At last, my favorite time of the year is here. I can’t get enough of the blood, sweat, and tears shed during the NCAA Tournament. This is March Madness.
Portland will once again host games during the rounds of 64 and 32. Portland has hosted games in 2009 and 2012. This will mark 3 times in the past 7 years. I feel that this can add to Portland’s recent bid for a potential NBA All-Star Weekend. Being able to host these games with success says a lot for the city of Portland being fans of basketball, not just our own, the Portland Trail Blazers.
Without further ado, let’s jump into the matchups.
*Games listed in order as they will be played*
2 Arizona VS 15 Texas Southern 11:10 a.m. PT
The Arizona Wildcats come in as a heavy favorite. Some may feel the Wildcats should have been a number 1 seed, winning their conference tournament in dominant fashion over the Oregon Ducks. Before championship week, they were ranked 5 in the nation, with Wisconsin ranked 6. Wisconsin also won their conference tournament, but they are arguably in a better conference. The committee gave the 1 seed to Wisconsin, and put Arizona as the 2 seed in the same region. They have the chance to play them later on to advance to the final four and show the committee that they were wrong.
Texas Southern had 1 strong win this year, somehow holding onto a 7 point victory over Michigan State. Other than that, they haven’t been too impressive against top-25 opponents (1-3). They were blown out by 40 points to a Gonzaga team that Arizona beat earlier this year. I, along with anyone else in their right mind, has Arizona advancing in this one.
7 VCU VS Ohio State 1:40 p.m. PT
Now this is where things get interesting. These Portland games are filled with games of upset potential – minus the Arizona scrimmage to kick things off. This, for me, is the one game I have been flip flopping on constantly the past few days. After watching VCU take their conference tournament, I was set to pick them first round. I loved the energy they brought in that championship game. That was until I saw Ohio State there.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have this fantastic freshman on their team. His name is D’Angelo Russell and he holds averages of 19.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 5.1 APG. Although Russell has been doing his thing this year, his team has struggled against tougher opponents (1-5 vs top-25). Russell was right at his average of 19 points in the Big 10 quarterfinals, but it wasn’t enough as the buckeyes fell to Michigan State.
I am reluctantly holding onto my initial reaction and taking VCU here. Holding Russell to under 20 points will be a key to victory for VCU, which will be tough since VCU has been without their defensive star Briante Weber for most of the season. Buckeyes are 13-2 when Russell scores 20+ points and just 10-8 when he scores less than 20. In the end, I trust Shaka Smart to have his guys ready for the challenge. Smart has had great tournament success since landing the job at VCU.
5 Utah VS 12 Stephen F. Austin 4:27 p.m. PT
Here we go with another potential upset. This will be the second straight great game in Portland. If you are an avid NCAA tournament fan, than you should be familiar with the 5/12 seeded games. In just the past 3 seasons, the 12-seed has won 8 of 12 games against the 5-seed. With SFA having been a 12-seed winner last season, they are a popular upset favorite in this year’s tournament as well.
This one is tough to call. Both teams can light it up from long range. Utah shoots a team average of 40% from beyond the arc and SFA shoots around 39%. Utah plays at a little slower pace, and they have a great point guard who can control the tempo in Delon Wright (Blazers forward Dorell Wright’s brother). SFA started 1-3, dropping 3 straight to come tough out of conference opponent (Northern Iowa, Xavier, and Baylor). Since then, they have rolled to a 29-4 record. Is this the case of simply playing in a weak conference, or have they turned the table on the season? We’ll just have to wait for the game to know for sure. He who controls the tempo will come out victorious in this one – and I’m going Utah.
4 Georgetown VS 13 Eastern Washington
Before you get on my case for just taking all favorites… Here’s one – I’m taking Eastern Washington. Wait, what?
The Eastern Washington Eagles rank third in the NCAA in scoring at 80.4 points a game. They can really fill it up, and they’re led by the nation’s leading scorer, Tyler Harvey (22.9 PPG). They also have a solid inside presence in Venky Jois.
And honestly, I don’t trust the Georgetown Hoyas. They have struggled the past few seasons come tournament time. They tend to have draft talent with “motor issues” which always shows this time of year, and this year’s version of that is Joshua Smith. Smith lacks the consistency and focus needed to stay in a game like this.
You heard it here – Jois (16.6 PPG and 7.7 RPG) will outplay Smith (11.1 PPG and 5.9 RPG) and Harvey will go berserk as the Eagles upset the over-seeded number 4 Hoyas.
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