By Jeff Arnold

Games:

#1-Kentucky vs. #16-Manhattan/Hampton

#8-Cincinatti vs. #9-Purdue

#5-West Virginia vs. #12-Buffalo

#4-Maryland vs. #13-Valparaiso

#6-Butler vs. #11-Texas

#3-Notre Dame vs. #14-Northeastern

#7-Wichita State vs. #10-Indiana

#2-Kansas vs. #15-New Mexico State

Three Games to Watch:

#5-West Virginia vs. #12-Buffalo
The 5 seeds have struggled in recent years and have more often than not been upset. Although I think that this year these match ups benefit the 5 seeds more than in recent memory, that doesn’t mean I think that the Mountaineers will win. For anybody who has not watched West Virginia basketball this year, it’s not pretty. The team is carried almost single handedly by senior guard Juwan Staten, who leads the team in points and assists with 14.5 and 4.6, respectively. Now okay, you’re thinking, plenty of teams have made deep tournament runs on the backs of brash, score first, think later guards, here’s the problem though, Staten doesn’t get a lot of help from anybody on his team and, oh by the way, he hasn’t played since February 24, and in that stretch the Mountaineers are 1-3. All in all, things are not looking up for a team that seems to be bottoming out at the wrong time. Obviously Staten could return, play a Napier-esque game, and completely disprove everything I just wrote, but what’s the fun in that?

#6-Butler vs. #11-Texas
Texas was considered to be on the bubble after having, considering their talent level, a complete dud of a season. Starting the season in the top 10, the Longhorns went through two four game losing streaks and, after having a lead 7 point lead with under 3:30 left in the Big 12 tournament against Iowa State, eventually lost on a buzzer beater. Despite this, their seeding seems to indicate that they were never really near the bubble at all; signs that the selection committee gave them an extra bump for playing one of the most rigorous schedules in college basketball, while also facing injury problems. Butler is a solid 6 seed and, behind the scoring of Kellen Dunham and the leadership of coach Chris Holtmann, is reemerging as one of the premier second-tier programs in the country. Despite this, I, much like the majority of college basketball fans, like Texas to go through here.

#7-Wichita State vs. #10-Indiana
Imagine a world where Indiana never faded from prominence. The glory days of Bobby Knight and Steve Alford weren’t all that Hoosier fans could fall back on in order to justify why they’re still a top program in the country, the Will Sheehey, Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller  team of 2012 didn’t lose in the Sweet Sixteen, and Tom Crean was never employed by the University of Indiana. That world probably exists in some alternate universe but unfortunately for Indiana fans, we don’t live in it so for now Tom Crean is their coach. It’s not that Tom Crean is necessarily terrible at coaching (he’s most likely only slightly below average), it’s that he is completely in over his head and makes it very obvious that he has no idea what he is doing. He doesn’t manage clocks well, struggles to come up with good plays out of timeouts, and has a strange tendency to awkwardly adjust his pants in late-game situations. So yeah, have fun with that, IU. As for Wichita State, they lost talent since last year’s undefeated regular season and subsequent number one seeding, but they still are extremely good and are as driven as any team in the tournament to get through the first round so that they can face Kansas. Because of all these factors, I expect Wichita State to get through in a close game ultimately decided by hilariously poor coaching from Tom Crean.

Other Storylines:

Kentucky: They are hands-down the best team in college basketball. That being said, I actually think the best chance of them losing is pre-elite eight. It sounds crazy considering that the best team they would have to play  is Maryland, but they’ve proven all year long that they play up to good competition and occasionally down to bad competition. This all seems to play right into their early round opponents’ hands. If they make a few shots and the Wildcats fail to see shots drops, panic could set in and a shocking upset could happen. If Kentucky gets through the region.

Kansas vs. Wichita State in the Second (Third?) Round: Kansas has refused to play the Shockers in the regular season, so for WSU fans this would be their chance to prove who exactly is the best team in Kansas. If they were to play the same schedule, I truly believe the Jayhawks would finish at least 3 games in front, however, given the added motivation of wanting to disprove their doubters, I think Wichita State has a serious shot at  not only winning this game, but winning big.

Notre Dame’s Seeding: ACC tournament champions, check. Explosive offense, check. Top 10 player in the country, check. So why, aren’t they a two seed, great question; one of the many for the selection committee.

Picks (winner in bold):

#1-Kentucky vs. #16-Manhattan/Hampton
#8-Cincinatti vs. #9-Purdue
#5-West Virginia vs. #12-Buffalo
#4-Maryland vs. #13-Valparaiso
#6-Butler vs. #11-Texas
#3-Notre Dame vs. #14-Northeastern
#7-Wichita State vs. #10-Indiana
#2-Kansas vs. #15-New Mexico State