2017 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16: Midwest and West Match-ups, Previews

Midwest and West NCAA Tourney Match-ups

With four games Thursday and four more Friday, the Sweet 16 will, by late Friday night, be reduced to the Elite Eight (and the unfortunate eight, the losers).

Thursday offers games from the West and Midwest regions, so we'll take a look at those contests today, and cover the East and South on Thursday. That way, everybody will have ample time to make their picks and either agree or throw things at College Basketball Daily's best guesses as to which teams are advancing.

Midwest Region:

(3) Oregon Ducks vs.
(7) Michigan Wolverines
(7:09 pm ET, CBS):

The Ducks come out of the PAC-10 as the runner-up in both the regular season and the conference tournament to Arizona. Oregon was ranked nationally all season, and they are currently #9 in the AP poll. Not that it should matter at this point, but Oregon has been highly-regarded all season, while the Wolverines were more or less an afterthought for an at-large bid until they won the Big Ten tournament and received the automatic bid. Otherwise, Michigan might be playing in the NIT, but, here they are, the #7 seed in the region, upsetting #2 Louisville, 73-69.

Oregon will continue to miss Chris Boucher, injured during the conference tourney, in the post, but they managed to ride the likes of Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey through wins over Iona (93-77), and Rhode Island (75-72). The Rams gave them a scare and they'd be wise to take the Wolverines very, very seriously. Michigan may just be the tournament's Cinderella team, plane crash, practice jerseys and all.

Michigan nailed 16 three-pointers and needed every one of them in their 92-91 win over #10 Oklahoma State, but proved multi-dimensional in beating the Cardinals, hitting just six from downtown. The Ducks can drain them as well, but this game may not be a shoot-around some are expecting. Look for Michigan to play better defense and exploit Oregon's inside weakness with crisp ball movement.

(1) Kansas Jayhawks vs.
(4) Purdue Boilermakers
(9:39 pm ET, CBS):

Kansas (30-4) has had its way with both opponents thus far, smashing #16 seed UC Davis, 100-62, and demoralizing Tom Izzo and his #9 seed Michigan State Spartans, 90-60, establishing the Jayhawks as the team with the largest average margin of victory remaining, at 29 points. That's usually a big factor when the tournament reaches this level, as teams that squeak by are normally eliminated by those that have routed their opponents and given subs some playing time and starters some rest.

Speaking of rest, the Jayhawks have had plenty of it, as they lost in the opening round of the Big 12 tourney but were assured a solid seed after dominating the regular season in the conference.

Kansas is led by senior Frank Mason III, an all-American if ever there was one, averaging 36.1 minutes, 20.8 points and 5.2 assists per game. His backcourt running mate, Josh Jackson is an explosive freshman, averaging 16.6 points and 7.1 boards per outing.

25-7 Purdue is not going to be bowled over by the impressive resume Kansas brings. They also won their conference - the Big Ten - handily, and lost in the opening round to - guess who? - Michigan, in the conference tournament. The Boilermakers are big inside and play a very controlled offense with few miscues. As it turns out, this may be one of the great match-ups of the tournament, with Purdue intent on controlling the paint and Kansas seeking to bomb from outside.

Oddsmakers have Kansas a 4 1/2-point favorite, but it may well be closer than that. Purdue beat #13 seed Vermont by 10 in the opening round and took down Iowa State (a thorn in the side of Kansas) 80-76. They're on a par with the Jayhawks here, but the game is really too close to call. Instinct says go with the #1 seed; emotion says pray for the underdog.

West Region:

(1) Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. (4) West Virginia Mountaineers
(7:39 pn ET, TBS)

Gonzaga (34-1) has been ranked in the top five all season and were undefeated until they lost the very last game of the season to BYU, 79-71. Apparently, the Zags just brushed it off, winning the WCC tournament with three straight wins, topping St. Mary's (for the third time this season) in the final, 74-56.

The Bulldogs whipped #16 South Dakota State by 20 in the opening round, then dispatched #8 Northwestern, 79-73, to move into this round. That game against the Wildcats may have been a tell for the Zags, as the knock on them is that they do not come from a major conference, thus, their gaudy record is unconvincing. Maybe so, but their non-conference schedule was not for the feint of heart, with Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Iowa State and Washington in the mix, and they beat them all.

Gonzaga has been close before, but, with the field thinned down and the demise of the ACC, this could be their year.

West Virginia didn't scare anybody all season, but they finished tied with Baylor for second place in the Big 12, with a record of 12-6, and they were 28-8 overall, plus, they have the distinct advantage of being coached by one of the greats, Bob Higgins, who rose to fame with Cincinnati. Of course, Gonzaga's Mark Few is certainly no slouch, so this game may mark a high point in coaching acuity. The Mountaineers, who lost in their conference tournament final to Iowa State, have shown the ability to tear up opponent's game plans with a deep, nine or ten-man rotation and scathing defense. They may have had a case of nervousness when they beat Bucknell, 86-80 in their opener, but showed all their skills dominating #5 Notre Dame, 83-71.

