Hot, hot (just too) Sweet 16 action kicks off tonight with Wichita State taking on Notre Dame at 7:15. That’s followed by Wisconsin taking North Carolina’s best shot a half hour later and so on. Unfortunately for Bearcat Nation, our team is not involved in any of the action tonight or tomorrow. So who should we root for? Let’s break it down by region.
MIDWEST REGION
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Kentucky Wildcats
Root for them: The best reason for rooting for Kentucky, at least to me, is rooting for perfection. Sure, I wouldn’t mind it if Kentucky ate it against West Virginia by 20 points tonight. After Kentucky dominated Cincinnati though, there is a part of me that wants to see them go undefeated. We’ve never seen a team win this many games in a season. The Patriots in the NFL went undefeated to the Super Bowl. Kentucky can be the one modern team that takes it all the way.
I think the coaching job that Coach Cal has done this season has been tremendous. Not only has Kentucky not lost, all of his players have completely bought into the system. Getting guys who are going to the NBA and guys who could easily take over teams to be all in on one goal is very hard. After the last couple of disappointing regular seasons, Calipari has just about a fine tuned Kentucky team as he’s ever had. The team with Anthony Davis was pretty great and this one has been greater. While this UK isn’t quite as much fun to watch as that one, Willie Cauley-Stein is one of my favorite college players. I think he’s great.
Root against them: Remember when the Patriots got upset by the Giants in the Super Bowl and how great that was? That’s what it’s going to be like when Kentucky loses. Depending on when they lose, this team would probably be the greatest college basketball team to never win a title. Even better than UNLV, which was also undefeated entering the tournament and lost in the Final Four.
The biggest reason is they are Kentucky.
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West Virgina Mountaineers
Root for them: The Mountaineers can be a hell of a lot of fun to watch. West Virginia will press, press some more and when they are done with that press, they’ll press you again. With so many teams given the slow and boring label, the Mountaineers play one of the faster games in college basketball in terms of possessions. Juwan Staten is a hell of a lot of fun to watch. This team shoots a ton of threes and plays wild. Plus, they have Bob Huggins. No matter what, he’s a Bearcat through and through.
Johnny Holton’s brother plays for West Virginia. They have Bearcat ties.
They are playing Kentucky.
Root against them: Part of the reason to root against them is because of the completely insane Bob Huggins supporters that never let it go that he’s been fired. Yeah, it’s 2015. He lost that game to Kentucky in 2005. That was a decade ago. Some people never give up the ghost. Cincinnati has been to the same amount of Sweet 16s in the 2000s under Mick Cronin as they were under Bob Huggins.
The other reason to root against West Virginia is that their games can be borderline unwatchable. They foul a ton. Seriously, no one in the nation gives up a higher free throw rate than the Mountaineers. They are a Bob Huggins team, so of course “We don’t have any shooters, Chuck,” but that does not stop them from jacking a ton. The Mountaineers aren’t great offensively or really great defensively, despite raising a lot of hell turnover wise.
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Root for them: This edition of Notre Dame is a ton of fun. Jerian Grant is hands down one of the must watch players in college basketball. No one can take over games to the extent that he can. Plus, he did this in a game:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slDqJd6jKAg]and this:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wBeAgh-tOM]Root against them: The stigma of being Notre Dame is always against them. No matter how fun Notre Dame basketball can be, there is Notre Dame football looming on the other side of the coin. That’s a lot of a sports hate to deal with. There’s also the fact that Notre Dame is a bonafide bracket buster. You pick them to go to the Final Four, they lose in the second round. You pick them to lose in the second round this year? They’ll go to the Final Four. Notre Dame hates your brackets.
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Wichita State Shockers
Root for them: Fred Van Vleet and Ron Baker make one of the best backcourts in the nation. There isn’t much, if anything, that the Shockers don’t do well. They defend, they play offense, they play tough. Watching them run out Kansas was pretty great. Gregg Marshall is one of the best coaches in the nation, and might be the best Xs and Os guy out there.
This is a program that made the Final Four two seasons ago. They went undefeated last season, then ran into underseeded Kentucky in the round of 32. Aaron Harrison bounced them from the tournament. This year’s Shockers have been a team on a mission. It seems like some kind of fate that they would play the undefeated Kentucky team in the Elite 8.
