NCAA Preview, Round 2

Recapping the First Round, we see strong teams, weak teams, and the most amorphous collection of middle teams ever. Every number 7 seed lost to the number 10, every 8 lost to the 9. This is an unprecedented failure of seeding and it was pretty near impossible to predict.

That said, I didn't do a bad job on the first round games. My overall record was an uninspiring 22-10. But if we narrow things to the 16 seeded teams, I got every game right. Not that getting the Duke-Fla. A&M game right was a demonstration of insight, but I daresay I was the only predictor who found the only two teams in the top sixteen to lose, North Carolina and Arizona. Let's look at the regions:

East

I knew I didn't want to have Wisconsin, I couldn't imagine that they'd go so dead as to hold the SW Missouri to 43 points and not be in the game!

Surprise team: Tulsa

Rising Stock: Cincinnati

Declining: Tennessee

South

I had this region pretty wired, going 7-1, the only loser being Louisville, which blew a 13 point second half lead.

Surprise: Creighton -- where did that second-half defense come from?

Rising: Indiana --108 points is a lot of points in the NBA

Declining: No one, the top teams were very efficient

Midwest

Szczerbiak was very healthy and Miami won a squeaker. UNCC edged RI in OT; I said I loved Harrick as a dog, unfortunately he was a slight favorite. Oh well.

Surprise: Oklahoma (although not to me)

Rising: Kentucky

Declining: Pac 10 Conference (1-3)

West

Penn blew a double digit second half lead, rerunning their debacle against Princeton. Kenny Thomas was 100% and UNM won the squeaker vs. Missouri.

Surprise: Weber St.

Rising: Florida

Declining: Stanford

 

Predictions:

East:

Duke over Tulsa, Miami over Purdue, both easily

Cincinnatti shouldn't have much trouble with Temple

Tennessee over SW Missouri : this may be ugly

South:

Auburn over Oklahoma State: not this round, but the clock is ticking on the Tigers

Maryland over Creighton: too much talent for Terps

St. John's over Indiana: Grant and Thornton are healthy, this should be the best game of the day

Ohio St. over Detroit: they beat UCLA, they have a story for the grandkids

Midwest:

Michigan St. over Mississippi: have to respect SEC, 6-0 in first round, but MSU has talent edge

Utah over Miami, OH: he carried them this far, but it's tough to do it again 48 hours later

Kentucky over Kansas: mighty classy battle for second round

Oklahoma over UNCC: it's a tossup, let's give Cinderalla the call

West:

Uconn over New Mexico: on a mission, next game may be tougher

Stanford over Gonzaga: not happy about either of their games Thursday; Stanford struggled against Alcorn, Gonzaga let a team shredded by suspensions back in the game, Cardinal has the class edge

Florida over Weber St: classy performance by Florida's kids vs Penn, great win by Weber vs NC

Arkansas over Iowa: Tom Davis never wins a second round game, but it should be entertaining

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Bonus selection: Lennox Lewis over Evander Holyfield

He's been attacked for having no heart and beating no one, but I think it's time for Evander to lose. Remember, Riddick Bowe ducked this guy, lost to him in the amateurs, and Bowe beat Evander two of three (and I thought it was three of three).

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