What a March to remember, unless you are Virginia Michigan State UNC or both schools in Cincinnati. These prestigious programs along with a few others were victims a some major upset over the tournament’s first two rounds. And there plenty more on the horizon.
The Upsets
What on earth Virginia? A #1 seed not only gets upset by a #16 seed UMBC . Not just upset but flat out embarrassed by a score of 74-54 making it the biggest upset in the history of the March. To use this quote from a meme I saw on Facebook earlier this week “That is the biggest loss Virginia has had since losing half their state in 1863.”
A Look Around The Nation
What happened to the Bearcats of Cincinnati? Giving up a 22 point lead midway through the second half, really?Furthermore Michigan State, the hits just keep coming your way. The Spartans were upset by a Syracuse squad that just barely squeaked into the tournament. I suppose we should not count out any Boeheim coached Orangemen squad.
The defending champs UNC Tar Heels were upset by the Texas A&M Aggies in the second round. The Aggies reach the round of 16 for just the sixth time in school history.
Either way you look at it, it has been a crazy and surprising tournament to watch. One that will be talked about and remembered for the good the bad and the ugly. Mostly the good in my opinion. I guess it depends on your fan base.
And Here We Stand…
Now we are in the round of 16. We got ourselves some surprise guests. And we got ourselves some predictable schools we will be watching this weekend to continue their journey to call themselves champions of the 17-18 college basketball world.
So this weekend, we have 8 games to watch this weekend, and it is going to be an exciting weekend of college basketball to watch. You will have your schools that were considered pretenders at the start of the tournament to achieve their unbelievable Cinderella story. And you will have the same schools that seem to make an appearance in the 16 year in and out.
Here are this weekends games starting Thursday night.
#4 Gonzaga vs #9 Florida State
Gonzaga is the favorite by 5 points. I can see that they are the favorite but I can not see why it is just 5 points. That is not a knock on Florida State by no means. I do like Florida State, Florida State has some of the most talented guards in college basketball. Their guards love go run in transition so much and they run in it well.
However the Zags have enough athletic big men that can certainly keep up with the small ball that those guards play. That is going to work to their advantage very well.
I believe the Zags will win this one by more than 5.
#5 Kentucky vs #9 Kansas State.
The Wildcats have played the best basketball that we have seen in March thus far, along with Nova and Duke. I just can nor see Kentucky losing his one unless even if Dean Wade is not playing 100 percent. The Wildcats are just bigger athletically. They outmatch KSU on the defensive boards. Kentucky will win this game for one of a couple of reasons but primarily from their defense and how well they control the boards.
3 MICHIGAN vs. No. 7 TEXAS A&M
This is quite an interesting matchup, and I mean that in a good way as in I do like this this matchup very much. You have Michigan who does not have a whole lot of size going for them on the inside. Which could be a huge advantage for the Aggies However, the Wolverines have Zavier Simpson and T.J Starks that have proven to make guards ineffective to feed the big men inside the rock. That will be key for Michigan to take this
W.
#2 DUKE vs. #11 SYRACUSE
This is another interesting matchup defensively, because they both run the same defensive scheme which is a 2-3 zone. We have known since Boeheim took over the Orangeman of Syracuse to run the 2-3 zone. The one disadvantage for Syracuse in this game is that Duke has better perimeter shooters in Grayson Allen and Gary Trent Jr and Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter are very good at the high point.
#1 KANSAS vs. #5 CLEMSON
Ok. I have to admit, Clemson was not on my radar at the beginning of the season and was not at the beginning of the tournament but here we are. Talking about them in the 16. So I will gladly admit that they are a great team; you have to be great to beat the regular season SEC champs by 41 points right? However they have to deal with Kansas. I do not believe Clemson has what it takes to defeat the Jayhawks in the paint, in which Kansas dominates at.
Unless Clemson can somehow best Kanas in the Paint, I see Kansas running away with this one.
#7 NEVADA vs. #11 LOYOLA-CHICAGO
Here is the game that is going to make and break one schools Cinderella story of the tournament. The bad thing for Loyola is the way Nevada has won their game up until this point especially their last game against Cincinnati.
Loyola is great offensively, they shoot really well. However this Wolf Pack team they will be facing that is on such a great rhythm will be tough to overcome.
Give me the Wolf Pack to continue the Cinderella story of the tournament.
#2 PURDUE vs. No. 3 TEXAS TECH
It is hard to see who could come out on top of his game because they are both so evenly matched. The one thing that separates the two schools is the Red Raiders defense who is one of the best defenses we’ve seen thus far this March, who is great at chasing off the three point shooters who the Boilermakers have.
I see the Red Rider taking this one, unless the Boilermakers somehow make TTUs defense confused and make the three ball after three ball, in which they are fully capable of doing.
#1 VILLANOVA vs. # WEST VIRGINIA
I am loving this matchup so much. You have Nova with a pretty consistent offense year round against the tough defense of “Press” Virginia AKA West Virginia. West Virginia is known for their full court press defensive style of play. Their press defense forces opponents to play fast pace and also forcing them to make mistakes.
Nova does not make a whole lot of mistakes if no mistakes at all. If there is one team that can break the Mountaineer defense, it is the Wildcats of Villanova.
This will be he best game of the 8 being played. You do not want to miss Nova vs WV Friday night.