Part II
Midwest Regional
Florida over Jackson State – Duh!
Arizona over Purdue – The Boilermakers shouldn’t be in the tournament and the Wildcats will prove that.
ODU over Butler – This all depends on how the ODU guards, Drew Williamson, Brandon Johnson and Brian Henderson play. They certainly can defend as Williamson and Johnson were all CAA first team defensive players, so AJ Graves and Mike Green will have their work cut out for them. The question will be if Williamson, Johnson and Henderson can score. In the CAA tournament, outside of Henderson’s terrific shooting vs. Towson, the Monarchs trio struggled, especially against George Mason in the quarterfinals. The Monarchs have the edge in the frontcourt, so I like Old Dominion to knock off a struggling Butler team as the Monarchs Trio will finally play a good offensive game.
Maryland over Davidson, but not by much. I love Stephen Curry and the Wildcats. They are a young team that you will hear about over the next couple of years. However, the Terrapins are playing very well and with a veteran team of DJ Strawberry, Mike Jones and Ekene Ibewke, Maryland will get by and take on the Monarchs.
Winthrop over Notre Dame. What a terrific game this should be as Colin Falls, Russell Carter and Rob Kurz lead five double digit scorers against the Eagle Trio of Michael Jenkins, Torrell Martin and Craig Bradshaw. What Notre Dame won’t realize they are in for is how good Winthrop rebounds. I like Winthrop to defeat the Irish, then knock off Oregon in the second round.
Oregon over Miami Ohio. No three point miracle bank shots will save Miami Ohio against the Ducks. The Ducks are too good. Aaron Brooks and Bryce Taylor lead five double digit scorers and they love to shoot the three.
Georgia Tech over UNLV. UNLV gets no love and gets an underdeserving 7 seed and faces a very young but very tough Georgia Tech team. The Rebels are a senior laden team, one that defeated Nevada at Nevada, but no one would confuse them with the running Rebels as their guards Wink Adams and Kevin Krueger (coach Lon Krueger’s son) leading a balanced attack. The Yellow Jackets are 8-8 vs. Top 50 teams and with Javaris Krittendon and Thaddeus Young, the Georgia Tech defense can be overwhelming. The question will be how UNLV’s senior guards handle the pressure of Tech. My guess is that it will be too much.
Wisconsin over Texas A&M – Despite the Big Ten championship game loss, the Badgers with Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor are battle tested and ready to go for a deep tournament run. Look for a rematch of Winthrop and Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen.
Second Round
Florida over Arizona
Maryland over ODU
Winthrop over Oregon
Wisconsin over Georgia Tech
Sweet 16
Florida over Maryland
Wisconsin over Winthrop
Midwest Regional Final
Florida over Wisconsin.
The final part, the West Region will be early tomorrow morning.
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