March Madness 2015: Sweet 16 Bracket and Final Four Predictions
Pretty sweet, eh?
Three rounds deep into the 2015 NCAA tournament, weโve seen our fair share of upsets, compelling storylines and, most importantly, truly great basketball.
This battle began less than a week ago with 68 teams vying for a single trophy, and now only 16 remain. See the graphic for the full, updated bracket.
The madness will take a three-day breather before revamping on Thursday with the regional semifinals. Winners of those games will comprise the Elite Eight and take one step closer to a national title.
Outlined below are predictions for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight contests with region-by-region picks for the Final Four.
Sweet 16 Bracket
Final Four Predictions
Midwest
Water is wet. Basketballs are round. Willie Cauley-Stein is not to be challenged at the rim.
Some things in life donโt changeโthey withstand the test of time. Kentuckyโs dominance is likely to join that the-ocean-is-blue category very soon.
Cincinnati played the Wildcats tough in the third round, but John Calipariโs team was never in any real danger. UK is too deep, too big and too darn good for anyone in this region.
West Virginia picked up a really nice win over Maryland on Sunday night, 69-59, but the fifth-seeded Mountaineersโ journey is likely to come to a screeching halt on Thursday. WVU doesnโt rebound particularly wellโDevin Williams is the only player who averages more than 5.7 boardsโand has proved unable to consistently knock down trey-bombs.
The Mountaineers do use a ton of high-pressure defense, though, which might be new for the Wildcats. But Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison and Tyler Ulis will look to pick apart the press.
After waxing West Virginia, Kentucky will get the winner of Notre Dame-Wichita State, which will undoubtedly be a great game between two teams with chips on their shoulders. The Fighting Irish and Shockers have both been must-see TV throughout the tourney, but neither have the depth to dethrone Kentucky.
Notre Dame has some lethal three-point shooters and a star in Jerian Grant, so maybe the ACC champsโshould they withstand the Wichita stormโcould give Coach Cal and Co. a game.
But Kentucky is a Final Four team. End of story.
West
Xavier has had a relatively smooth road to the Sweet 16โthe Musketeers first beat down Ole Miss and then outslugged a potential Cinderella in 14th-seeded Georgia State.
But that road is about to get real bumpy, real fast.
An Arizona team thatโs hitting its stride will likely overpower Xavier with relative ease. Matt Stainbrook will have his hands full down low with 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski, while Stanley Johnson, Brandon Ashley and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will get out and start assaulting rims on the break.
Barring an otherworldly upset, the Wildcats will then face the winner of UNC-Wisconsin.
The Tar Heels matchup well with the Badgersโฆexcept for one spot.
UNC has no one big enough to slow down Sports Illustrated Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky. Kennedy Meeks will bang with Frank the Tank down low, but No. 44 has the ability to stretch the defense with an accurate outside shot typically foreign to 7-footers.
Kaminsky will be the difference-maker in this game. If he can get Wisconsinโs offense clicking, the Heels might be in for a long night.
Jerry Carino of MyCentralJersey.com had some high praise for Bo Ryan's boys:
That leaves Wisconsin and Arizona to duke it for a Final Four bid. The Badgers get the nod because their best players are their most battle-hardened.
Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson donโt have the type of experience that Kaminsky and Sam Dekker do, so the vets get the advantage in a game that could easily be the best of the tournament.
East
With the top two seedsโNo. 1 Villanova and No. 2 Virginiaโalready bounced, this region is anyoneโs for the taking.
Michigan State is fresh off its biggest win of the season, an upset over the Cavaliers for the second year in a row. The Spartans have size, shooting and veteran leadershipโnot to mention a coach in Tom Izzo who spends the other 11 months of the year getting ready to dominate in March.
Oklahoma got pushed by Albany and then Dayton, but will face its toughest tests of the year against MSU. Buddy Hield has been special, but the depth of the Spartans should be enough to pull this one out.
NC State, also known as the โNova Hunters,โ will get a resilient Louisville team led by another March-made coach in Rick Pitino. Montrezl Harrell is a man among boys and will punish the Wolfpack on the interior.
This isnโt the strongest Cardinals team weโve seen in recent years, but Terry Rozier and Harrell should provide enough of a punch to lift Louisville over NC State.
Michigan State-Louisville will be a heavyweight fight between two programs that have become perennial contenders. The Spartans have a more explosive offense with Travis Trice and Denzel Valentine leading the way, so MSU gets a slight edge in this showdown.
South
Duke has breezed through its first two games. Now it will face a tough-minded, defensive-oriented Utah team intent on knocking off the Blue Devils.
The Utes avoided an upset at the hands of Stephen F. Austin in the round of 64 and then outlasted Georgetown, 75-64. Kyle Goon of The Salt-Lake Tribune described Utahโs locker room as โnoticeably subduedโฆafter the program's first Sweet 16 berth in 10 years.โ
Jordan Loveridge, a sweet-shooting forward averaging 10.2 points on 41.2 percent from the field and 44.9 percent from distance, explained his teamโs lack of excitement.
โGuys were saying, 'We're not done yet, we've still got basketball to play,โโ Loveridge said. โWe're gonna get back and get ready for our next game.โ
The Utes have a pair of 7-footers in Jakob Poeltl and Dallin Bachynski to stop future lottery pick Jahlil Okafor, plus a star in hungry senior Delon Wright.
Duke has more pure talent, but the Utes have what it take to pull off the upset. The latter will face Gonzaga after UCLA takes what will almost certainly be a whooping.
Gonzaga has the size to match up with Utah, but big-time big man Kyle Wiltjer can take over the game on offense. If senior Kevin Pangos starts stroking from the outside, the Utes might be goners.
This region is a total free-for-all, but Gonzaga has what it takes to emerge as the last team standing.
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