NCAA 2016 Tournament Bracket Breakdown

The 2016 NCAA College Basketball tournament might not be one for the ages but it will still strive for that one shining moment to add to the pantheon of great college basketball players.

In a mixed season that has seen seven different teams ranked No 1 at one time or another, the last few weeks has seen some semblance of balance return with the Kansas Jayhawks triumphing in the Big 12 for a 12th consecutive season. They also won their end of season tournament to cement their position as the overall No1 seed in the tournament. The combination of offensive efficiency and stifling defence while not totally relying on a star player speaks volumes of the unity of the squad and the control Bill Self has over his squad. If Perry Ellis is off colour then Wayne Selden will step up.

As for the other No1 seeds you have Virginia, again but in need of a deep tournament run to ward off calls of being chokers; North Carolina who were dominant down the stretch in the ACC winning their tourney for the first time in years. The last team was Oregon who fill the West region obviously but this does a disservice to the Michigan Spartanswho won the Big 10. The committee must feel the Pac 12 is a tougher league than the Big 10, that is my eyebrow raising at that suggestion.

Other odd seedlings abound. A 13 loss Syracuse side get a 10 seed. Texas A&M who lost to Kentucky are a 3 while the Wildcats themselves are a 5 with a possible round of 32 clash versus Indiana awaiting.

South Region

Kansas are the top seed in this tourney and No2 is Villanova. I fear Villanova will not go deep,due to their over reliance on the 3 point shot, they could face Temple in the second round and possibly Arizona who will have great speed in transition. Kansas, meanwhile, will have to contend with UConn in the second round, a great match up to watch and then Maryland possibly. Still believe Kansas will find a way to win.

Team to Houston: Kansas Jayhawks

West Region

Buddy Hield - Player of the Year contender

Oregon are top seed but prospective Player of the Year, Buddy Hield and his Oklahoma Sooners are seeded 2. This region is a fire sale of bad apart from Hield. You have a less than stellar Duke team who on paper got a favourable region but they will be found out when they face a team full of size and intensity, they face Yale first who will have size and press forcing errors. Elsewhere watch out for  Northern Iowa, seeded 11, to surprise Texas who fluff their lines regularly at the dance.

Team to Houston: Oklahoma Sooners

East Region

This is possibly the deepest region with names aplenty. North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Xavier. Good luck picking one team out of that slate. John Calipari isn't happy and neither are a lot of fans. Should make for great games but the team with the best players usually win out in these situations. That is North Carolina, although if they get past Kentucky they will then have to contend with the press of West Virginia.

Team to Houston: North Carolina Tar Heels

Midwest Region

Key man for Spartans - Denzel Valentine

Or the committees attempt to rock the Virginia apple cart. You give them a one seed but to get to the final four you will have to win three games and then defeat a likely opponent of Michigan State in Chicago, a virtual home game for Tom Izzo and his Spartans. That being said the Spartans have ridden the storm of possibly losing Denzel Valentine to injury and will have enough experience and nous to advance to the Final Four. Watch out for Gonzaga to upset No6 Seton Hall in the first round.

Team to Houston: Michigan State Spartans

Final Four

In a rematch of two classic regular season encounters I see Kansas again overcoming Oklahoma. And they will face Michigan Syate who defeat North Carolina. As for the Championship match my heart
says Kansas but you never count out Tom Izzo and the Spartans.

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2016 National Champions: KANSAS JAYHAWKS 

Big 12 makes noise

The Big 12 is one of the NCAA powerhouses yet it suffers from an identity crisis across two major sporting events.  In one, they are dismissed as an also-ran, a conference that does nothing to the bigger national picture. And in the other sport, it is helped by having a powerhouse team on a national stage.

Currently in College Football, Baylor is the only undefeated side in the Big 12, is ranked No3 in the nation behind Alabama (SEC), Florida State (ACC) and Ohio State (Big10).  Baylor are playing a brand of attacking offensive football which made darlings out of the Oregon Ducks who are missing out on another National Championship tilt due to their loss at Stanford two weeks ago.

Baylor Bears average 61.2 points a game (1st in nation) but also concede only 17.4 (7th in nation); they score points for fun and teams find it hard to match them.  They are led by coach Art Briles and quarterback Bryce Petty who has close to 3000 yards and 24 touchdowns.  Admittedly, these numbers do not match say Johnny Manziel nor Jameis Winston (Flordia State) but they have not been helped by their schedule.

The Big 12 unlike the Big 10, SEC and Pac 12 is not split into divisions, every team plays each other once in the season and they do not have a Big 12 championship game between the top two teams, meaning you have to beat everyone and hope that everyone else messes up.  Baylor back ended their schedule meaning they have three games left starting with at Oklahoma State who are ranked No10 nationally and are 9-1.  A win against them will make Baylor the No 3 side in the nation and the team that steps in should the Crimson Tide or Seminoles lose between now and the end of the season.

This would be rich reward for Briles who has made some noise in the Big 12 without much national recognition apart from getting Robert Griffin III the Heisman two years ago.  They have been consistent, the scheme works and makes stars of their young students.  After the OK State road trip they are at TCU who are currently 4-7 and then a home game to Texas which will end the regular season.

Whereas, Baylor are struggling for recognition, you look at a conference opponent in another sport that makes noise regularly year-in, year-out. Led by the formidable Kansas Jayhawks, the Big 12 in College Basketball is rightly one of the hotbeds of the national conscious of the sport.  Bill Self is chasing his 10th consecutive conference title in Lawrence and after defeating Duke last Tuesday by 11 points and with the expected No.1 player in the country - Andrew Wiggins - the expectation for that banner is high.

However, the other players in the Big 12 also play a big part.  Oklahoma State have Marcus Smart returning when it was thought he would leave for the NBA which will benefit them hugely.  Kansas State are always a solid exponent of conference play as well as the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners. However, the biggest surprise may well come from Iowa State.

The Cyclones are one of those wonderful David stories, as a team that surpasses expectations thanks to the development of a program under a young unheralded coach. In this case Fred Hoiberg, who was highly ridiculed when given the job after the retirement of his father, Ames four years ago.  Fred has overcome the shouts and jeers of nepotism to make a name for himself with the small program by taking them to the tournament last year and defeating Notre Dame in the first round. 

The Cyclones also were one of the teams to give Kansas a real scare last year, with the Jayhawks only coming through in overtime on the road.  This past weekend they recorded a 77-70 win over #7 ranked Michigan who reached the Final Four last year, this is probably the biggest win of Hoiberg's reign and will make people notice of their intention to be a Top 25 side in the nation.

A young coach doing great things with an unfancied unattractive side reminds you of Butler and Brad Stevens - yet Iowa State are helped by being part of one of the big noises in College Basketball.