team in the play-in game and move on to play Marquette. If BYU wins, I will change my bracket accordingly, but I am picking a huge 3-14 upset here. Marquette has slowed down recently and Iona is playing with a chip on their shoulders after everyone is criticizing the people who make the bracket for letting Iona in. First, they will beat Marquette, and then I am picking the Gaels to beat Murray State in the second round. That would really be a great moment for KHH bloggers. At the bottom of this region, Florida and Missouri will meet in the second round. I thought that Missouri had a great argument to get a number 1 seed over UNC or Michigan State, but they are stuck with the number 2 despite winning a Big 12 championship. But Florida is a very talented team that I think will cause problems for the Tigers, who are majorly undersized. I’m picking Florida in the upset, and then I am unfortunately picking the Gators to beat Iona in the Sweet 16. The Gaels’ run will have to end eventually, and it will end here. Florida is simply too big and will overpower Iona. Michigan State and Florida should be a good game, but Michigan State is just a good tournament team and I have a feeling they will be in the Final Four.
East Region
East Region Picks
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This bracket should be mostly chalk, with one exception: Vanderbilt. Vandy had high expectations at the start of this year and really did not live up to them. They lost a bunch of games to bad teams early on, but they are definitely peaking at the right time, highlighted by a victory over Kentucky in the SEC championship game. They are my Final Four pick from this bracket. The number 1 seed here, Syracuse, has only lost 2 games this year, with no losses to non-Big East opponents. But they just lost to Cincinnati in the Big East semifinals and I don’t have a good feeling about them this year. I think that they will barely hang on to beat Kansas State in the second round, and they could get blown out by Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16. Vandy plays Lin-less Harvard in the first round, and this should be a somewhat close game. Harvard is a good team, but not as good as Vanderbilt. Wisconsin should roll over Montana, but will not beat the Commodores. In the bottom half of this bracket, Florida State catches my eye. They just beat Duke and North Carolina on back-to-back days and they are playing extremely well right now. Their second round game with Cincinnati will be a good one, as Cincy is playing well too, but Florida State is just too hot. 2 seed Ohio State will beat West Virginia in the second round and will set up a great Sweet 16 matchup with the Seminoles. The Buckeyes should have been better this year and their season will end in disappointment. The regional final will be between two very hot teams, and I think that Vanderbilt’s talent will lead them to a victory over Florida State.
Midwest Region
Midwest Region Picks
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The 1 seed here is North Carolina, who is coming off a loss to Florida State in the ACC championship game. Despite this loss, UNC has been good especially at the end of this year and I think they are due for a Final Four run. This bracket shouldn’t be too tough for them, at least until they get to the Elite Eight. An interesting matchup should be Temple vs. the Cal/USF winner. I’m picking the play-in game winner, but only if it is South Florida. Cal is terrible and does not deserve to be in the tournament. Despite some bad losses early in the year, South Florida has 12 Big East wins, and I think that should be enough to get any team into the tourney. They are tough and determined and they want to make a run. They will beat Temple if they get past Cal, which they will. However they will not get passed Michigan, who had a very nice season this year. The Wolverines will play the Tar Heels in the Sweet 16 and I don’t think Michigan will have enough talent to keep up. The bottom half of this bracket is extremely weak, and even though I don’t think Kansas is that good, they should roll through these teams. Georgetown is a very overrated 3 seed and St. Mary’s is too small to pose problems for the Jayhawks. The regional final matchup will be one that college basketball fans have seen many times, North Carolina and Kansas. It would not shock me at all if Kansas wins this one, but I’m picking UNC to make the Final Four.
Final Four
Final Four Picks
Comments:
As Final Four games should be, all of these games will be close and exciting until the very end. On the left side, Baylor will overpower Michigan State, who is essentially a one-man show with Draymond Green. That one man will be enough to get the Spartans to the Final Four, but no further. Baylor advances to its first every national championship game. On the right side, UNC will take on a scorching hot Vanderbilt team. Carolina’s NBA talent and defense will finally stop the Commodores’ great run to the Final Four. In the championship game, North Carolina will win. This game is so far away from now, which makes it very hard to pick, but I just don’t see Baylor winning a national title yet. The Bears will just have to wait until next year while the Tar Heels will get to celebrate yet again.
North Carolina also won the championship in 2009 led by Tyler Hansbrough.
Of course, making a bracket is next to impossible and all of these picks will likely be wrong, but I gave it a shot. As I said in the beginning, comment and let us know your opinions! In KHH news, the Nets will be taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at The Rock tomorrow night. Raphi is home for spring break and he better go, especially because of all the penny tickets on stubhub right now. I’m predicting a Nets loss, even if Deron Williams plays (unlikely). They never beat the Bucks.
Kim Had Humps 