West Virginia is a three-point underdog, which is acceptable, but they can beat the Zags if they're on from three-point land. They have four players, including starters Esa Ahmad and Jevon Carter, who can hit at nearly 40% from beyond the arc. If Gonzaga gives up open looks, the Mountaineers will make them pay.

(2) Arizona Wildcats vs.
(11) Xavier Musketeers
(10:09 pm ET, TBS)

Of all the metch-ups presented for Thursday night, this one looks to be the most lopsided and the oddsmakers agree, installing the Arizona Wildcats as 8-point favorites. That's not unexpected, as Xavier, a #11 seed is the highest (or lowest, according to your own perspective) seed in the Sweet 16. The Musketeers are the one of the two remaining teams from the seven sent by the Big East, which included #1 seed and last year's champion, Villanova, so perhaps the Big East wasn't as "big" as the selection committee thought.

However, Xavier is a scrappy bunch, checking in with a 23-13 mark, after going just 9-9 in conference. In a way, the Musketeers simply shouldn't be here. They lost six straight near the end of the regular season, but then won two games in the Big East tourney before falling to Creighton in the semis. Once into the NCAA tournament, however, Xavier raised its game, taking down Maryland, 76-65, in the first round, then absolutely crushing Florida State, 91-66, to reach this level.

Arizona is another story altogether. They conquered the PAC-12 both in the regular season and in the conference tournament, having to deal with top-notch squads from UCLA and Oregon en route. Their 32-4 record includes tournament wins over #15 North Dakota, 100-82, and #7 St. Mary's, 69-60, the same team the #1 seed in the West, Gonzaga, whipped three times this season, so the Wildcats have taken measure of what may be their ultimate opponent in the region.

That does not mean they can look past Xavier. The Wildcats can play inside and out, especially with their resident Finnish frosh, Lauri Markkanen, who is a double-double match-up nightmare, capable of stroking it from the outside or taking to the hole. He averages 15.8 points and 7.2 rebounds and hits threes at a .433 rate. Allonzo Trier is the leading scoring, putting down 17.1 per game. The Wildcats go nine deep and they an all play. As a team they hit at 39.6% from three-point range. Look out. They'll beat the Musketeers and maybe win the whole shooting match.

Tomorrow: East and South Region Previews

2017 NCAA Championship Tournament Bracket Breakdown

Bracket Breakdown for Monday, March 13, 2017

Editor's Note: Unavoidably, this may be the last College Basketball Daily post until Thursday morning, at which point Fearless Rick may have managed to extricate himself from up to 18 inches of snow (therein lies the danger of opening one's camp too early). Our intrepid publisher made it through a windstorm that crippled Rochester NY, leaving more than 120,000 homes without power last week, and for surviving that in a camper on a windswept plain, he managed only to get cut off in eight seconds by AM radio talk show host Bob Lonsberry on WHAM, Monday morning. In any case, the snow storm is expected to be not quite as severe as the windstorm, but travel will likely be impossible Tuesday and Wednesday. Good luck with your brackets. We'll be listening, and tracking the four play-in games.

Let's break down some brackets, shall we?

Link to ESPN's 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket (opens new window)

East: #1 seed, Villanova Wildcats. The reigning champs are in good company in their home region, their first game a meeting with the winner of the Mount St. Mary's-New Orleans play-in game. Villanova will be making it's initial tournament appearance of the season on Thursday night in Buffalo, which, as noted above, might include a bit of a travel issue. Note to Wildcats and their fans: leave Philly NOW! It's about six hours to Buffalo and you won't make the drive on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Other notables in Villanova's portion of the East bracket are Florida, Virginia, and Wisconsin, though none of these teams have been playing particularly well. Look out for #13 seed East Tennessee State. The 27-7 Buccaneers won the Southerrn conference tournament and are upset-minded.

Villanova should cruise through their bracket into the Sweet Sixteen, and play for the regional title that weekend, potentially against Duke, the #2 seed. The Blue Devils won the ACC tournament, and, as usual, are ready to rock. They face Troy in their opener, and will likely have to deal with South Carolina, then Baylor or SMU. The 30-4 Mustangs have won 16 straight and knocked off Cincinnati to capture the American Athletic conference tourney title. They get the winner of the Providence-USC play-in game to start and could be a real tournament sleeper. Overall, the #6 line - SMU, Creighton, Cincinnati, Maryland - looks pretty formidable, but this is set up for a Villanova-Duke meeting in the Big Apple, with the winner advancing to the Final Four. There's a real chance that it could happen, but #1 meeting #2 in a region is not all that probable. Odds are that the Blue Devils get knocked off somewhere before meeting the Wildcats.