Root against them: You are one of those weird people who hates any mid-major team once they get any bit of sustained success. This is known as Boi-Zagaitus. Wichita State has been good three years running. There will probably be people glad that they get blown out by either of the power conference teams that they play.
Gregg Marshall spells Gregg with two g’s, which is really annoying.
You have no soul and hate Ron Baker’s hair.
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WEST REGION
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Wisconsin Badgers
Root for them: Wisconsin is incredibly fun to watch when their offense is flowing. They are unstoppable. Frank Kaminsky is a great, great player who does it all. He leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. He’s one steal away from being tied for the team lead in that. He’s the National Player of the Year for good reason.
This Wisconsin team plays together like no one else. There isn’t elite talent. You do have guys who are going to play in the NBA, but there are no sure fire lottery picks. Kaminsky is a middle first rounder on NBADraft.net. You always know what you are getting from a Bo Ryan team. They play smart, they play hard, they play efficiently. Plus, Wisconsin never fouls so their games always have a great sense of rhythm and pace despite them playing slowly.
Root against them: If you hate the low possession games, Wisconsin is a major culprit. They are running at 59 possessions a game, which is so incredibly slow that it’s hard to imagine that few possessions. The Badgers are able to get away with it because of their offensive firepower, something that distinctly separates them from Virginia. Wisconsin was just in the Final Four a year ago, so they aren’t a new entrant. Then again, only Xavier in that region would be a new entrant. It’s a pretty blue blood region with Wisconsin not quite up to that status. If you wanted Kentucky to play a blue blood, root against Wisconsin.
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North Carolina Tar Heels
Root for them: UNC are taking on the 1 seed in their region. Rooting for the upset is always a fun thing. North Carolina can be really fun to watch when they are clicking. If you like style contrasts, there is not really a bigger one than North Carolina and Wisconsin. UNC plays one of the 12 fastest tempos, Wisconsin one of the 5 slowest. There is a chance UNC could speed them up and that game becomes crazy bananas. JP Tokoto does a lot of fun things on the basketball court, which is both good and bad for North Carolina.
Root against them: The biggest reason I’m rooting against North Carolina is that I want the Wisconsin-Arizona game so badly. I don’t want any of these teams to stop it. That’s the game I want to see. North Carolina has had great success seemingly all the time. Roy Williams is great. His team can go to the Elite 8 next year.
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Arizona Wildcats
Root for them: They are playing Xavier. That’s reason enough really.
If you need more reasons, Arizona against Wisconsin in the Elite 8 could be one of the games of the season. Arizona was bounced last year in the Elite 8 by the Badgers as the 1 seed. With the roles reversed, we could see Sean Miller make his first Final Four. The story of Miller’s first Final Four birth would be a good one. He went through the man he was an assistant for at Xavier in Thad Matta, gets the program he left for Arizona, which one of his top assistants now runs, and gets a chance at that Wisconsin redemption.
Root against them: If you want Xavier to win. It could happen.
I find this Arizona team fun to watch and I’ll be rooting like hell for them to play Wisconsin. If you hate Xavier and everything Xavier stands for, I suppose you could be rooting for no one to win the game. That’s not really possible though. Sorry to break it to you. In the larger scheme, Arizona is one of the big, bad teams in the nation. Seeing one of them upset in the Sweet 16 is always fun.
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Xavier Musketeers
Root for them: You are one of the people that will root for the local teams to win. You like the upset and Xavier is a pretty significant underdog to mighty Arizona. They have Matt Stainbrook and watching Matt Stainbrook play basketball and run against highly athletic people will never not be interesting to watch.
Root against them: It’s Xavier.
SOUTH REGION
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Duke Blue Devils
Root for them: Yeah, right.
Root against them: They are Duke and you are an American. That is your birthright. Life, liberty and rooting against Duke in March. Only your team winning is more satisfying than Duke losing in the tournament.
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Utah Utes
Root for them: Utah is playing Duke. Enough said.
Also, Delon Wright is really great.
Root against them: Honestly, does anyone east of the Mississippi give a damn about Utah basketball? The Utes play a smothering type of game, kind of like the Bearcats, which limits a lot of their excitement. I honestly can’t think of reasons to root against Utah. Unless you like Duke, you are rooting for Utah.
