Wow. What an incredible weekend of basketball and March Madness was indeed in full effect. A No. 1 fell, seven double digit seeds advanced out of the round of 64 and three are going to the Sweet 16. March Madness is the one event that keeps America glued to their seats from noon to midnight for four days in March. Looking forward some news and notes for the South Region.
Games:
No. 11 Dayton vs. No. 10 Stanford: Raise your hand if you saw this one coming? I didn't think so. This game guarantees we will see a double digit seed in the Elite Eight and its a shame they have to take it out on each other. Stanford being from a known conference in the Pac-12 and relatively unknown Dayton will be in a knock down drag out brawl that could be the most interesting matchup of the weekend. Just think neither was a lock to make the dance until the last week.
Prediction: Stanford 61-Dayton 56
No. 1 Florida v. No. 4 UCLA: Florida has looked dominant this tournament and should still be considered the favorite to win the whole thing. Billy Donovan has his team playing inspired basketball and only allowed 100 points total in two games. UCLA has beaten Tulsa and Stephen F. Austin to get to this matchup with the Gators and it sure looks like it will be a fantastic game. Florida hasn't seen an offense like UCLA’s this season and their ability to spread the floor to produce shots will cause some issues. Kyle Anderson remains the focal point of the Bruin offense. Can he spread the ball against the second ranked Gator defense? If UCLA can, this game will come down to the last shot.
Prediction: Florida 68-UCLA 67
Region Favorite: Florida Gators
Florida has to be the favorite considering how they threw aside a good Pittsburgh team coming off a dominant first round win. The Gators will continue to be the region/tournament favorites until someone proves otherwise.
Region Notes:
1. Syracuse and Ohio State looked dreadful down the stretch and it carried over to the tournament. Watch OSU’s two loses to Penn State and you will see the team that played Dayton. Syracuse went from the top team in the nation to Dayton’s second victim in as many games. Dayton deserves a lot of credit, but those two teams were shells of there early season selves.
2. Losing Joel Embiid was the nail in Kansas’ coffin. Andrew Wiggins wasn’t enough for the Jayhawks as they fell to Stanford. If Embiid was healthy there was no telling how far the Jayhawks could have advanced, but with the draft looming we may never see what could have been from the Wiggins/Embiid combo. NBA teams need to take a long look at the “elite” players of this draft considering their big game flops.
3. Kyle Anderson played himself into the first round of the draft early on this season after a subpar freshman season , but after this weekend someone will take a chance on him in the top 20. Mark it down. Chicago Bulls?
What does your bracket look like? Who is your pick in the South? Tell us @SportsWN
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