Over the next several days, we will be providing NCAA Tournament bracket analysis, picking the best games, the dark horses, Cinderella candidates, and more. Want to know what your favorite team has to go through to cut down the nets? Keep it locked here at GetMoreSports.
South Region First Weekend Predictions
This has the potential to be a brutal region, and yet, Kansas does look like a clear step above everyone else. I’m predicting them to take care of business rather quickly against Austin Peay before facing UConn on Saturday. The guard play here could be advantage the Huskies, if they play to their potential, but I like the balance and defensive intensity of the Jayhawks to reach the Sweet 16.
There, I’m going with them facing off against the Terps of Maryland. Mark Turgeon and company have a difficult first-round game, there is no doubt, but I’m thinking they might be ready to turn a corner and go into the second game of the weekend against Cal. This could be one of the most exciting match-ups of the entire tournament, but I’ve got UMD sneaking by.
On the bottom half of the bracket, I like the Shockers to beat Vanderbilt and then keep things rolling for our first predicted upset, knocking off Arizona. WSU has far superior guard play, though they’ll need to show enough toughness inside to keep with the Wildcats. They’ll face-off against Miami, where the run will come to an end. I love this Hurricanes team, so much so that you’ll need to check back next weekend to see how far I have them going.
Once in the Sweet 16, Miami will await either Iowa or Villanova. Something tells me that Jay Wright is going to have his group ready to dispel the notion that his team can’t win in the tournament, and they’ll overcome an inconsistent Iowa team to meet the Hurricanes.
Play-In: No. 11 Wichita State vs. No. 11 Vanderbilt
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Austin Peay
No. 8 Colorado vs. No. 9 UConn
No. 5 Maryland vs. No. 12 South Dakota State
No. 4 California vs. No. 13 Hawai’i
No. 6 Arizona vs. Winner of play-in
No. 3 Miami vs. No. 14. Buffalo
No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Temple
No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 UNC-Asheville
