NCAA Bracket 2011 Predictions: The 10 Most Likely Second-Round Blowouts
Now that the NCAA Tournament bracket has been officially announced, millions of men and women around the country are sharpening their pencils and getting ready to fill in their predictions. An incredible amount of questions are asked as each game is predicted. How long do you advance that team that you think is a Cinderella team? When do you get rid of that top seed? How many of your teams will make it to the Final Four?
Let's not get too carried away just yet. There is a lot of basketball to be played still before we need to worry about the finals. While everyone is looking for their upsets, the key to any bracket is to find the blowouts. To ease your mind, let us go through the second round, where most teams play their first games in the tournament and find the closest things that you can find to a lock.
There may be 32 second-round games to pick, but here are 10 games that you can ease your mind about and focus on the harder games to choose.
East Region: Ohio State vs. Texas-San Antonio/Alabama State Winner
1 of 10
What better place to start with than the No. 1 overall seed?
We watched Ohio State win the Big Ten's automatic bid earlier today over a very game Penn State. The Buckeyes are ranked the best team in the tournament for a reason. Due to their rank at the top of the field, they are given the winner of one of the First Four games. Texas-San Antonio and Alabama State will play for the right to be manhandled by 30 at the hands of Ohio State.
The Roadrunners and Hornets combine for 36 victories this season. By the time one of them beats the other for their 37th combined win, they will play an Ohio State team that has won 32 games by themselves. In the same type of parallel, Jared Sullinger may score more points alone, for Ohio State in Round 2, than their opponent, whomever that may be.
East Region: Syracuse vs. Indiana State
2 of 10
The Big East sent a record-shattering 11 teams into this year's field of 68.
While they did not win the conference tournament, one of the more dangerous teams in America right now is Syracuse. Just for some perspective, Syracuse finished third in the conference's regular season and lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Orange made non-Big East teams feel black and blue, defeating every team that they played this year in their non-conference schedule.
Jim Boeheim's Orange will have no problem with Indiana State, who is mostly known for being the school that introduced us to Larry Bird. Unfortunately, Indiana State has not had Larry Bird as a player for over 30 years. In fact, the Sycamores are ranked 112th in Division I in points per game. Syracuse will advance to the Round of 32, potentially against Marquette, one of the teams who beat them earlier this year.
East Region: North Carolina vs. Long Island
3 of 10
The Tar Heels have recovered from missing the NCAA tournament last season and are a No. 2 seed in the loaded East region. They face a team in the second round in Long Island that nobody has ever even heard of. Does anyone even know what their nickname is?
The answer, by the way, is Blackbirds.
Long Island scores a lot of points, ranked fourth in all of Division I with 82.6 points per game. However, they are also ranked 132nd in points given up, which means North Carolina will score just as much as Long Island does. The Blackbirds have not lost since January 22, but the North Carolina attack of Harrison Barnes and John Henson will be enough to move the Tar Heels to a third-round matchup against Washington or Georgia.
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West Region: Duke vs. Hampton
4 of 10
From one ACC power to another, there is nothing to worry about for Duke either.
The Blue Devils may be deemed the weakest of the four No. 1 seeds, they are still a top seed. There has never been a 16-seed that has made the Round of 32, and it will not happen with Hampton. This may be the same Hampton team that pulled of an upset in 2001 as a 15-seed over second-seeded Iowa State, but that was a decade ago.
The defending champions should have no problem with Hampton, who lost to another ACC team this year—a 63-56 loss to Wake Forest in their first game of the season. The star-studded Blue Devils, led by Naismith finalist Nolan Smith, can get ready for the third round.
West Region: San Diego State vs. Northern Colorado
5 of 10
San Diego State is a two-seed for the first time in their history.
They hope to not blow that opportunity too quickly as they take on Northern Colorado, who are in the tournament for the first time ever. Regardless, the winner of this matchup will gain their school's first ever victory in the tournament. The Aztecs learned a lot from their loss last year to Tennessee and have the potential to be a sleeper pick for the Final Four.
