2017 NCAA Tournament: East Region Sweet Sixteen Predictions
Wow, Madison Square Garden has to be upset right now. They are hosting the 2017 NCAA Tournament East Region finals, but both Villanova and Duke were knocked out in the first weekend, so they are left with Baylor and Florida. Not that those are bad teams, but it just isn’t what was expected. Not having a Big East team at a tournament played in New York seems sacrilegious.
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That doesn’t mean that there weren’t any upsets and wont be any more. The East Bracket has no seed higher than a three left. The South has the whole top four left. We have one 11 seed still alive in the second weekend. What more mayhem is in store?
That still doesn’t mean that the round by round tournament isn’t interesting. I know there is a good chance that my brackets can go up in smoke at any minute since every team this year is flawed.
So far, I have 39 points in the round by round, if you include the First Four. I’m in the high middle of the pack, but with each game only being worth one point, it’s a lot more difficult to make up ground this way. Such is the advantage of picking by the round, I guess.
Let’s check out the Midwest Regional Semifinals, and who has a chance to advance to Saturday!
(4)Florida vs. (8)Wisconsin:
With all due respect to Xavier, Florida had the most dominant second round performance. The Gators held Virginia to just 39 points! We all knew that Virginia has had problems scoring this year, but that was bad, even for them. The Cavs were held under 30% (29.6%) from the floor.
This was the lowest point total for the Cavs since 2013 when Wisconsin held them to 38. Florida actually had a 21-0 run in the second half in this one. Devin Robinson had another good game for Florida. Both he and Justin Leon picked up double-doubles. The Gators may be playing their best basketball of the year right now. It wouldn’t be the first time that Florida peaked in the tournament.
Wisconsin had a little tougher road to Madison Square Garden. Wisconsin’s seniors have now made the Sweet Sixteen every year. They are the only team that can claim that. They have also knocked off three number one seeds in the last four tournaments.
Villanova looked vulnerable in the first round, but they came out and played a pretty good game here, but Kris Jenkins still could not get going. The Wildcats suffered disappointment in Buffalo for the second time in four years.
Wisconsin is a battle-tested team, especially in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers have won 13 tournament games over the last four years. How can Florida counteract that?
Glad you asked. Kasey Hill is going to cause problems for Wisconsin, who is large but not particularly fast. However, Hill is going to have problems creating shots for himself. Robinson and Leon are going to have a hard time with Nigel Hayes and the host of bigs in the middle for Wisconsin.
Both teams are good defensively, but I trust Wisconsin’s body of work a little more. Until the tournament, the only ranked team the Gators had beaten was Kentucky in Gainesville. The Badgers beat Indiana twice, Minnesota twice, Michigan, and Maryland. None of those wins are as impressive as the Kentucky win, but I doubt Florida can rattle this team like it did the Wildcats and Virginia last weekend.
Pick: Wisconsin
(3)Baylor vs. (7)South Carolina:
Once again, USC got down, but this time they weren’t able to come back. They can thank Johnathan Motley for that. Motley ate the Trojans alive on the inside, despite fouling out. Manu Lecomte picked up where Motley left off, scoring all 12 of his points in the last five minutes. The good news for USC? There are no senior starters on this team.
South Carolina used a huge – and I do mean huge – second half to take down Duke. How huge? The Gamecocks scored 65 points in the second half, which is the most ever given up by a Mike Krzyzewski coached team at Duke.
No one could hit big shots for the Blue Devils down the stretch, and South Carolina bullied them into 18 turnovers. Of course, the entire arena was behind the Gamecocks, who were an hour and a half from campus and chasing their first ever two-win NCAA tournament.
Now South Carolina has to go on the road to Madison Square Garden. The good news is that many in the crowd will be behind them. The bad news is that the Bears are waiting for them. Sindarius Thornwell had another big game against Duke with 24 points. He will need to do the same against Baylor. Duane Notice stepped up big against Duke. The Gamecocks will need someone to do the same against Baylor.
Baylor’s size in the middle, or everywhere for that matter, is going to be a problem for South Carolina. I don’t see anyone that can handle Motley. The difference in the game will be whether South Carolina can handle him or not. I’m also not sure that someone can step up to help Thornwell.
Pick: Baylor
Next: How Did I Do? Check Out My Picks From Before The Madness!
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