Sister Jean<\/a> on their side. Talent usually wins out in this round, so I\u2019ll go with the Wolfpack.<\/p>\nNo. 9 Kansas State vs. No. 5 Kentucky.
\nWildcat on Wildcat crime! I\u2019m sorry, really I am.
\nThis seems like an easy pick to me. Kentucky is so much more talented than K-State and have been on a roll for the last 3–4 weeks. I want to go with a blowout UK win here. But if K-State plays smart, takes care of the ball, and most importantly if Dean Wade can play productive minutes, I think the Purples can stay in the game. Their best hope, though, is if UK falls in love with the 3 but can\u2019t hit it. Blue Cats win.<\/p>\n
West Region<\/h3>\n
No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 3 Michigan.
\nThis one is tough. It\u2019s easy to fall in love with blowout wins in March. The thing is the momentum they build doesn\u2019t always carry over to the next game. See KU destroying Purdue in the last 10 minutes of their Sweet 16 game last year then never getting it going two nights later against Oregon. That makes me wary of picking A&M. They\u2019ve been a bit of a mess all year, but seem to have gotten past their roster issues and are finally playing to their potential.<\/p>\n
John Beilein is one of the best coaches in the game. When he gets his teams rolling, they are incredibly tough to beat. I\u2019m leaning Michigan\u2019s way because of their experience – they lost in the Sweet 16 by one point last year – and Beilein\u2019s coaching. Although the Wolverines did not look good in the first two rounds, I think they pull out a tight win.<\/p>\n
No. 9 Florida State vs. No. 4 Gonzaga.
\nI\u2019m still not really sure how Florida State won that Xavier game last week. Gonzaga had its share of dicey moments in week one.<\/p>\n
As long as Leonard Hamilton has been at FSU, it seems like he always has tons of athletic talent but is never sure how to put it all together. You see the pieces and expect something dazzling and are left with disappointment, even when they win.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going with Mark Few and the Zags.<\/p>\n
East Region<\/h3>\n
No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 1 Villanova
\nMan, what a matchup! I wish it wasn\u2019t on opposite the KU game because I would love to watch it.<\/p>\n
As a Big 12 fan, I do not trust WVU. Yeah, they rolled through week one, but who did they play again? I don\u2019t care how locked in Jevon Carter was last weekend, I\u2019ve seen this team blow too many leads as their offense went to shit in the last five minutes of a game to trust them.<\/p>\n
I say the Mountaineers have \u2019Nova on the ropes and blow it late.<\/p>\n
No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 2 Purdue
\nAnother fantastic matchup, although this one dulled a bit by Isaac Haas\u2019 broken elbow. With Haas, I think it is a coin toss game that would come down to whether Tech\u2019s hyper-athletic but smaller forwards could guard him on one end, and whether they could force to chase them on the other end.<\/p>\n
Without Haas, I think Tech is just too athletic to be denied. And it\u2019s too much to ask Matt Haarms to play 30 minutes against Tech\u2019s front line. Oh, and Keenan Evans is healthy and playing like a beast again. Tech wins.<\/p>\n
Midwest Region<\/h3>\n
No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 1 Kansas
\nClemson played maybe the best game in the history of the program last Sunday to advance. Do they have another big effort in them? They\u2019ll need it against a healthy KU team in front of a heavy KU crowd.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen Clemson compared to Virginia a little in how they slow the game down. That scares me a little given how KU often struggles on offense. Clemson also has athletic wings who can shoot it, similar to teams that have given KU fits this season. And they have an athletic shot blocker similar to Jordan Bell, who just abused KU at the rim in last year\u2019s Elite 8.<\/p>\n
If Udoka Azubuike is healthy and can play 25 minutes, KU wins easily. If not, KU will need all three perimeter players hitting to advance.<\/p>\n
I think KU plays their best game of the tournament so far and makes it to the Elite 8 for the third-straight year.<\/p>\n
No. 11 Syracuse vs. No. 2 Duke
\nDuke wins this one easy and by a large margin.<\/p>\n
Elite 8<\/h3>\n
Kentucky over Nevada
\nMichigan over Gonzaga
\nVillanova over Texas Tech
