Minneapolis Region

I wish I could take odds on things like “how many times does CBS show the spoon and cherry from the Sculpture Garden?” I would guess 45 over the course of the two days of games. Anyways, on to my picks for the hometown region, with a little bit of prediction for the Final Four at the end.

(1)Villanova vs (16) Monmouth – Monmouth, right now, is the only team with a win in the tournament. Expect that to end as they play a Villanova team that plays a remarkably similar game, except faster and better.

(8) Arizona vs (9) Wisconsin – Wisconsin lost to North Dakota St.

(5) Nevada vs (12) Montana – If Nevada was playing any of the other 12 seeds, I would say that they will definitely lose this game. But they are playing Montana who is definitely not as good as Texas A&M, Kent State or Utah State. In addition, Iona, Northwestern State, Xavier, Albany, Murray State, Winthrop, Monmouth, Pacific and South Alabama all should have been seeded higher than the Grizzlies. Yeah, I don’t like Montana that much.

(4) Boston College vs (13) Pacific – Could Pacific win this? Maybe, but probably not. They are a younger team than last year, and don’t have the same tournament experience as the two teams that upset their opponents in years past. Boston College is already tougher than they usually are after fighting their way through the ACC tournament to be the only non-North Carolina team to make it. Pacific’s streak ends this year.

(6) Oklahoma vs (11) Wisconsin-Milwaukee – Milwaukee made a Sweet 16 trip last year, but don’t expect that to happen again. While Oklahoma has stumbled down the stretch, they always show up come tournament time, just like their rivals in Stillwater.

(3) Florida vs (14) South Alabama – If you like defense, stay away from this game. I expect the loser to hit 80 points. In the end, I expect Floriday to get the ball rolling. In addition, I think that when a Billy Donovan coached team gets rolling, it’s hard to stop them. I mean, after going to school in Gainesville, can anything really phase these guys?

(7) Georgetown vs (10) Northern Iowa – I’m not going to candy coat it. Northern Iowa will get whooped. Georgetown is a far better team, being hardened by the Big East, while Northern Iowa has been softened by the Missouri Valley. The 10 seeds in the tournament have been entirely appalling.

(2) Ohio St. vs (15) Davidson – Ohio State comes from the Big Ten, and while I usually avoid picking the Big Ten teams unless they are Illinois or Michigan State, I like the Buckeyes chances against Davidson.

Down the road, I see Villanova dropping their game against Boston College, who will in turn lose to a Florida team who will have picked up a healthy head of steam at that point.

In the Final Four, I have Texas over UCLA, as I really don’t believe that UCLA has seen enough real pressure to handle the Big Dance. On the other side, UCONN will beat Florida, simply because the Huskies are a better team. The eventual champion, believe it or not, will be UCONN, the same team everyone else is picking. They’re too good.