Midwest: #1 seed: Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas skipped the Big 12 tournament by losing in their opener, 85-82, to TCU. It should be readily apparent that despite getting six teams from the Big 12 into the tournament, the Horned Frogs and their 6-12 conference record are not among them. Is this a black eye for the Jayhawks? Probably, but it won't be noticeable until the regional semi-final, when they'll likely meet either Iowa State or Purdue. In the unlikely event that they get past one of those, Michigan, Louisville (#2 seed), Oregon or #6 seed Creighton await in the regional final. The Jayhawks are a liability to the tournament and will get an early boot. Reaching the Final Four is like their Big 12 counterpart in football, Oklahoma, playing for the national championship. It's just ont going to happen. Iowa State already beat them, 92-89, in Kansas and the Cyclones are probably drooling for another shot at their conference nemesis. Also, this just in: KU head coach Bill Self is a jerk. Enough. The Midwest is loaded and Kansas won't survive. Iowa State may be the team to beat here.

South: #1 seed: North Carolina Tar Heels. There's something about North Carolina and this tournament that brings back fond memories. Ah, yes, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan. That has to be it, or, maybe, Dean Smith smoking outside the locker room at halftime. In any case, the Tar Heels are a #1 seed, despite losing to Duke in the ACC final, 93-83. But, that's all right, because Carolina beat Duke, 90-83, a week prior, wrapping up the ACC regular season title, which is probably a more deserving honor. Besides, the only way the Heels would play the Devils again would be in the NCAA final, and that would make any bracketologist blush at the mere notion of picking ACC chalk all the way through.

After dispatching with Texas Southern in their opener Friday afternoon (Greenville, SC), the Heels will kick it against either #8 Arkansas or #9 Seton Hall. Both are good teams, but unlikely to spring an upset. Take the Pirates in their opener, because, well, everybody likes Pirates, right?

The one hiccup in the South may come from little Middle Tennessee State, a 30-4 squad that stormed through Conference USA with a 17-1 mark, won the conference tourney without breaking a sweat (83-72 over Marshall in the final) and can play with any team in the country. If proof is needed, try their 77-62 win over Ole Miss or, better yet, the 71-48 beat down they put on Vanderbilt. Both of those games were way back in late November, early December, so, the Blue Raiders may be even better now. They're the #12 seed and face #5 Minnesota Thursday afternoon in Milwaukee. Nothing like your home boys getting crushed by some unknowns from the South.

On the other side of the South bracket are two powerhouse programs, UCLA and Kentucky, making this region possibly the toughest in the tourney, with the Midwest next. The #2 Wildcats and #3 Bruins should both reach the regional semi-final, the winner (hint: UCLA) taking on the Tar Heels. (Hint: UCLA). The Pac-12 sent just four teams to the tournament. Arizona, UCLA, Oregon and USC. Since the Ducks have come up lame and USC isn't very good, that leaves the doors wide open for AZ and UCLA. See below for Arizona's road to the Final Four.

West #1 seed: Gonzaga Bulldogs At 31-1, the Zags have the best record in the nation, but they hail from a notoriously-weak West Coast Conference. Only they and St. Mary's made the tournament, which is about all one needs to know about Gonzaga other than their head coach, Mark Few, is one of the best in the nation. He's repeatedly taken this team deep into the tournament and this may be one of the best Gonzaga teams ever.

Despite the high praise for the coach and the program, Gonzaga faces a myriad of obstacles. In their side of the bracket are #8 Northwestern, #5 Notre Dame (vs. #12 Princeton), and #4 West Virginia. Any one of those four teams could upend the Zags. If Gonzaga makes it through to the regional final, their likely opponent is Arizona, who has no competition to speak of in their side of the bracket. #6 Marquette, #11 Xavier, #3 Florida State, and #10 VCU aren't nearly the caliber of the Wildcats, who quietly went 30-4, won the PAC-12 tournament by defeating both UCLA in the semis and Oregon in the final. If there is a rock-solid pick to reach any regional final and probably the Final Four, it's Arizona.

In case anybody wants to go out on a limb and predict the Final Four and the ultimate champion, College Basketball Daily will do so. After all, what other publication has a guy who goes by the name Fearless Rick as editor and publisher? Um, none.

So, it's Villanova from the East, Iowa State from the Midwest, UCLA from the South, and Arizona from the West.

East plays West and Midwest plays South. Let's take Arizona over Villanova and Iowa State over UCLA, with Arizona beating the Cyclones, 87-78, in the championship.

Easy, right?

Good luck and enjoy.

As usual, College Basketball Daily will provide somewhat untimely and incomplete coverage of almost the entire tournament, including our non-exclusive conference scoreboard. For those interested, here are the number of teams from each conference (showing only those with two or more teams invited):
ACC 9
Big East 7
Big Ten 7
Big 12 6
SEC 5
Pac-12 4
Atlantic 10 3
American Athletic 2
West Coast 2

Freshman Lauri Markkanen Scores 26 With 13 Rebounds in Arizona Win Over Washington

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, February 18, 2017

College teams in the PAC-12 and down the road in the NCAA tourney had best acquaint themselves with #5 Arizona's Freshman Finn, seven-footer Lauri Markkanen, who tallied 26 points and 13 boards in the Wildcats' 76-68 victory at Washington Saturday.

Markkanen, who hails from Jyvaskyla, Finland, is a potent scorer, who is equally deadly near the rim or from three-point range, where he splashes at a .457 clip. Though he did not connect on two attempts from beyond the arc Saturday, he was 9-for-17 overall and canned eight of nine from the charity stripe. He leads Arizona in minutes, scoring (15.7) and rebounding (7.5), and has the Wildcats a game better than second place Oregon in the conference standings, at 14-1 (25-3 overall).

