I better rush in some picks before the games start here in a bit.
This feels like a wide-open year. I’m of the opinion that Florida is the best team in the country. But they’re not so good that they can’t lose. In fact, it would not a shock if they weren’t the team to leave Memphis in a week with the regional title under their belts.
But beyond Florida, all season it’s felt like there is a group of 8-12 teams that are all kind of equal. On any given night, one of those teams can look like the best in the country. And on another, they can go on the road in their conference and get blasted.
Well, everyone except Wichita State, of course, who didn’t lose all year. I don’t care about WSU’s schedule. They proved themselves a year ago by making the Final Four and taking the eventual champs deep into the second half before falling short.
I think Wichita State is a great team, regardless of their conference or who they played this year. But they’re not getting out of their region. In fact, they best root for their cross-state rivals from Manhattan, because as flawed as Kentucky is, the Shockers will have a brutal time dealing with all their size.
So here are my Final Four picks. Please take with a whole handful of salt.
Florida
Michigan State
San Diego State
Michigan
Florida wins it all.
I hate to be on the Sparty bandwagon, which is always popular this time of year. But the East is easily the weakest region in the field this year. And we all know that Izzo does Izzo things in March. Not really sure what the NCAA was thinking when you look at the East and Midwest. Seems like a much fairer bracket would involve about half the teams in those regions being swapped.
I’m off to light some candles for Joel Embiid’s back…