It’s official. Only one more round to go until we reach the pinnacle of college basketball, the Final Four. And to talk about my Sweet Sixteen picks, lets just say that I’ve done better. I went 4-4, and now have a 36-20 record overall. Time for me to finish off strong, getting the rest of the tournament right, and especially getting these next four right.
The first of four games starts with No. 1 UConn vs. No. 3 Illinois: The Fighting Illini really surprised me with their win on Thursday. UConn, who I picked winning in their game, also surprised me by throttling San Diego State by 30. UConn has not had an opponent finish the game within single digits of the Huskies’ score in nine games. When I look at this matchup, Illinois has the chance to compete with UConn. According to KenPom, one of college basketball’s best metrics for helping predicting a champion, Illinois has the second most efficient offense in the entire country, which is a great change of scenery for a UConn opponent, as last round the Huskies faced the 64th team in offensive efficiency. I think we will have an extremely good matchup, but I don’t see the Fighting Illini keeping up a big enough fight to beat UConn and the defending champs advance to the Final Four.
No. 4 Alabama vs No. 6 Clemson: A classic rivalry, battle between Saban and Swinney, a great college football matchup for the ages. Oh, wait, it’s March Madness and these teams are playing? This is honestly a crazy matchup to see happen. Both basketball programs have really stepped up, both beating favored teams to make the Elite Eight. And as I just joked about above, these schools have a big connection with each other in another sport. I called the Alabama upset, although they weren’t able to fully limit their foul problems. The Tide shot over 40% from behind the arc. For comparison, UNC only shot 38.5% from all around the court Thursday. Bama was able to ride behind their starters, where four of the five scored 18+, and barely beat the one- seeded Tar Heels. As for Clemson, they were able to control their game vs. Arizona and make their first Elite Eight since 1980. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they can keep dreaming about 2019, when they beat Bama in the College Football Playoff, because their basketball team won’t be able to get it done, and the Crimson Tide move onto the Final Four to face UConn.
No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 2 Tennessee: I think people need to accept that Purdue has officially beaten the fraud allegations after beating a battle-tested Gonzaga on Friday. The more this tournament goes on, this Purdue team looks more and more like 2019 Virginia. Both teams lost to 16 seeds, the only one-seeds to lose first round in history, and then the next year go on to have a solid team that wins it all. The only difference is Purdue isn’t defense oriented. Their team is all about scoring. The way Tennessee looked against Creighton, almost blowing a lead late, concerns me. I think the Volunteers need to focus in on preventing runs, and I think that will be huge for a game against the Boilermakers. With that being said, do I think Tennessee can stop Zach Edey and Purdue? The answer for me is a big fat no. I got the Boilermakers clinching the third spot in the Final Four.
No. 4 Duke vs. No. 11 NC State: A Cinderella story is still alive! NC State looks more and more like the 1983 underdogs game by game and have won eight straight. They now face up against Duke, who they beat in the first round of the ACC tournament, but Duke just beat a very good, best defense in the nation Houston Cougars. I think Duke got bailed about from the injury from All-American first team Jamal Shead for the Cougs, but nonetheless, they still battled to win their Sweet Sixteen matchup. As for NC State, they dominated Marquette to start, and when the game got close, they were able to uphold their lead to get the win. I look at these teams and really want both in the Final Four, but they just so happened to have to matchup a game before. What I think this game comes down to will be rebounds and fouls, and with that, I think that the Cinderella story will be over, and Duke will be my last team in the Final Four.
Bryce Norwood can be reached at [email protected]