NCAA Tournament - Rounds 1 &2 Wrap-Up

West Region
We will start moving down the bracket which means starting with Gonzaga. The Zags struggled with Georgia St. but started to run away with it late in the second half giving them a 21 point victory. 8 Memphis beat 9 Boise St. This wasn’t too much of a surprise as are most of the 8/9 matchups but Penny Hardaway has done a nice job with the program the last month of the season.

The first surprise in the West was New Mexico State beating UCONN. To be honest, UCONN wasn’t that impressive but then again, the aggies didn’t play any ranked teams all year. Vermont beating Arkansas was a very popular upset pick and they kept it extremely close but the hogs came away with the win. Notre Dame over Alabama was one of the most deflating games for my bracket because I was sure Rutgers would win the play-in game and beat Bama, but the Notre Dame win threw a wrench into things. I wasn’t very high on the Crimson Tide at all but I thought they would definitely beat the Fighting Irish. The Red Raiders beating Montana St. was no surprise as I think they are one of the best teams in the country. Michigan St. over Davidson was another tossup in the West but Tom Izzo got the edge which should be no surprise considering they are one of the most historic basketball programs ever.

Wrapping up the first round in the west was no surprise, Duke beat Cal St. Fullerton. The Round of 32 didn’t bring many surprises although Memphis 

East Region

Baylor beating Norfolk St. was no surprise although I expected it to be a lot closer than it was. North Carolina came into the tournament with something to prove and hammered Marquette who came in cold. St. Mary’s and UCLA both took care of business in the first round but UCLA was tested a little more than the battle tested bruins may have expected. Virginia Tech couldn’t quite pull off the anticipated upset over Texas but kept it close for the entire 40 minutes. Purdue beat Yale without much contest and Murry St. beat San Francisco in a high scoring thriller.

​This next game was the game that nobody saw coming (even if you picked them in your bracket). The Peacocks from St. Peters upset the 2 seed, and a favorite to make the final four out of the east, the Wildcats from Kentucky. If you watched Kentucky play all year long, I would argue that they weren’t a championship team, but nobody expected a first round loss for the wildcats. The round of 32 didn’t disappoint either; the 1 seed in the east, Baylor Bears, were upset by North Carolina. Baylor overcame a 25 point deficit to force overtime but couldn’t quite pull it off and the Tar Heels keep dancing. UCLA, despite the struggle in the first round, hammered the 5 seed St. Mary’s. Purdue beat Texas wasn’t much of a shocker however St. Peter’s pulled off another big upset and became only the 3rd 15 seed ever to reach the Sweet 16. The Peacocks beat Murray St. and it seemed like they scored every time down the floor. 

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South Region

Arizona got Wright St. off of the play in game and handled business with a 17 point lead. TCU throttled Seton Hall in a rare 8/9 seed blowout game. UAB couldn’t live up to the hype and got beat by Houston. Illinois shouldn’t have won their first round game, only leading Chattanooga for the last 25 seconds of the game as the Fighting Illini kept dancing despite a first round struggle. Michigan played a terrible first half but found a way to beat the Rams from Colorado St. in the first matchup of the tournament. Tennessee played a very solid second half against the Lancers from Longwood and ended up winning by 32.

Despite the Ramblers previous two tournament successes, Loyola and Sister Jean didn’t have the magic against Ohio St. and never really kept it close. Villanova faced very little competition in their first round matchup against the Blue Hens from Delaware and an even 20 point victory for the Cats. TCU played Arizona tough in the second round but the Wildcats pulled out the victory and advanced to the Sweet 16. Houston vs. Illinois was a very entertaining game until the last 5 minutes when it felt like the Illini couldn’t hit a shot, the Cougars kept dancing. Michigan provided another thriller of a game and busted lots of brackets (including mine) while also ruining plenty of Saturday nights. Villanova beat Ohio St. pretty handily and will face Juwann Howard’s red hot Wolverines. 

Midwest Region

The Jayhawks were able to knock 16 seed Texas Southern out of the tournament while San Diego St.’s tournament came to an end just 40 minutes after it started against the hot Creighton Blue Jays. The Richmond Spiders pulled off an upset that ruined quite a few brackets. South Dakota St. was unable to pull off a very popular upset pick and Providence was able to pull out the W. Despite being ranked lower than LSU, Iowa St. was the favored team considering LSU’s head coach was just fired.

Wisconsin struggled against 14 seed Colgate but the Badgers were able to pull it off. Miami vs. USC was a toss-up game that was extremely entertaining down to the buzzer but USC’s season came to an end. Auburn, shocker shocker, beats Jacksonville St. by 17. The Midwest second round might’ve been the craziest of them all as we see a 10/11 sweet sixteen matchup between Iowa St. and Miami. The Kansas/Providence game wasn’t a huge surprise as far as seeding goes, but a lot of people had the Hawkeyes advancing to their Sweet 16

Sweet 16 Predictions

If you’ve made it this far into the article then you know there have been some pretty crazy upsets this year, so by no means am I telling you for certain that these picks are a lock, they are just a personal, unbiased opinion. If you could see my bracket, I wouldn’t trust these picks either but let’s jump right into it. I think UNC’s run comes to an end against UCLA who are returning 3 starters from last year’s final four squad. I definitely see UNC keeping it extremely tight all game long though. As much as I want to see St. Peter’s keep dancing. I just think they’ve run out of magic and I’m picking the boilermaker’s to advance to the Elite 8 (I said the same thing against Murray St. and Kentucky so who knows).

Gonzaga vs. Arkansas is going to be a very good game and I think the hogs winning this game is a very real possibility but I have to go with the #1 overall seed in the entire tournament, the Gonzaga Bulldogs. This squad has a good mix of veterans who have experience deep in the tournament as well as some young legs which is what makes this team scary. Texas Tech vs. Duke is probably the hardest pick of this round, both teams are talented and have experience in the tournament but I think I have to go with Duke, the Red Raiders don’t really have a big man to guard Paolo Banchero and Mark Williams in the post. In the South Region, I think Arizona is a very dominant team and I have a hard time believing Houston is going to be able to keep up with the wildcats.

I also think the Michigan Magic is going to come to an end against Villanova who shoots over 80% from the free throw line. Free throws win games in the tournament and I think they’re going to win this Sweet 16 matchup. Kansas vs. Providence is another tough game as I think both of these teams are a little over rated, but I’m going to give the edge to the Jayhawks. Finally, the matchup absolutely no one expected, Iowa St. vs. Miami (cyclones vs. canes), I’m picking Miami in this patchup because I feel like their road to the Sweet 16 has been slightly more difficult Iowa St’s therefore the edge has to go to the canes, but to be fair, I haven’t watched a whole lot of basketball between these two teams. 

Keep checking WLTL.net for more articles just like this about the NCAA tournament and where your favorite radio heads stand on some of the matchups. 

Sam Viniard 
Assistant Sports Director