As for Northern Colorado, this is uncharted territory for them, and the Bears will likely be too terrified by the spectacle of the atmosphere to make much of a game of it. The team will be played in Tuscon, Arizona, which is a shorter drive for San Diego State fans to make it more of a home game.
They may not blow out many teams, but a Kawhi Leonard-led Aztec team will try to keep pushing along until they can play BYU again, even if that wouldn't be until the National Championship game.
Southwest Bracket: Kansas vs. Boston University
6 of 10
The Kansas Jayhawks have had a great season, which will last a few more games with their top ranking in the Southwest bracket.
Kansas just shoots way too well, leading the nation in field goal percentage and in the top five in points per game. The Morris brothers can completely take over a game. If Marcus doesn't beat you, Markieff certainly can. So, who is the first to run into this buzzsaw?
Boston University? Please...
They may be on an 11-game winning streak, but the Terriers shoot closer to 40 percent from the floor, score just over 65 points a game and lost to four tournament teams: Villanova, Hampton, Kentucky and Bucknell. They also lost to Harvard, a team that many are saying was a team that should have at least been considered a bubble team. No contest, people. Kansas advances.
Southwest Region: Louisville vs. Morehead State
7 of 10
I'm not quite sure why, but Louisville is not being considered a major favorite against Morehead State in the second round.
The Cardinals nearly won the Big East against Connecticut last night but still picked up a four seed in the Southwest bracket. Louisville hung around as one of the best teams in the best conference in the nation, bar none. Expect nothing short of a Sweet 16 for Louisville this year.
Morehead State accounted for one of just nine victories for lowly Eastern Illinois this season. Morehead was also flattened by Florida and Ohio State in consecutive games this season. Expect Rick Pitino to train his Louisville squad for a similar result.
Southwest Region: Notre Dame vs. Akron
8 of 10
The Fighting Irish land the second seed in the Southwest Region, which means bad news for Akron.
Despite having one of the coolest nicknames in the field, the Zips will hardly put up much of a fight for Notre Dame. Ben Hansborough is just too good on his own that not even a miracle run by Akron would help the only college that I know with a kangaroo as a mascot.
Bad losses for Ohio and Temple do not have Akron's hopes high enough to pull off the rare 15-over-2 upset. Meanwhile, Notre Dame's losses have all been against teams that are in the tournament. Of those, only Marquette is a double-digit seed. The Irish will hopefully not celebrate St. Patrick's Day too hard on the day before that a win over Akron will be easy and painless.
Southeast Region: Pittsburgh vs. UNC-Asheville/Arkansas-Little Rock
9 of 10
The Pitt Panthers, despite having numerous close calls and being ousted shy of the Big East tournament final, gained a No. 1 seed in the Southeast bracket.
Despite not being the top overall seed, Pittsburgh was given the same right that top overall seeds have been given in the past: playing a 16-seed decided by a play-in game. With the expansion to 68 teams this year, there are now two games that decide 16-seeds, and Pitt was given the other one.
Pittsburgh has not lost a game this season by more than seven points. UNC-Asheville's 19-13 record is full of no quality victories over any noteworthy teams. Their only high-profile games included losing by 11 to North Carolina, a 15-point loss against Georgetown and falling 96-49 to Ohio State. Arkansas-Little Rock lost by 34 to Missouri State, who had their bubble burst today, and lost by 14 to Akron, a team who was just featured in the previous slide. Neither team is a threat.
Southeast Region: Florida vs. UC-Santa Barbara
10 of 10
Florida is hardly playing like the team they were when they won back-to-back National Championships a few years ago. However, Florida hung around Kentucky in the SEC final and can make some noise in this tournament if they want to. Also remember that the game is in Tampa, so it can easily be a home game for the Gators.
UC-SB was in the tournament last year, losing to Ohio State by 17. Their 18-13 record is not too impressive. In many of their losses, the Gauchos lost by single digits, but they were against teams that will likely not even be in the NIT this year.
San Diego State defeated the Gauchos by 26. I still don't know what a gaucho is, but I assume that it may be Spanish for "easy win."
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