Arizona won their fourth straight, following an 85-58 drubbing at Oregon two weeks ago, and they won't play the Ducks again unless they meet up in the conference tourney. The Wildcats have just three games left in the regular season, with a home game against #6 UCLA looming as the potential conference title clincher. UCLA is 11-3 in the conference, 2 1/2 games back after blasting USC on Saturday, 102-70.

Arizona, Oregon and UCLA look like locks for the NCAA tournament, with either Colorado or Cal becoming the fourth team from the PAC-12 to get invited, hinging largely on their performance in the conference tournament.

Notable: Mike Daum of South Dakota State scored a career-high 51 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the Jackrabbits' 97-89 win over the Fort Wayne Mastadons (no really, that's their chosen name). Daum's point total was the highest in the NCAA this season.

Sunday Spotlight: #23 Maryland plays at #11 Wisconsin, Sunday at 1:00 pm ET in a Big Ten showdown. Both the Terps and Badgers trail Purdue by 1/2 game in the conference standings, making the game a must-see (CBS has the national broadcast) despite the NCAA tournament committee completely shunning the Big Ten in their early top 16 seedings last week.

NCAA Tournament: Sweet 16 Regional Semi-Final Thursday Night Previews, Looks Like Wildcat Night

Sweet 16 Regional Semi-Final Previews

Midwest Region
7:15 pm (7) Wichita State (30-4) vs (3) Notre Dame (31-5) CBS - This is likely to be the most entertaining game of the evening, as both teams like to get up and down the floor and can really light it up from beyond the arc.

The Irish are quite a dangerous commodity, presently, having beaten Duke and North Carolina to win the ACC tournament, and gutting out close wins over Northeastern (69-65) and Butler, beating the Bulldogs in overtime, 67-64.
Wichita State downed Indiana in their tourney opener and then stunned the region's #2 seed, Kansas, with a 78-65 whipping. The Shockers were fortunate to receive a seeding that kept them on the underside of the Kentucky bracket and there is little doubt that they can match up quite well with Notre Dame.

9:45 pm (5) West Virginia (25-9) vs (1) Kentucky (36-0) CBS - Knocked out of the Big 12 tournament in the first round by Baylor, Bob Huggins' Mountaineers may be the tournament's poster boys for overachievement, knocking off Buffalo, 68-62, and then Maryland, 69-59, to get to this game against the Wildcats.

The chances of West Virginia pulling off the upset over the nation's #1 team? Slim. Kentucky has too much size on the front line and too much skill in the back court, which can involve as many as four guards, including the twins, Andrew and Aaron Harrison. Since LSU nearly ended Kentucky's undefeated run on February 10 in a 71-69 loss, the closest any team has come to beating the Wildcats is Georgia, which lost, at home, 72-64. In the SEC tournament, won by 13, 24 and 15 points, and their average magin of victory in the NCAA tourney has been 18 points.

West Region
7:47 pm (4) North Carolina (26-11) vs (1) Wisconsin (33-3) TBS - A real heavyweight battle here between two teams that are perennial tournament participants. Wisconsin has been to the tourney 17 straight seasons and are likely to be moving forward here. Frank Kaminsky leads a veteran group that is notorious for closing out opponents. The Tar Heels have had a successful season up to this point, but they've often wilted in late stages of games. It will be noteworthy to watch what happens at about the seven-minute mark of the second half. That should be about the time the teams will either show up or give in to pressure.

10:17 pm (6) Xavier (23-13) vs (2) Arizona (33-3) TBS - Viewers on the East coast haven't likely seen much of the Wildcats, but they're about to get an eyeful from this well-balanced and very dangerous team. Arizona has won 13 straight, their last loss an 81-78 defeat at in-state rival Arizona State on February 7. That's history, and the Wildcats steamrolled through the PAC-12 tourney with wins of 22, 14, and 28 points, slaughtering Oregon, 80-52 in the final. A 93-72 win over Texas Southern in their first toruney game and a ho-hum, 73-58 rout of Ohio State has them here.

Xavier hasn't met much competition in the tourney, beating Ole Miss in their opener and handling upstart Georgia State (a 14 seed) in the next round. Teams from the Big East have a 5-5 record in the tournament through the last round, while the PAC-12 boasts a 7-1 mark.

Tomorrow: Friday games previewed.

2015 Non-essential, Indeterminate Guide to Surviving NCAA Bracket Pools

Quite possibly, more time is wasted and more work hours spent in an unproductive manner on filling out brackets for the NCAA tournament every year than by any other outside influence.

No event captures the imagination and gaming instincts of the American public (an easy group to engage) like the annual rite of March Madness, but, in the end, almost everybody goes home a loser, while some overfed, testosterone-overdosed moron in the office or workspace lauds his or her game-picking prowess over the unfortunate few who suffer the fool.

Remember, Kentucky wins.