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Gonzaga Bulldogs
Root for them: This is the best Gonzaga team ever. I’m fully convinced of that. Zaga plays some of the best offense in the country. If you like big guys who bang in the post, they have that. If you like big guys who step out to nail three pointers, they have Kyle Wiltjer. If you like guys who take any shot they want because they are 100% confident they will make it, Kevin Pangos. The Zags lose some pieces after this season, it could be their best chance to make the biggest run.
Root against them: If you fit in the Boi-Zagaitus category mentioned earlier, there is probably nothing that will make you want to see Gonzaga avoid flaming out against UCLA, preferably in such a style that makes Adam Morrison cry again. Root against Gonzaga if you would rather see UCLA get smashed by 40 points against Duke.
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UCLA Bruins
Root for them: Honestly don’t have any reasons to root for UCLA outside of they have a player named Tony Parker. That familiar name is something you could turn to your advantage in the office if you say “Gonzaga is going to have to contain Tony Parker or I see an upset brewing.” You don’t even need to know what position Tony Parker plays, he’s a forward, to say that. You can say it confidently and the other person will agree.
Root against them: Outside of the fact they shouldn’t have made the tournament to begin with, they are UCLA. I’ve had enough UCLA to last a lifetime.
EAST REGION
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Oklahoma Sooners
Root for them: The Sooners play really hard. Buddy Hield is one of those guys that can put up 40 if he gets going. He’s a great shooter and the Big 12 Player of the Year. The Sooners have a lot of great parts with Isaiah Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard. Lon Kruger is a solid coach.
Root against them: Oklahoma might be the least inspiring team left in the tournament. That doesn’t mean they are bad, it doesn’t mean they didn’t deserve to get to this point. No one really wanted them to beat Dayton. No one really talked about OU this season. Their notable games were blowing big leads against Iowa State. OU is just kinda boring. The Sooners made the Final Four in 2002. Did you even remember that? Probably not.
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Michigan State Spartans
Root for them: Tom Izzo is a magician and one of the best tournament coaches ever. He pulls strings on teams that didn’t even look like it had strings. There isn’t a program out there that rewards you for believing they will advance on your bracket like Michigan State. Even if you don’t like the Spartans that much, the Elite 8 game will be much more fun if they are in it than if it’s Oklahoma vs whatever ACC team. Michigan State brings the sex appeal, even when they aren’t good.
Root against them: Michigan State is always good. Tom Izzo always gets his team in position to make runs. There’s nothing really new or exciting about Sparty going to another Elite 8 or Final Four. They are one of the nation’s elite that always gives a sense of satisfaction when they get bounced.
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Louisville Cardinals
Root for them: Montrezl Harrell will dunk you if you don’t root for Louisville. He will dunk you hard then yell while standing over you.
Louisville has overcome the loss of their starting point guard with just two weeks before the end of the regular season to end up in the Sweet 16. The Cardinals have looked like they are playing some of their best ball lately. Rick Pitino has lost one Sweet 16 game in his career. Montrezl Harrell is one of the more exciting players. He’ll dunk anything and everything. There doesn’t seem like there is a lob pass that can be thrown too high or too far off target that he won’t slam down. Terry Rozier plays like D-Wade and is also really fun to watch.
Root against them: There is the fact that Louisville is one of Cincinnati’s oldest basketball rivals. Pretty strong reason to root against them.
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North Carolina State Wolfpack
Root for them: The Wolfpack are the 8 seed with a pretty good chance to crash the party. Cat Barber, Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner are all dynamic players that can carry a team. NC State is the best chance of creating chaos in the national title picture. There is a ton of chalk and then there is this 8 seed lingering in the shadows.
Root against them: It is hard to watch them have success when you remember that Cincinnati completely wiped them out in Raleigh. If the S-curve was flipped and Cincinnati was able to play Villanova instead of Kentucky, maybe the Bearcats are still playing today. If you don’t want to be bitter about the hand the Cats were dealt, hope NC State gets snuffed. This probably won’t help much because you’ll probably still be bitter and think UC would stomp Louisville and go to the Final Four. But better no one than NC State.
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