NCAA Tournament Picks 2016: First Four
East Region 11-seed: Michigan vs. Tulsa, Wednesday 9:10 p.m. ET
For a First Four game, there has certainly been plenty of talk around this. Experts and fans have questioned the decision to place Tulsa in this contest over a team like Monmouth or St. Mary’s given their tournament resume. However, the talk will end once the ball tips against the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday.
Tulsa is coming off a 3rd place finish in the American Athletic Conference and lost in the second round of the conference tournament. It was expected that they needed to make a longer run last week, but the committee placed them in as an 11-seed after being crushed by Memphis in the quarterfinals.
The Golden Hurricane are led by guard James Woodard. While is coming off a rough 3 for 8 game from the field against the Tigers, the senior is the team’s leading scorer who will be relied on in this game. Fellow senior guard Shaquille Harrison will also be relied on for help as well.
As for Michigan, they are coming off a deep run in the Big Ten tournament. They defeated No. 1 seed Indiana in the quarterfinals, which may have confirmed a spot in the Big Dance for the Wolverines.
Injuries have hurt Big Blue, though, as they have been without top player Caris Levert for most of the season. They have managed with help from the supporting cast, however, with Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman stepping up.
The prediction for this First Four game is Michigan going over Tulsa to go on to face Notre Dame on Thursday.