Not that there may or may not be a science to correctly picking four (the First Four), 32, then 16, then 8, 4, 2 and finally one game correctly. Some people actually make a living at it, like ESPN's Joe Lunardi, often referred to as the bracket guru or tournament maestro, though it would be interesting to tally up how many of Joe's predictions actually pan out. At the very least, Joe Lunardi has emerged far enough into the American psyche that he now has his very own drinking game, played during ESPN's Championship Week.

It's an easy game. Watch games on ESPN. Any time Joe Lunardi is mentioned by name (often), drink. Guaranteed to please.

Beyond the obvious need to engage in picking winners, without further ado, College Basketball Daily presents its first - and maybe last - guide to picking your brackets without losing your mind, a lot of money or your personal dignity.

The 2015 edition of the NCAA tournament is pretty easy to break down. Kentucky will win it all. Simple enough, right? Just take Kentucky all the way through and you're guaranteed to end up in the winner's circle of your office pool or Calcutta... along with about a zillion other players. So, our advice is neither prescient nor the stuff of genius, though it is an indefatigable prescription for being right on six games, all of which will be won by the Wildcats.

After those six nearly-guaranteed winners, there are only 61 games remaining to pick. Nothing to it. We'll give you some tips and pointers along the way which will make some sense and maybe produce a plurality of winners.

Tip #1: Take conference champions over at-large teams. Simply put, teams who captured automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments (except for Harvard in the Ivy League, where they have no post-season tournament, though the Crimson did win a one-game playoff over Yale) are battle tested in single-elimination competition. That said, the selection committee was a little hard to read when they made Iowa State and Notre Dame - winners of the Big 12 and ACC tournaments, respectively - #3 seeds, while making Duke, which didn't even win the ACC regular season (Virginia did) and was eliminated in the semi-final by Notre Dame, a #1 seed. The other three #1 seeds - Kentucky, Villanova and Wisconsin - all won their conference tourneys, so what gives? Yet another reason to hate Duke.

Tip #2: Low-number seeds over high-number seeds, 1 through 4. The parlance used in terms of seeds can become confusing. Somebody might say Louisville is seeded higher than Iowa, for instance, but what that actually means is that Louisville is a #4, while Iowa is a #7. Confusing? No. Reverse logic. Simply put, take the #1, 2, 3, and 4 seeds in each region over their opponents in the opening round, unless advised otherwise. We'll get to that in the region-by-region breakdown.

Tip #3: Upsets are common in 7-10 and 5-12 match-ups. #11 seeds don't often beat #6's, and 8's vs. 9's are toss-ups, though sometimes mismatches.

Tip #4: After the opening round games on Thursday and Friday of the first week, it's wide open. - Anybody can win once they've gotten through the first game, but, odds are the lower-number (higher) seeds will survive. Some teams will surely surprise, but those are often teams which won their conference tournaments or teams from big conferences that lost in the final.

Tip #5: Don't listen to experts. Whether it's some guy on a talk-radio show, ESPN or the reigning champion of your office pool, who has done nithing but drink beer and watch basketball for the past two months, they will almost always give bad advice. All. The. Time. A good example was whether or not UCLA would be in this year's tournament. All the experts said, "no way." we said, "absolutely," our reasoning being that we figured the PAC-12 would send four teams to the tourney. We're not experts, and, lo and behold, we were right.

Tip #6: If you don't do well, don't worry about it. A lot of what goes into picking winners in the NCAA tournament has to do with dumb luck, voodoo, i-Ching, tarot cards, tea leaves, astrology and alchemy. Most of it is bunk. You're a good person, and you might even be a smart person. Just because Kansas loses to Northern Iowa or some other malady of fate occurs, doesn't change who you are. Unless you're a complete loser whose entire existence revolves around being right or this particular tournament, of course, then losing might cause some disturbing personal reactions, like not bathing for a couple of weeks, or throwing your TV out a window (this has happened), or not showing up for work, which might actually be a silver lining to both your boss and your co-workers.

Tip #7: After the second weekend, it can get really boring, really fast. The first two weekends are exciting, with games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and lots of teams involved. By Saturday and Sunday of the second weekend, however, it's down to the Elite Eight - and, while those games are usually some of the most exciting of the tournament, being regional finals, the winner going to the Final Four, after that, there are only three games left, and they're a week away, the semi-finals on Saturday and the National Championship, Monday night.

That week can get tiresome, especially if you've already been eliminated in your pool, and even moreso if a couple of guys are making everyone else crazy arguing over who's going to get that $136 final prize. Whether you're still alive or not, get some fresh air, do some yard work, take a bike ride. Ferchistsake! It's a basketball tournament. Get a life, or, get yours back.

Now that we have the tips out of the way, on to the breakdown.

Let's start with those pesky First Four games on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Tuesday's games are:
6:40 PM (16) Hampton vs (16) Manhattan - Hampton is the only team in the tournament with a losing record (16-17), despite winning the Mid-Eastern tournament. Did you know that they beat Delaware St. to get the automatic bid? No? Nobody else does either and nobody cares. Manhattan beat Sienna to win the Metro-Atlantic. And they won by 10 points. And they're called the Jaspers, defined as an opaque reddish-brown variety of chalcedony. Cool. They are the pick.

