It was a wild opening weekend to the NCAA tournament last week as upsets were aplenty in the first two rounds of March Madness. Many people’s brackets were busted when UAB defeated Iowa State on the first day of the tournament. Two days later, the first No. 1 seed was ousted when North Carolina State shocked Villanova. If that wasn’t enough for you, the East region guaranteed us that neither a 1 or 2 seed would make the Sweet 16 when Tom Izzo’s Michigan State knocked off No. 2 seed Virginia.
The Sweet 16 starts on Thursday, and we thought we’d preview the third and fourth rounds of the tournament as well as make some more bold predictions on who we think is headed to Indianapolis. So without further ado, here are the Sweet 16 matchups complete with our predictions and the betting favorites to advance to the Final Four.
1. Notre Dame will sneak past Wichita State: The battle for Kansas commenced in the round of 32, and Wichita State shocked (no pun intended), the Jayhawks to advance to the sweet 16. It’s no secret that Bill Self and Kansas have been avoiding the Shockers for quite some time and Gregg Marshall had his boys ready for the in-state rivalry. Fred VanVleet has been playing incredible lately, but we think that the Shockers are destined for a let down after their emotional game against Kansas. Notre Dame has been playing well down the stretch, with a run in the ACC conference tournament, and two close wins over Northeastern and Butler in overtime. Jerian Grant, might be the best guard in the tournament, and we think he will play a big role in Thursday’s game. We think it will be close, but we give the edge to Notre Dame.
Betting Favorite: Wichita State -2
2. Wisconsin Will Hammer North Carolina: Wisconsin may have the best player in the country in Frank Kaminsky, and have been absolutely on fire in this tournament. After last season’s loss to Kentucky, the Badgers have come back in 2015 rejuvenated and refocused. The Big 10 School is our pick to upset Kentucky, and we believe their defense will be the difference in this matchup with the Tar Heels. Sorry North Carolina, but your tournament run ends here.
Betting Favorite: Wisconsin -6
3. The Kentucky Wildcats Will Stay Unbeaten: The West Virginia Mountaineers are the next opponent standing in the way of Jon Calipari’s juggernaut of a basketball team and their goal of a perfect season. Bob Huggin’s boys come in confident, even with some players on the team predicting a victory over the unbeaten Wildcats. We believe that West Virginia and their high-pressure defense might be the toughest test that Kentucky has had all season. Nobody in the country forces more turnovers than the Mountaineers, and Kentucky can definitely get sloppy with the basketball. We give West Virginia a puncher’s chance in this game, but the problem isn’t their defense, it’s their offense. We just don’t see how they will be able to score on Kentucky’s massive front line. The Mountaineer’s are more of points in the paint type of team, and not a great three-point shooting team, and that probably will haunt them here. In a close game throughout, Kentucky will close out West Virginia and advance.
Betting Favorite: Kentucky -14
4. Arizona Outlasts Xavier: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has been the MVP for the Arizona Wildcats thus far in the tournament, and we don’t see anybody on Chris Mack’s Xavier team that can stop him. Xavier has had a nice run defeating the likes of Ole Miss and Georgia State, but they have not seen anyone this season as good as Arizona. Unfortunately, the buck stops here for the X-Men.
Betting Favorite: Arizona -10
5. UCLA Shocks Gonzaga 2006 Tournament Déjà vu: We all remember the image of Gonzaga forward Adam Morrison falling to the court in a clump of tears after his team inexplicably blew a three-point lead over UCLA with 19.7 seconds left in the sweet 16 over UCLA. That Bruins team had future NBA players, Darren Collison, Jordan Farmar, Aaron Afflalo and Ryan Hollins. This Bruins team has Tony Parker, who might be just as good as those former UCLA standouts. Gonzaga are heavy favorites to defeat UCLA, a team that most experts didn’t even have in the tournament, let alone the Sweet 16. Gonzaga might be destined to finally reach the Elite Eight this year, but we believe history repeats itself and UCLA steals the victory from the Zags once again.
Betting Favorite: Gonzaga -9
6. Louisville Rolls Over NC State: We’re not sure how this happened, but a funny thing happened on the way to the Final Four for Villanova: they lost to the No. 8 seed NC State Wolfpack. This is the same team that had bad losses to Boston College and Wake Forest recently, but remarkably defeated Louisville by nine points a little over a month ago. However, this is the tournament, and Rick Pitino has his team ready to avenge that loss. Louisville has the superior defense with their full court pressure and the veteran leadership of a team who cut down the nets just two short years ago. Wayne Blackshear will lead the Cardinals over the Wolfpack.
Betting Favorite: Lousville -3
7. Duke Defeats Utah: The Pac 12’s surprise story has reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998 when Andre Miller led the Utes to the national championship game against Kentucky. Utah lost that final, but still seems to have a magical run left in them this year. Duke has the best all-around player in the tournament in Jahlil Okafor, the projected number one overall pick in the NBA draft. In tournament’s like these, we tend to side with the team with the best overall player (right, Shabazz Napier?), but we wouldn’t be surprised if Utah pulled off the shocking upset. Regardless, Okafor is playing too good right now and Justise Winslow is rounding into form as a formidable No. 2. Duke should advance.
Betting Favorite: Duke – 5
8. Michigan State Continues Their Cinderella Story: We’re not sure how Michigan State ended up with a 7 seed, but somehow the NCAA Committee underrated Tom Izzo’s team once again, and they have quickly shown that they are a force to be reckoned with in this year’s tournament. In the past 10 days, Michigan State has beaten Ohio State, Maryland and the best defensive team in the country in Virginia. Izzo knows how to win in the tournament and this year is no different. The Big-12 team is a tough and gritty opponent that always seems to find a way to win. Oklahoma is the no. 3 seed and is poised to make a deep run after victories over Albany and Dayton. They struggled with the Flyers and if they do that against MSU, they don’t stand a chance. We have Michigan State moving on.
Betting Favorite: Michigan State -2
If all goes as planned we will have some incredible matchups for Saturday and Sunday. Including: Kentucky vs. Notre Dame, Wisconsin Vs. Arizona, Duke vs. UCLA, and Louisville and Michigan State.
Sticking to our original bracket predictions, we have Kentucky advancing to the Final Four to play Wisconsin who we believe will barely sneak past Arizona in what should be the best game of the four. Duke should get past either Gonzaga or UCLA provided that they can beat Utah, and in a matchup of marquee coaches, we have Tom Izzo surprising Rick Pitino to advance to Indianapolis.
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