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.

 v 

2016 National Champions: KANSAS JAYHAWKS 

Sweet 16 Preview: ACC dominance

After the first mad weekend of March Madness, where all teams play two games in three days over the second and third round before the semi-finals of the regions that we call the Sweet 16.  Numerous things occur including shocks and surprises aplenty culminating in the removal of 48 teams since Thursday.  Here are my thoughts along with the prediction of the Sweet 16

Izzo and Pitino stand firm
Following regular season campaigns that brought all manner of inconsistency, it is telling that some teams can be relied upon come the tournament when parity is established by only playing what is in front of you.  In terms of Michigan State who had a problem with depth and talent, come the tournament they have a coach in Tom Izzo who now has more Sweet 16 appearances than first weekend eliminations. 

Tom Izzo - Michigan State

Izzo out-coached Virginia's Tony Bennett for the second season in succession schooling them in a 60-54 victory helped by a breakout by Travis Trice who had 23 points as they held the Cavaliers to under 30% shooting.  Michigan now play Oklahoma, for the right to play either Louisville or NC State; again this is a tough one to call, but as Rick Pitino has showed, he is capable of fitting in a system that benefits the nervy tension of tournament play as they stifle offenses and allow their own dynamic players such as Montrezl Harrell to be explosive in transition.

Can we play you every year?
Rock Chalk Wichita Shock. Kansas Jayhawks are the big noise in Kansas, the blue chip program but it shares a state with Wichita State Shockers who have now had the better tournament resume than the Jayhawks in the last three years now.  The Shockers keep asking to play Kansas year in, year out in a non-conference match that will help both programs. Kansas refuse and Wichita State feel disrespected and feel Kansas are scared to play them on the road or at a neutral site.  Sunday in the third round in Omaha held court for this in-state battle and the Shockers swept aside Bill Self's side in a convincing 78-65 win.  They now play Notre Dame on Friday with the prospect of facing Kentucky in the regional final.

Ron Baker - Wichita State

The Shockers are a tight unit who hustle and can score from deep led by Ron Baker in points and helped by Fred VanVleet and Tekele Cotton.  The defeat makes sure that Kansas will likely not play Wichita State again until they absolutely need to again.  As for Kansas, they need to come back next year - hopefully reloaded with talent as no-one looks likely to leave for the NBA - but return with a scorer possibly Clint Alexander who was suspended for academic reasons.

Duke have the answer
Watching Duke's dominant performance over San Diego State on Sunday, their play showed the answer to possibly to defeating the Kentucky Wildcats who they can only meet in the National Championship.  That is my selection for the title game and whilst I think Kentucky are too battle hardened for this tournament, perhaps Duke remain the best team to combat the Wildcats procession to historical perfection.
In Jahlil Okafor they have one of the best three players in the nation, his size and scoring prowess can combat Towns and Cauley-Stein in the paint.

Justice Winslow - Duke

 Yet it was the tempo of Duke's play in transition that made me stand up and take notice; led by Tyus Jones dishing it out to Quinn Cook and sometimes you will get a breakout game like you had from Justice Winslow (26pts, 6rbs) did on Sunday to help matters.  Duke will be happy with the match up versus Utah this weekend and then probably Gonzaga who have been impressive thus far, but you get the sense that Duke are aware of the possibility of their own run to the Final Four.

ACC is the best conference
All regular season it was touted that the Big 12 was the best conference in the nation due to the possibility of 8 teams - only 7 got selected - making the dance, yet that was due to the fact that so many teams beat each other that no team separated itself from the rest as Wisconsin did in the Big 10.  The first day eliminations of Baylor, Texas and Iowa State left the Big 12 sheepish at best, and now the presence of five ACC teams in the sweet 16 (ND, NC, LOU, NC State, Duke) means that the argument is dead, the ACC is best league because it is the toughest game and makes players ready for the tournament due to the high intensity and close matches they experience in the regular season.

Sweet 16 predictions (selection in bold)
Kentucky v West Virginia                                   NC State v Louisville
Notre Dame v Wichita State                              Oklahoma v Michigan State
Wisconsin v North Carolina                               Duke v Utah
Xavier v Arizona                                                UCLA v Gonzaga

Elite 8:
Kentucky v Notre Dame - Wisconsin v Arizona - Louisville v Michigan State - Duke v Gonzaga

That leaves your NextToTheAisle Final Four of Kentucky v Wisconsin and Louisville v Duke
What an amazing line-up of talent, teams and legendary coaches going head to head in Indianapolis. The Louisville-Michigan State match-up should it materialise is a toss-up and too close to call. For me it remains there for Kentucky to lose, although the possible matches versus the Fighting Irish and Badgers will be as true a test as they have faced all season.

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