2018 NCAA Tournament: Final Four Predictions
It was a rough first weekend for just about everyone. We saw the greatest upset in college basketball history. We saw two one seeds and two two seeds go down. For the first time ever, we had a region that failed to advance any of the top four seeds into the regional semifinals. Yet somehow, we still managed to get two top seeds to the Final Four.
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It it’s like mine, I was ready to toss it in after UMBC beat Virginia. Common sense prevailed, and I figured that hey, I still have three other teams left and some upsets picked. Then Michigan State lost. Then North Carolina. Turns out I was drawing dead by Friday evening, I just didn’t want to admit it.
Fortunately, the round by round game is still alive, and we have a mostly clean slate! And the best part: each correct pick earns a donation to Coaches vs. Cancer. So keep playing the round by round!
I only have 40 out of 64 games correct. This is a far cry from last year, but I got more than half right in the first part of this weekend, so I can’t complain too much. Let’s keep going with my picks for the Final Four!
(3)Michigan vs. (11)Loyola-Chicago:
That Michigan-Florida State game was an all out brawl. Michigan proved that they can survive a game in which their shots aren’t falling. Michigan’s winning streak has reached 13 as they face off with another team riding a hot streak.
Loyola didn’t let Kansas State push them around. A lot has been made that Loyola didn’t play a seed higher than three in their current run, but they beat a team that had a share of the SEC title. That counts for something.
Michigan may have to win another ugly game to keep the streak alive. I’m not talking ugly like losing to Nebraska by 20 in the last loss before this streak, but more like the steel cage match that the Florida State game was. They wont have to be as physical with Loyola, but Loyola’s guards are good enough to shut down Michigan from the outside. Michigan will need to rely on the size inside to win this game.
That said, Michigan has won games in just about every way possible during this run. I want to see Loyola win. I really do. But I don’t know that they can. That said, this is Easter weekend. Picking against a 98 year old nun seems like a bad career move for the afterlife.
Pick: Loyola-Chicago
(1)Villanova vs. (1)Kansas:
Behold, the side of the bracket that didn’t get gutted! There were upsets, sure, but not in the East. If it weren’t for Syracuse, the Midwest would have pretty much had a chalk semifinal as well with the exception of the four seeds.
Villanova has had an easier run, but a lot of that is because they have made it look easy. They took out a Texas Tech team that beat Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse earlier this season.
Meanwhile, Kansas had one of the more exciting regional final games in recent memory against Duke in a horribly officiated game, the worst of which may have cost Duke the game. That blocking call which was the fifth foul on Carter was how you would teach anyone playing basketball to take a charge. It was textbook for taking a charge. Somehow those numbskulls saw a blocking foul. However, that was one of the few calls that went the way of the Jayhawks. Like I said, it was horrible. Definitely the worst officiated game I have seen in many years.
Don’t let that take away from Kansas though. They are in the Final Four despite Devonte Graham not hitting his stride yet. Malik Newman carried them through Omaha. Can he do it again in San Antonio?
Villanova is one of the more balanced teams I have seen in a while. They are likely more balanced than the team that won it all two years ago. Do you like omens? Kansas is full of them. Ten years ago, they started their road to a title in Omaha, and finished cutting down the nets in San Antonio. Sound familiar? Okay, they didn’t start in Omaha this year, they started in Wichita, but close enough.
The fact that Kansas has made this run with Graham having pedestrian games makes me think that they haven’t peaked yet. That’s a scary thought.
Pick: Kansas
The Final Four featured an 11 seed for the third time ever. One side has two heavyweights. The other has Cinderella and arguably the hottest team in the country right now. This promises to be a fun weekend!