\nDuke over Kansas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since my bracket is allllllll messed up, I might as well re-pick the field based on who is left. Either that or finish the Reader\u2019s Notebook post that has been languishing for a few days. To the games it is, then! South Region No. 11 Loyola-Chicago vs. No. 7 Nevada. I\u2019ve only caught bits of both teams\u2019 games. In each case the good bits, too, as I saw Loyola win their two games at the buzzer and most of Nevada\u2019s big comeback vs. Cincinnati. Nevada seems to have a higher level of talent while Loyola has Sister Jean on their side. Talent usually wins out in this round, so I\u2019ll go with the Wolfpack. No. 9 Kansas State vs. No. 5 Kentucky. Wildcat on Wildcat crime! I\u2019m sorry, really I am. This seems like an easy pick to me. Kentucky is so much more talented than K-State and have been on a roll for the last 3–4 weeks. I want to go with a blowout UK win here. But if K-State plays smart, takes care of the ball, and most importantly if Dean Wade can play productive minutes, I think the Purples can stay in the game. Their best hope, though, is if UK falls in love with the 3 but can\u2019t hit it. Blue Cats win. West Region No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 3 Michigan. This one is tough. It\u2019s easy to fall in love with blowout wins in March. The thing is the momentum they build doesn\u2019t always carry over to the next game. See KU destroying Purdue in the last 10 minutes of their Sweet 16 game last year then never getting it going two nights later against Oregon. That makes me wary of picking A&M. They\u2019ve been a bit of a mess all year, but seem to have gotten past their roster issues and are finally playing to their potential. John Beilein is one of the best coaches in the game. When he gets his teams rolling, they are incredibly tough to beat. I\u2019m leaning Michigan\u2019s way because of their experience – they lost in the Sweet 16 by one point last year – and Beilein\u2019s coaching. Although the Wolverines did not look good in the first two rounds, I think they pull out a tight win. No. 9 Florida State vs. No. 4 Gonzaga. I\u2019m still not really sure how Florida State won that Xavier game last week. Gonzaga had its share of dicey moments in week one. As long as Leonard Hamilton has been at FSU, it seems like he always has tons of athletic talent but is never sure how to put it all together. You see the pieces and expect something dazzling and are left with disappointment, even when they win. I\u2019m going with Mark Few and the Zags. East Region No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 1 Villanova Man, what a matchup! I wish it wasn\u2019t on opposite the KU game because I would love to watch it. As a Big 12 fan, I do not trust WVU. Yeah, they rolled through week one, but who did they play again? I don\u2019t care how locked in Jevon Carter was last weekend, I\u2019ve seen this team blow too many leads as their offense went to shit in the last five minutes of a game to trust them. I say the Mountaineers have \u2019Nova on the ropes and blow it late. No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 2 Purdue Another fantastic matchup, although this one dulled a bit by Isaac Haas\u2019 broken elbow. With Haas, I think it is a coin toss game that would come down to whether Tech\u2019s hyper-athletic but smaller forwards could guard him on one end, and whether they could force to chase them on the other end. Without Haas, I think Tech is just too athletic to be denied. And it\u2019s too much to ask Matt Haarms to play 30 minutes against Tech\u2019s front line. Oh, and Keenan Evans is healthy and playing like a beast again. Tech wins. Midwest Region No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 1 Kansas Clemson played maybe the best game in the history of the program last Sunday to advance. Do they have another big effort in them? They\u2019ll need it against a healthy KU team in front of a heavy KU crowd. I\u2019ve seen Clemson compared to Virginia a little in how they slow the game down. That scares me a little given how KU often struggles on offense. Clemson also has athletic wings who can shoot it, similar to teams that have given KU fits this season. And they have an athletic shot blocker similar to Jordan Bell, who just abused KU at the rim in last year\u2019s Elite 8. If Udoka Azubuike is healthy and can play 25 minutes, KU wins easily. If not, KU will need all three perimeter players hitting to advance. I think KU plays their best game of the tournament so far and makes it to the Elite 8 for the third-straight year. No. 11 Syracuse vs. No. 2 Duke Duke wins this one easy and by a large margin. Elite 8 Kentucky over Nevada Michigan over Gonzaga Villanova over Texas Tech Duke over Kansas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,52,58],"class_list":["post-6867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-basketball","tag-college-sports","tag-kansas-jayhawks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13445,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867\/revisions\/13445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}