March Madness 2012: Bold Predictions for Round of 64

The NCAA Tournament is finally upon us, and unless you're boring and enjoy picking all No. 1 seeds, that means time to make some bold predictions.

Here's a look at some bold predictions you can bank on, if such a thing is actually possible. 

Lehigh will beat Duke

Duke is reeling after getting thoroughly dominated by North Carolina and then losing to Florida State, a game in which they shouldn't have been as close as they were.

The Blue Devils' offense has looked atrocious lately. If Ryan Kelly is healthy, he'll help stretch the defense, but they'll be stagnant. There just isn't anyone outside of Austin Rivers who you can trust to score, and even he's erratic.

On the other side of the ball is C.J McCollum, who can absolutely light it up. If McCollum gets going early, look for the Mountain Hawks to pull the upset.

C.J. Leslie will go for 20 and 20

NC State's ultra-athletic guard-forward is usually the most talented player on the floor, but he sometimes forgets and shies away from the action.

When he remembers to be aggressive, however, he can absolutely dominate. For example, in the ACC Tournament, he went for 11 and 11 against Boston College, 19 and 14 against Virginia Tech and then had 22 and 7 against UNC before fouling out with eight minutes to go.

If he plays with that killer's instinct—and he has showed he's learning how to do that—he'll absolutely dominate San Diego State. 

Iowa State will beat Connecticut

It's hardly a bold prediction taking a No. 8 over a No. 9, but I've seen a lot of people already talking about Kentucky versus UConn in the second round.

It's hard to blame them when you see the talent UConn has with Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, Ryan Boatright and Andre Drummond, but they just haven't meshed this year.

I expect Royce White to dominate down low and lead the Cyclones to a victory. 

Wichita State-VCU goes over 160 total points

Wichita State doesn't mind getting out and running, as the Shockers averaged 68.3 possessions per 40 minutes this season, good for 100th in the country.

On the other side of the ball, Shaka Smart and VCU will press for all 40 minutes and make the Shockers play about 17 times faster than normal.

This one is going to have a whole lot of fast-breaks, a whole lot of three-pointers and a whole lot of turnovers. Don't be surprised if both teams get into the 80s.

Montana will beat Wisconsin

The Badgers often have trouble scoring the ball, and most of their offense is reliant on three-pointers and point guard Jordan Taylor being able to drive to open up shooters.

Unfortunately for Wisconsin, Taylor will be guarded by Montana's Will Cherry, who averages almost three thefts per contest. He should be able to slow down Taylor and disrupt the Badgers' offense.

When Wisconsin isn't scoring efficiently, they are beatable by anyone because of their slow pace.