2019 NCAA Tournament: South Region Second Round Predictions

The question most heard at the bar last night was “how’s your bracket?” Did Kansas State hurt? How about Nevada? How about those of you that got creative with Nevada or Belmont? Well, Virginia didn’t lose in the first round this year (though they were down 14 at one point), so most brackets haven’t lost their champion yet. Don’t worry. The first weekend isn’t over yet!

(1)Virginia vs. (9)Oklahoma

I think a lot of Hoo fans, and a lot of people who picked Virginia in general were thinking not again when the Cavs found themselves down 14 in the first half. There was one big difference from last year: UMBC kept it close, then made their run in the second half. Gardner-Webb stormed out of the gate, but peaked too early and lost control against a much more talented team.

I thought that Doolittle would be a rough matchup for Ole Miss, but I have watched Oklahoma too much this year. I didn’t think we could guard the Ole Miss shooters. Turns out it didn’t really matter. Doolittle dominated this game on the inside. Oklahoma stormed out of the gate and never looked back. Take it from me: this is the best game Oklahoma has played all year. I thought they were capable of playing like this, but I didn’t think it would materialize, especially with McNease’s ankle still bothering him.

Both of these teams are prone to long scoring droughts. You wouldn’t know it if Friday and the Bahamas Invitational back in November were the only times you had seen Oklahoma play this year. Doolittle is good enough to give Virginia some trouble on the inside, but the Cavs defense is really good all over the place. Oklahoma needs Christian James to step up and play like he did before the calendar hit 2019. If that happens, the Sooners can win. If not, this is a game Virginia could dominate. Spoiler alert: I’m picking Oklahoma anyway, but the smart money is on Virginia.

Pick: Virginia

(12)Oregon vs. (13)UC Irvine:

Oregon dominated Wisconsin almost buzzer to buzzer. Kenny Wooten hassled Ethan Happ and the Wisconsin front for the entire game. Payton Pritchard hit just about everything from the outside. Even when this game was still close, it never really felt as if Wisconsin were going to win. Oregon had all the energy on the court and in the building, but the building may turn on them Sunday.

Raise your hand if you thought that the Anteaters (I’m not kidding) of UC-Irvine would be the last California team standing in the NCAA tournament? Liars! Okay, so maybe there were a few of you considering Cal, USC, UCLA, San Diego State, Stanford, Pepperdine, Pacific, San Diego, San Francisco, UCSB, UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly, and UC Riverside all missed the tournament to begin with. It was down to just St Mary’s and Irvine to carry the torch for the Golden State.

Irvine managed to hang with Kansas State until they went cold from the floor. With Bryce Brown in foul trouble and Dean Wade out, the Wildcats had trouble generating enough offense to hold off the Anteaters. K-State’s defense is very good. The offense was equally bad.

This qualifies as a Cinderella matchup,. but it really isn’t. There are the two hottest teams in the country right now, but the difference is that Oregon’s hot streak rolled them through the Pac 12 and another power five opponent. Oregon’s size, outside shooting, and overall speed are going to create huge problems for Irvine. The largest will be the fact that the Ducks don’t really go cold like the Wildcats did.

Pick: Murray State

(3)Purdue vs. (6)Villanova:

Purdue uglied up Old Dominion. Ahmed Caver was about the only Monarch that could hit a shot and they had no answer for Carsen Edwards. The Monarchs shot an atrocious 27% from the floor, but Purdue only shot 38%. This was arguably the ugliest game of the opening night.

Villanova is the defending champ, but you aren’t going to see many traces of last year’s team. Phil Booth is now the leader of the offense. The Wildcats don’t get out and run as much anymore. They just survived a team that slowed them down, so it was good practice for the second round matchup.

Purdue has the size to give Villanova problems, but they don’t often use their size to push around in the middle. This is an unusual Purdue team in that they have a guard that can take over the game. The Phil Booth/Carsen Edwards matchup is going to be fun to watch. Which team will have someone else step up beside them? My money is on Saddiq Bey.

Pick: Villanova

(2)Tennessee vs. (10)Iowa

It looked like Tennessee was going to run off with this game early, but Jordan Burns kept Colgate in this almost by himself. The bigger, faster, and more talented Vols were able to hang on, but not before Admiral Schofield hit some huge shots down the stretch. If Tennessee hadn’t played well down the stretch, they likely would have lost this game.

The Bearcats lost in the opening weekend for the seventh straight year after blowing a second half lead. It’s not so much Cincinnati blew it as Iowa got scorching hot from outside. This has been the story for Iowa all year. They can beat anyone when the shots are falling, as they did here with what was likely a better Cincinnati team.

Tennessee’s defense survived and all out assault from Jordan Burns, but can they survive when it’s more than one player? Iowa had six players make at least one three pointer in this game. Iowa’s defense is going to be tested as well. Jordan Bone is probably going to make the difference in this game as Iowa can probably tame Schofield a little. With Bone’s dynamics though, I don’t see the Vols losing here.

Pick: Tennessee

Stay tuned for the rest of the second round picks! We also have our daily NBA and NHL picks for you DFS players!