Let's get right into it... Starting with the South bracket, here are my personal picks:
If you ask me, I think Kansas might have the easiest road to the Final Four out of all the number ones. Not that it's ever an easy road... it's just the easiest in my opinion.
Look for an upset to happen in either the Maryland-SDSU game, or Cal-Hawaii. Maryland has been shaky in the second half of the season and that game could have upset written all over it. I picked Hawaii over Cal because everyone is saying Cal could make a run. I have watched 0 Cal games this year and I didn't to know that they won't make it past the second round. My logic behind that is picking up as many points as I can on games that are a popular pick.
Towards the bottom of the bracket I picked a Philly matchup, Nova vs. Temple. Iowa is dead, there's no coming back from their recent string of losses and I think Temple takes advantage. Nova does not make it past Miami or Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen game.
The hardest game for me to pick was Miami-Arizona, I think both of them are capable of making Final Four runs this year. Sucks for them one has to lose. I have Miami playing Kansas in the Elite 8, and Kansas making a trip to Houston.
Going down to the West region, here are the picks:
Oregon was awarded a #1 seed on Selection Sunday which I, and I'm sure many others, thought belonged to Michigan State. That's neither here nor there, as the Ducks had an extremely strong season. I think they will have a pretty laissez-faire road to the Sweet Sixteen, where they will have a tough matchup with Baylor or Duke.
Don't think there's much chance of an upset for Baylor or Duke in the first round, so when they play each other that could very well be the game of the tournament. An extremely tough call, I went with Duke to face Oregon in that Sweet Sixteen game. However, I wouldn't put Baylor out of any Elite 8 conversation.
As for the bottom of the bracket, I see 3 particularly strong teams in Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. Texas is a solid team that is well coached by Shaka Smart, who has made multiple runs in March with VCU over the years. It just won't be enough to take down the Aggies who are hot and have been impressive the entire season.
As for Oklahoma, Buddy Hield carries them to the Sweet Sixteen game where he meets his match. A&M defends him just as well as West Virginia did in the Big 12 tournament and the Aggies advance. They will then take on the might Ducks, and at this point, not much is stopping A&M, they are aggressive on the boards and defense and stifle the #1 seeded Oregon team for a trip to Houston.
As for the East:
This region is absolutely loaded with talent. UNC, Xavier, WVU, Indiana, Kentucky, Providence, and Notre Dame. The winner of the 2016 NCAA Tournament will come out of this region. Which made picking this quadrant the most difficult.
As for upsets, I think Michigan could beat Notre Dame and Providence will beat USC (if you could call that an upset). The most intriguing game for me in the first round is Wisco-Pitt. I think if Wisco shows that they've come ready to play, they can most definitely derail #2 seeded Xavier's season in the second round. Look for Nigel Hayes, the Badgers leading scorer, to pace the offense in the Pittsburgh matchup.
From the bottom half of the bracket, West Virginia makes a trip to the Elite 8. They've been on the cusp for so long and they finally have the firepower to make some noise in this tournament. They'll take down either Wisconsin or Xavier for a chance to play for a ticket to Houston.
Moving up, UNC will run into an unfortunate problem. They'll have to play either Kentucky or Indiana in that Sweet Sixteen game and either or will be a battle. The Kentucky-Indiana matchup will potentially be the best game to watch this Saturday/Sunday. Both are incredibly hot, which explains their somewhat low seeding. However, I think Kentucky is poised to make a run at another National Championship this season. With Tyler Ulis playing out of his mind, Murray living up to expectations, and Polythress showing senior leadership, the Wildcats will emerge victorious in the East.
Last but not least, the pick for the Midwest:
Virginia is another #1 that has it fairly nice up until the Sweet Sixteen, probably even the Elite 8. With Brogdon and Gill on fire right now, the sky is the limit for UVA. They will roll over Hampton and Butler, and Purdue won't prove much of an opponent for them in the Sweet Sixteen. Their bump in the road will come if they have to play the Spartans in the Elite 8, which they will.
Michigan State got snubbed of a #1 spot barely, but I wouldn't count on that to throw them off of their game. Come March, Tom Izzo always finds a way to lock his guys in and ruin brackets nationwide. Not to mention they also don't have a heinous road to travel, either. They'll get the winner of Dayton/Cuse after they pummel Middle Tennessee, and Cuse didn't even deserve a spot.
Seton hall will face the Spartans after they take down Gonzaga and Fresno State after their upset of Utah. While the Utes are hot, they have not had much tournament success, and either way I don't see them getting past Michigan State. Perfect place to pick the upset and gain points.
So that leaves two... Michigan State and Virginia for a trip to Houston. It's a hard fought battle that could truthfully go either way, but MSU has too much going for them to drop this one.
Final Four & Championship Picks
NOOOO HE DIDN'T.. KENTUCKY?! REALLY? Yessss bitches. They probably had the best recruiting class this year and if they didn't botch the first half of the season we could be talking about these guys as a #1 or #2 seed. That's just a fact. Tyler Ulis is out of control right now and Coach Cal is already talking shit. Plus you're insane if he doesn't want to wipe the sour taste out of his mouth from last year's loss (only loss) to Wisco in the Final Four. Overall, Michigan State gives them a run for their money and Kansas beats up on A&M pretty good for a matchup with UK in the chip.
Kentucky - 65, Kansas - 61
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