2016 March Madness – West region

(1) Oregon vs (16) Holy Cross:

Oregon punched its ticket to the dance by easily beating Utah in the Pac-12 tournament championship and solidifying their No. 1 seed. Leading scorer F Dillon Brooks (16.8 ppg) will look to lead his team to an easy victory. Along with Brooks, Chris Boucher and Jordan Bell lead the Ducks in blocks with around three and one blocks per game, respectively. Holy Cross punched their ticket into the tournament by winning the Patriot League conference tournament. An interesting fact to note is that the Crusaders had a 5-13 conference record and went 14-19 overall for the season. After beating No. 16 Southern in the third First Four game, the Crusaders have made their mark. Oregon will easily defeat the Crusaders and will move on to face St. Joes or Cincinnati. Winner: Oregon

(8) St. Joseph’s vs (9) Cincinnati:

Heading into the tournament, St. Joe’s (27-7) defeated VCU in the Atlantic 10 championship. The Hawks lost their last two games of conference play, but went on to win three straight in the A-10 tournament and are playing really well as of late. As for the Cincinnati Bearcats, they lost a grueling 4-OT game to UConn in the AAC tournament, 104-97. The Bearcats look to bounce back and go on a sustained tournament run. With St. Joe’s winning their conference tournament, that gives them an edge as they are flying on all cylinders, ready to extend their postseason winning streak. Winner: St. Joseph’s

(5) Baylor vs. (12) Yale:

Baylor won only one game in the Big 12 conference tournament, defeating Texas 75-61 in convincing fashion. The Bears went on to lose to No. 1 overall seed Kansas, 70-66. After losing three out of their last four games before the postseason, the Bears are confident and got a solid seed. Yale is an intriguing team. Senior leader G Jack Montague was expelled from Yale for sexual misconduct, which hurts their squad moving forward. However, that didn’t stop them from winning five straight to end the season and having an overall 13-1 record in Ivy League play. This team is one dangerous No. 12 seed that could upset good teams in the tournament. Baylor will ultimately come out of this battle alive, somehow coming together to fend off the Bulldogs and move on to face Duke. Winner: Baylor

(4) Duke vs (13) UNC Wilmington

Duke can be a really good team. They have the talent. Since the end of February, the Blue Devils have gone an alarming 3-4. This team is streaky and can beat the Virginias and the North Carolinas, but with inconsistent play from players like guard Grayson Allen, you don’t know which Duke will show up. UNC Wilmington won the Colonial Athletic Association conference tournament and punched their ticket into the big dance. If Duke doesn’t play well, the Seahawks could stay in the game for a while, but Duke’s overall superior talent and UNCW’s lack of quality wins in the regular season will hurt them. Winner: Duke

(6) Texas vs (11) Northern Iowa

Texas, in Big 12 conference play, won several games against top teams like West Virginia and Oklahoma, but they didn’t win all of them. The Longhorns won their conference games they were expected to win as well. But if Texas wants to win against the feisty Northern Iowa Panthers, they’ll have to bring their “A” game. The Panthers won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and are 12-1 in their last 13 games. They have four players that average over ten points per game with G Wes Washpun leading the pack. This team also makes around eight 3pt FGs each contest, which could give them an edge late in the game. It doesn’t matter how you start; it’s how you end, and Northern Iowa is ready to go. Winner: Northern Iowa

(3) Texas A&M vs (14) Green Bay

Texas A&M is coming off a defeat by the hands of Kentucky in the SEC tournament championship game. The Aggies are one heck of a team and can hang with the best of them. They are another streaky team that can go on stretches of playing really well, or quite the contrary. Texas A&M are winners of eight of their last nine games and are looking to make a long run in the NCAA tournament. Green Bay will be looking to turn some heads after winning four straight games in the Horizon Conference tournament to snare an automatic bid. Experts always say to pick the hottest team going into the postseason, but both of these teams are playing well as of late. Guards Jalen Jones and Daniel House (15 ppg) put this team at a higher level than their opponents. Green Bay will have a hard time defending those two. Texas A&M ultimately gets the edge in this one simply due to their talent. Winner: Texas A&M

(7) Oregon St. vs (10) VCU

An at-large bid with fewer than 20 wins, plus being a No. 7 seed, doesn’t happen very often. The selection committee must have seen something to add the Beavers in the field. They split their two games with Oregon, who is right now a No. 1 seed, which is a good point to look at. Looking at this team, they’re not the type that can stretch quality wins together. The Beavers’ stats on the offensive side are atrocious, with some ranking as low as 259th in the nation (rpg). The VCU Rams have better stats than Oregon St. does and they’ll look to exploit them in each category. The Rams are coming off a tough defeat to St. Joseph’s in the A-10 championship game. That being said, they have shown that they can give any team a tough time. Some notable games include losing to Duke by nine points and Cincinnati by six points. After being snubbed of a higher seed, VCU will come out gunning and will show that they’re a legit team. Winner: VCU

(2) Oklahoma vs (15) CSU Bakersfield

A Cinderella story has already occurred and the tournament hasn’t even begun yet. The CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners unexpectedly won the WAC championship on an exhilarating buzzer beater to clinch their first ever tournament appearance. Despite their recent joy, the Roadrunners will have their hands full with Oklahoma. The Sooners have shown that they can be a Final Four team throughout the season, and they sat atop the rankings at number one for a time as well. This may be a close game to start, but with Buddy Hield (25 ppg) on the team, Oklahoma will pull away with ease. Winner: Oklahoma

Team that will disappoint: Baylor

Baylor is coming into the tournament beat up after playing in the tough Big 12 conference. The Bears went 10-8 in conference play, which may not seem that great, but another No. 4 seed, Iowa St., who also has survived Big 12 play, went 10-8. One of Baylor’s top players, Rico Gathers, averages an astounding 9 rpg, third best in the conference, which will help the Bears offensively giving them more second chance points. The teams also averages around 8 spg, second best in the conference. Even though Baylor does have some redeeming qualities, they’ll be a disappointment because of their grueling schedule. Playing teams like Kansas and Oklahoma most of the time takes a toll on a team. They may take Yale too lightly because of them usually being up against better teams which may hurt them. If they do get by the Bulldogs, Duke is a tough task and their tournament run will most likely be over.

Sleeper team: VCU

VCU is one of those teams you may not think has a legitimate chance in advancing far into the tournament, but next thing you know, you see their name in the Sweet 16. The Rams average 77 ppg as a team and allow only 67 ppg. That is 55th in the nation in that category. VCU is known for their stifling defensive play that has racked up around nine steals a game in the 2015-16 season, a conference best. This team can contend with even the most talented teams, so facing Oregon State should not be a tough matchup by any means. Once they get going, they can beat anyone: Oregon St, Oklahoma, or any team in their path.

West region champion: Duke

This may not be the best Duke team that Coach K has ever assembled, but it’s Coach K; he can get any team far into the tournament. Duke went a respectable 11-7 in a very competitive ACC, including a victory over the first-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels. Grayson Allen leads the team in scoring with his 22 ppg and, if he is on fire, look out. Their stats don’t really justify how they ended up a four seed, but they’ve played a really rough-and-tumble schedule that in the end will have prepared them for a deep run to the Final Four.