OKC Thunder fan guide to the NCAA tournament South bracket
By Tony Heim
Round-by-round predicitions
First round matchups
We’ll get the easy stuff out of the way. UNC, UK, UCLA and Butler will all advance to the second round. The first upset of this bracket comes at the infamous 5-12 matchup, where the overranked Gophers will fall to Middle Tennessee State.
The Bearcats will handle Kansas State; UC’s offense and defense is simply better. Wichita State and Seton Hall will provide two other “upsets” in the first round; both games, however, will come down to the last two minutes.
Second round guesses
Here is where it gets interesting. Seton Hall isn’t good enough to stay with UNC for two halves so the Tar Heels will move on. As much as I want to pick MTSU to advance, I see Butler’s size down low being too much of a problem for the Blue Raiders. Checkmark Butler.
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Kentucky vs. Witchita State is primed to be the national media’s favorite second round matchup considering what happened three seasons ago. The only problem was that was three seasons ago. Advantage Kentucky.
In the final matchup we see the all-offense, no-defense UCLA Bruins matchup against the all-defense, slightly-below-average offense Cincinnati Bearcats. In March defense tends to rule the day, and if Joe Lunardi says it’s going to happen, I believe. My Bearcats are moving on to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2012.
Sweet Sixteen struggle
UC is fresh on my mind so let’s roll with their game. I’m truly afraid of two players in college basketball: Markelle Fultz (who isn’t in the tournament) and Malik Monk. If Monk gets hot the Bearcats have no chance of winning this game, BUT if Troy Caupain can limit him on the offensive end UK’s poor perimeter shooting could lead to the upset. Guess what? I’m predicting the upset with only 80% bias.
UNC and Butler have all the makings of a March Madness classic. UNC boasts a more athletic roster while the Bulldogs’ pure grit may wear on the regular season ACC champs. I’ve said earlier that Butler has big wins over big-time opponents and that’s because they play up to their competition. They are going to repeat that in the Sweet Sixteen as the Tar Heels will become the first #1 seed to be knocked out of the tourney.
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Crowning a champion
Surely I won’t pick the six-seeded Bearcats, who just got annihilated by SMU in the conference title game, to make it to the Final Four. Of course I will! And that loss to SMU plays a small part in all this.
UC and Butler have already met once this season when they played at Hinkie Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs beat the Bearcats 75-65 as UC shot terribly from the field. Every Mick Cronin team’s Kryptonite is the offense, and this year is no different. Well except in one way.
UC has a team that can hit anywhere from 50% of their threes to 10% in a single game. They average 75 points a game yet have dropped 119, 96 and 94 points over the course of the season. Call me crazy, but the stinker against SMU – and the AAC tournament in general – makes me believe this team has a hot stretch coming.
I may be bias but I don’t care. I’m rolling with the ‘Cats to the Final Four.