9:10 PM (11) BYU vs (11) Ole Miss - BYU can really light up the scoreboard. Good enough. Both of these teams were at-large selections. Cougars maul Rebels. Excellent.

Wednesday:
6:40 PM (16) Robert Morris vs (16) North Florida - Both are tournament winners with automatic bids, North Florida from the Atlantic Sun, Robert Morris from the Northeast. North Florida's team name is the Ospreys. Good enough. You'll look like a genius.


9:10 PM (11) Dayton vs (11) Boise State - Dayton lost to VCU in the Atlantic 10 final. Take a flyer on the Flyers. But, shouldn't it be spelled fliers? Never mind. They'll probably lose in the next round.

OK, since everybody figures the Wildcats will be crowned national champions come April 6, the Midwest region where Kentucky is the #1 seed and the #1 overall seed in the tournament starts the region-by-region breakdown.

Midwest Region

You've already penciled in Kentucky, right? For the remainder, follow our tips, which means #12 Buffalo (MAC champs) over #5 West Virginia (at-large) is the main upset. After Kentucky, the 2, 3, and 4 seeds should all win. In the 6-11 match-up, Butler (6) should handle Texas (11). Wichita State and Indiana, that's a toss-up. Flip a coin. And, #9 Purdue should handle #8 Cincinnati.

After the opening round, keep to our tips and keep this in mind. Kansas lost in their conference tournament. They are not that good and could conceivably lose either of their first two games. Notre Dame won their's. If they meet, the Irish will move forward ad probably lose to Kentucky in the regional final.

West Region

OK, now it gets interesting, because the #1 seed, Wisconsin, may not get through to the Final Four. They might, but #2 Arizona, #3 Baylor and #4 North Carolina all look pretty darn good.

In the opening round, #7 VCU should oust #10 Ohio State. The winner of the BYU-Ole Miss game gets #6 Xavier on Thursday night and could easily upset. Oregon (8) over Oklahoma State (9) and #12 Woffard will give #5 Arkansas a heck of a time. That's a key game, but Arkansas is likely to pull through.

After the opening round, this region looks pretty chalky and could easily end up with the top four seeds. In that case, Wisconsin will likely get past North Carolina and Arizona should beat Baylor. Arizona is a very good choice to win this region. They won the PAC-12 tournament and the PAC-12 isn't getting much respect.

East Region

Winners of the Big East, Villanova, the #1 seed, looks vulnerable, but the competition in this region is weak. This could be the one that blows up. The 8-9 game, NC State vs. LSU is a pure toss-up, as is the 5-12 game, Northern Iowa and Wyoming. Both won their conference tournaments, but Wyoming might be the ultimate sleeper pick. Might not, but, if they win, you'll look awesome... for about a day.

Providence, the 6 seed, could be awesome, but they may fall to the winner of the play-in game, Boise St. or Dayton. Michigan State got in as a 7, and they look good for at least a win, but they'll probably lose to Virginia in the next round. Also, #4 Louisville has trouble scoring at times and UC-Irvine won the Big West. Could be the upset of the weekend. Any combination could end up in the regionals, but stick with #2 Virginia. One could take Villanova, Virginia, UC-Irvine, Oklahoma, Providence or Michigan State to make the Final Four. This is wide open.

South Region

Duke got the #1 seed in this region and should make it through the first weekend without a problem. After that, Utah could beat them, or, either (2) Gonzaga or (3) Iowa State in the regional final, should knock them out. But, they're good, and they're Duke, but, you don't really want to pick Duke, do you?

As usual, the 8-9 (San Diego St. vs. St. John's) game is unpickable. #5 Utah is a good sleeper in this region, as is #10 Davidson. #11 UCLA should slip by SMU, but they'll lose to a very strong Iowa State team, winners of the Big 12 tournament.

Georgetown is the weakest #4 team in the tournament. #13 Eastern Washington (Big Sky champions) could get them. If not, Utah surely will in the following round.

#2 Gonzaga is one of just three teams that could beat Kentucky, though that's a questionable call. The other two are Notre Dame and Arizona.

Final Four: Midwest plays West, East plays South. Whichever team comes out of the South region will beat the East region representative, which means, either Gonzaga, Iowa State, or, heaven forbid, Duke, could meet the Wildcats in the Final. Arizona could upset Kentucky, but not likely.

Kentucky wins. Didn't we say that already?

Solomon Hill Scores 21 as Arizona Remains Undefeated

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, December 25, 2012

There were no college basketball games played on the US mainland Christmas Day, but eight teams took to the hardwood in Hawaii as the Diamond Head Classic concluded.

#17 San Diego State and #3 Arizona advanced to the finals in a match-up of Top 25 teams, and, for much of the game, it appeared the Wildcats would become the latest unbeaten team to suffer its first loss.

Down by as many as eight points, the Wildcats rallied to a 68-67 victory, preserved by Nick Johnson's swat of an attempted layup by the Aztecs' Chase Tapley as the final seconds ticked away.

