This is the round we have been waiting for. Everyone kept talking about how the first 4 days didn’t deliver. It happens. The one good thing about not having Cinderella in this round is you get loaded matchups. I say that by making sure there isn’t a soul who tries to call Arkansas a Cinderella. But this is what the Sweet 16 should be. Teams that everyone knows. Teams that everyone has watched during the year. Now we just need them to deliver. I don’t even care about much except give us close games.
Bracket
Can I be honest? I actually liked when we had the 4 standalone games during the bubble Tournament. I know people can’t keep taking days off work, but it’s much better that way. Let my eyes focus on one game at a time after the chaos of last week. Plus there’s more juice when you get to the Sweet 16. Each possession somehow feels more important. I don’t hate the idea of bringing that back.
4 Best (Only) Games Today
1. BYU vs Alabama
2. Duke vs Arizona
3. Arkansas vs Texas Tech
4. Florida vs Maryland
Five Most Electric Players
This isn’t about the best player out there. We all know Cooper Flagg. Every March there are guys who you just want to watch no matter what. They are the names you bring up sitting around with your pal 15 years down the road and can picture everything about them. They could go for 40, might launch shots, they could pull a Kemba, whatever it might be. These are the guys you should enjoy watching play basketball today.
1. Will Richard (Florida) – We know about Walter Clayton and Alijah Martin, but Richard is the 3rd guy there. Maryland will defend its ass off, it’s one of the things its known for. Richard is the type of guy who can change an entire game by hitting a couple shots early. You make Maryland play from behind with a small bench and it can get ugly. Again, Clayton/Martin can do that, but Richard has that sort of microwave scoring ability.
2. Egor Demin (BYU) – I debated putting Demin here because he’s going to be a lottery pick. But he’s awesome and the head of the BYU snake. Richie Saunders is the leading scorer. Demin is the guy who has to control the tempo against Alabama. He can get a little turnover happy and needs to take care of the ball. Live ball turnovers against Alabama lead to three, that simple.
3. Christian Anderson (Texas Tech) – I love this Texas Tech team. I don’t think JT Toppin gets enough love still to this day. But Anderson’s development as a freshman who can get hot from deep is the the guy who changes this team. I also put him for the next guy to combine
4. Boogie Fland (Arkansas) – Fland returned from injury and we’re going to see a handful of Anderson vs Fland. That’s the matchup for me. Both teams match up against each other on the wings and what not, but if one of these freshmen can dominate the others, it’s the game.
5. Tyrese Proctor (Duke) – We know Tyrese Proctor, but the man is on fire right now. He’s hit 13 threes in the first two NCAA Tournament games. If he’s doing that, yeah, I’m not going to have a good March. We know all about Cooper Flagg, but Proctor is the guy who has been in the Duke system and is now all of a sudden the best shooter on the planet.
Four Storylines/Game Previews
1. The Kevin Willard Saga – I don’t know how we got here, but Nate breaks it all down from a Maryland standpoint:
Things are weird at Maryland. Willard is basically ready to jump to Nova but coaching a Sweet 16 game. Maryland is trying to give Willard everything he wants but Nova is a much better job. We’ve seen Kevin Willard leave a team (Seton Hall) for a better job (Maryland) before and Seton Hall scored 42 points in an NCAA Tournament game when that happened. I don’t care what you think of the teams, this story is hanging over everyone. People are being asked about it.
2. Caleb Love’s Revenge/History – Probably the most talked about storyline heading into these games. Caleb Love vs Duke, again. He ended Coach K’s career with a dagger three. He was on Arizona when they won at Duke last year. There’s history no matter what. But it’s also a bit of revenge. Caleb Love shot Arizona out of the Tournament last year in the Sweet 16. He went 0-for-9 from three against Clemson. This is where he needs his revenge more than just playing Duke again.
3. BYU/Alabama living up to the hype on offense – This is the game that everyone is probably most excited to watch strictly because it’s going to be fast-paced with a ton of offense. But you have BYU traveling from Denver to Newark and playing here. I have no idea the impact of that, but it’s still nearly a cross-country flight. It’s also the first game in Newark, early tip time and everything like that. Now it’s just a matter if it can live up to the hype. This is the game that can set the tone for an awesome Sweet 16.
4. John Calipari’s luck – I refuse to believe Arkansas is good. I just can’t do it. I also can’t do the John Calipari is a Cinderella. This was a preseason top-20 team, who started 0-5 in the SEC and is a 10 seed in the Sweet 16. They aren’t Cinderella. Not when you have chicken money. I said I love this Texas Tech team, but it’s another matchup that Arkansas can take advantage of. The real question is if Arkansas can score enough in this game. Texas Tech can score with anyone, Arkansas mucks games up.
Picks
15-9 so far in the NCAA Tournament, +6.54 units
BYU +5
Florida -6.5
Under 147.5 Texas Tech/Arkansas
