2017 NCAA Tournament: Saturday Elite Eight Predictions
By Mike Marteny
2017 NCAA Tournament: Saturday Elite Eight Predictions
How are your 2017 NCAA Tournament brackets looking with only eight teams left? Did Villanova bust you? How about Duke? Maybe Arizona did you in? Don’t worry, we still have the round by round tournament going!
More from College Basketball Odds
- Updated College Baseball World Series odds (Wake Forest remains favorite to win in Omaha)
- Updated National Championship odds following Hunter Dickinson transfer to Kansas
- Best March Madness prop bets for FAU vs. San Diego State in NCAA Tournament Final Four
- Final Four Most Outstanding Player odds, prediction (Which long shots are worth a bet?)
- Bettor places massive wager on Creighton vs. San Diego State in Elite 8
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 41 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 West and Midwest regional finals, and who has a chance to advance to the Final Four!
(1)Kansas vs. (3)Oregon:
Kansas once again looked the part of the dominant team. I would have a hard time staying that anyone has played better than the Jayhawks except maybe Xavier. Maybe. Playing in Kansas City is practically a home game, and we all know how great Kansas has been at home. The players still need to show up. All of them did in this one.
The Ducks are moving on to their second Elite Eight in as many years. Once again, Tyler Dorsey carried the Ducks in a wild win over one of the nation’s hottest teams in Michigan.
Surprisingly enough, it was Oregon, not Michigan, who dominated on the inside. The loss of Chris Boucher has seen the Ducks really pick it up on the inside in his absence. They are going to have their hands full as Kansas is much larger in the middle.
Unfortunately for Oregon, it looks as though their run will end in the Elite Eight once again. I dont expect the Ducks to roll over, but Kansas just doesn’t lose at home. As well as Oregon has played, they haven’t played a team as balanced as Kansas. As has been the case with this tournament, Kansas will pull away late.
Pick: Kansas
(1)Gonzaga vs. (11)Xavier:
Gonzaga did pretty much what they did all year long. They used size to win the game. West Virginia’s press wreaked a lot of havoc just like I thought they would, but the Mountaineers couldn’t hit enough shots when it really counted. Gonzaga also managed to limit turnovers against a team that creates a whole bunch of them.
Xavier used great defense to compensate for their troubles keeping Arizona off of the offensive glass. The Musketeers were severely outrebounded, but still managed an Elite Eight trip. Arizona’s lack of creating good shots against the potent Xavier defense proved to be their undoing.
This is what we have waited for, right? An Elite Eight matchup between two mid-major powerhouses. The problem is that only one of these is a mid-major. The Big East isn’t quite the college basketball behemoth that it used to be, but it is still a solid conference.
Can solid beat Gonzaga? Arizona’s size led to a plethora of offensive rebounds of the bad shots that Xavier forced them to take. Gonzaga is even bigger. However, the story not talked about it just how well Xavier did against Arizona’s huge Lauri Markkanen. He wasn’t much of a factor in the second half.
The issues here is that the Bulldogs have three guys like Markkanen. Can Xavier contain them all? It is a little off base to call Gongaza’s performance against West Virginia “poor”, but they have not looked like a top team so far. Xavier has. Some newcomer is going to crash the Final Four. However, it wont be the mid-major.
Pick: Xavier
Next: How Did I Do? Check Out My Picks From Before The Madness!
Stay tuned for the Sunday picks! We also have our daily NBA and NHL picks for you DFS players! Our David Gate also shares his EPL wisdom for those of you who just can’t get enough of DFS sports!