Senior forward Soloman Hill led all scorers with a season-high 21 points, making seven of 15 from the field and adding another seven points from the foul line. Hill also grabbed six boards and handed out three assists for the 12-0 Wildcats.

Arizona is one of just five undefeated teams in Division 1. Duke, Michigan, Cincinnati and Wyoming are the others. Soon to be plying their skills against a watered-down PAC-12, the Wildcats are poised to make a serious run to the conference championship and into the NCAA tourney come March.

The Wildcats open conference play with a pair of home games on January 3rd and 5th, facing Utah and Colorado, the two newest members of the expanded conference.

Derrick Williams Leads Wildcats Past Duke, Into Elite 8

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, March 24, 2011

On a night in which the three leading candidates for NCAA player of the year were all in action, Arizona's Derrick Williams outdid Kemba Walker, Nolan Smith and Jimmer Fredette.

Williams, only a sophomore, but possessive of enormous talent, led his youthful Wildcats to a stunning 93-77 rout of reigning national champion, Duke.

Hitting on 11 of 17 shots from the field, Williams showed both his inside and outside game, making 5 of 6 three-pointers en route to a game-high 32 points, also his career high. Duke had no answers for him on the boards, either, as Williams hauled in 13 rebounds, six of them on the offensive end.

The Wildcats, winners of the PAC-10 regular season and carrying a 30-7 record overall, advanced to the West region final on Saturday against the Connecticut Huskies.

Sweet 16 Results and Recaps - Thursday Games

Four teams moved on in the tournament on Thursday, setting up match-ups for Saturday's games, the winners advancing to the Final Four in Houston, Texas.

Southeast

Florida 83 BYU 74, OT - Jimmer Fredette had one of the worst shooting performances of his life and it cost the Cougars dearly. Fredette scored 32 points, but he hit just 11 of 29 shots, including 3-for-15 from beyond the arc. Florida's Alex Tyus, however, had the game of his life, scoring 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting and ripping down 17 rebounds, both tops for Florida. Florida had a chance to win it in regulation, but Chandler Parsons' short jumper at the buzzer never really had a chance.

Butler 61 Wisconsin 54 - The Badgers shot just 30% from the field and had just 17 field goals overall, allowing the Bulldogs to build on their lead in the second half. Late-game sloppiness by Butler allowed Wisconsin to close to within four points, but they could not complete the comeback. Matt Howard was at his usual best, leading Butler with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Florida faces Butler on Saturday at 4:20 pm ET, the winner advancing from the Southeast region to the Final Four.

West

Connecticut 74 San Diego State 67 - The Kemba Walker road show rolled on, and now includes his sidekick, Jeremy Lamb. Walker was sensational, and may have locked up player of the year with his 36-point performance as his two main adversaries - Jimmer Fredette and Nolan Smith - both were bounced from the tourney. Lamb, a freshman out of Norcross, Georgia, tied his career high with 24 points, on 9-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-3 on treys. Lamb has notched double figures in each of UConn's last nine games, all wins. His emergence as a second scoring threat and the overall exceptional play of Walker have propelled the Huskies to the brink of greatness.

Arizona 93 Duke 77 - Coach K will have to wait until next season to shatter Bob Knight's all-time NCAA wins record of 902. The Blue Devils were stopped in their tracks by the surprise team of the tournament, Arizona, who now have blasted through Memphis, Texas and Duke thanks to their sensational sophomores, led by Derrick Williams, who led the way with 32 points and 13 boards.

Arizona and Connecticut hook up on Saturday at 6:55 pm ET to determine the Final Four entrant from the West region.

Arizona Wins 7th Straight as Williams Clicks for 26

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 17, 2011

With much of the focus on the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12, quietly cruising up the Top 25 is the only team from the PAC-10 seemingly with any credence, the Arizona Wildcats.

The Cats have risen to #12 i the AP Poll, mostly because they lead the PAC-10, a conference that has been on the skids lately, though teams from the marginalized group actually fared pretty well in last year's NCAA tourney.

It's not like the Wildcats are running away in the regular season standings. At 11-2, they're just a game ahead of 10-3 UCLA and another 1/2 game better than 10-4 Washington. The Wildcats beat UCLA a couple of weeks ago and the score wasn't very close, but they have a rematch, Saturday, Feb. 26, on the Bruins' home court where things could go differently.

Washington handled Arizona, 85-68, back in January, in Washington, and the Huskies come to Arizona Saturday to complete the season series.

That will be an interesting game by which to gauge both squads, as the Huskies are just 4-3 since beating the Wildcats. Arizona, on the other hand, is 7-0, after having taken the measure of Washington State Thursday, by a 79-70 score.

In that game, sophomore Derrick Williams did what he's done in every game this season, score in double figures, putting down 26 points for the Wildcats on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and canning all 12 of his free throws. Williams, who has eight double-doubles this season, came close, with 8 rebounds.

Which team wins the PAC-10 won't really make much difference in the larger tournament scheme of things, because after Washington, the next best team is only 7-7, that being Washington State. The other six members of the conference all all under .500, so it is reasonable to assume that the PAC-10 will send only three teams to the tourney: Arizona, UCLA and Washington.

Wildcats Lead PAC-10 Behind Derrick Williams

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 3, 2011

Emerging as the team to beat in the PAC-10, the Arizona Wildcats began a string of three straight road games with a 78-69 victory over Stanford Thursday night.

It was the second time the Wildcats have defeated the Cardinal as they rolled to an 8-2 record in the conference behind 21 points and 8 rebounds from their do-it-all forward, Derrick Williams.

Williams, a 6'8" sophomore who leads the team in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, three-point shooting, blocks and steals, scored in double figures for the 32nd straight game, dating back to last February.

At 13-4, the Wildcats' losses have been to Kansas, BYU, Oregon State and Washington, but they'll need to find more scoring to complement Williams if they intend to advance far this March.

PAC-10 Madness: Struggling Bruins Drop Second Straight

After being bounced hard by #18 Arizona State on Thursday night, 74-67, #11 UCLA hit another speed bump when visiting the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday.

The Wildcats stormed out of the gate, opening up a 49-31 lead at the half, eventually winning 84-72, though the game was not nearly as close as the score indicated. Arizona led by as many as 25 points in the second half, even though the Bruins cut the deficit to 9 near the end of the game.

With the Bruins falling into a three-way tie for second place in the PAC-10, joined at 8-4 by Arizona State and Cal, the conference is up for grabs. Current leader, Washington, is 10-3 in conference play and 19-6 overall. They have the same overall record as both the Bruins and Cal.

Arizona is 18-8 overall and 8-5 in the conference, but is clearly the hottest team in the PAC-10, winning 7 straight after beginning conference play at 2-5 and being nearly written off as a contender.

The way they are playing, however, national ranking and a NCAA bid could be in their immediate future. If the Wildcats can continue playing well through the final five regular season games and perform well in the PAC-10 tourney (March 11-14 at the Staples Center in LA), they could even receive an automatic bid.

The task will be a daunting one for Arizona. Their next three games are all on the road: at Arizona St., Washington St. and Washington.

Alabama, Arizona lose again

Tide has lost 4 of last 6; Wildcats 5 of 7

What does it say about the state of the current poll that the #12 team has lost 4 conference games already and the #17 team just lost at home by 28 points?

Well, it means the polls are going to see some changes on Monday, and also that they shouldn't be used as a reliable guide to which teams are really the best, especially after the top 5 or 6.

There were no Top 25 games on Friday night, and a slew of them on Saturday.

In the essence of time, I'll just recap quickly:

Unranked Arkansas beat #12 Alabama for the second time this season, 63-57, this time on the Tide's home hardwood. #4 North Carolina calmly executed its offense and the #17 Arizona Wildcats, 92-64, in Arizona.

BYU grounded #16 Air Force, 61-52, in Provo, UT.

#20 Washington State lost at home in overtime to #7 Oregon, 77-74.

Saturday's Top #25 home winners:

#5 Ohio St. 66 Michigan St. 64
#6 Texas A&M 70 Oklahoma 61
#8 Kansas 97 Colorado 74
#11 Memphis 67 Southern Miss 64
#9 Pittsburgh72 St. John's 46
#13 Oklahoma St. 62 Iowa St. 50
#18 Nevada 79 Utah St. 62
#22 Notre Dame 66 Villanova 63
#23 Indiana 76 Michigan 61

Road winners:

#1 Florida 91 Auburn 66
#14 Butler 68 Detroit 58
#21 USC 76 California 73

Top 25 recaps; Arizona rallies past Memphis, 79-71

UCLA 75 Sam Houston St. 61 - Late last night. The Bruins go to 10-0 and remain #1 in the polls.

(10) Alabama 82 N.C. State 75 - Nice road win for the Crimson Tide. Richard Hendrix poured in 23 to lead the way as Alabama improved to 10-1.

Florida 88 Stetson 67 - Call this Florida win balanced. The Gators scored 44 in each half and had five players in double digits, in a tight range from Dan Werner's 10 to Walter Hodge's high of 17. 10-2 Florida is a perfect 8-0 at home.

Connecticut 88 Pepperdine 66 - The Huskies improved to 10-0 despite shooting a dreadful 3-14 on threes. They may not have much touch from the outside, but the lanky Huskies may not need it. They've scored 81 or more points in each of their last six outings.

Arizona 79 Memphis 71 - In one of tonight's featured games, the Memphis Tigers led 38-33 at the half, but fell behind as both Robert Dozier and Joey Dorsey committed their 4th foul before the halfway point of the 2nd half and spent extended minutes on the bench. Arizona took command and expanded a 5-point lead to as many as 11 points. Mustafa Shakur and freshman forward Chase Budinger had key points down the stretch to help finish off the Tigers. Budinger finished with 18. Shakur led all scorers with 23. With all the hoopla over UCLA, the Wildcats appear ready to challenge them for the Pac-10 title.

(12) LSU at (17) Washington - West coast; see tomorrow's post.