Monday, May 14th, 2012

South Bracket Breakdown : 2012 NCAA Tournament

Published on March 12, 2012 by Scott Shirley   ·   2 Comments

Kentucky is the number one overall seed but somehow the Wildcats got in my mind, the toughest bracket. Check out my South Region Breakdown.

Top 10 Players:

1.Anthony Davis (Kentucky) – Davis will  be the Player, Freshman, and Defensive Player of the Year.

2. Jeremy Lamb (UConn)- Lamb knows how to rise up his game in March he did it last season in UConn’s run to the title.

3. Michael Kidd Gilchrist (Kentucky) – The 2nd best freshman behind Davis.

4. Cody Zeller (Indiana) – Zeller is what Indiana has been lacking: a dominant low post scorer.

5. Royce White (Iowa State) –White leads his team in points, rebounding, assists, steals, and blocks.

6. Mike Moser (UNLV) – 10th leading rebounder in the country and he can score.

7. Austin Rivers (Duke)- He has improved his all around game this season.  One of the best players at attacking the rim.

8.Nate Wolters (South Dakota State) – Averaging 21 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, not bad.

9.C.J. McCollum (Lehigh)- Yes, McCollum is a NBA prospect that plays at Lehigh.

10. Wendell McKines (New Mexico State) –If you haven’t heard of him you should. Despite only being 6’6’ he is averaging a double double.

Just missed : Terrence Jones (Kentucky), Tu Holloway (Xavier), Pierre Jackson (Baylor), Andre Roberson (Colorado), Perry Jones III (Baylor)

Top 3 Coaches:

1. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)- Coach K already has 4 NCAA titles. He has done one of his better coaching jobs this season. This was not one of his most talented teams.

2. Jim Calhoun (UConn)- This might be Calhoun’s last run in the NCAA tourney due to his health concerns. Calhoun has 3 NCAA titles.

3. John Calipari - He has done everything but win and title. He can recruit, but can he lead a team to a title?

Best 2nd round match up : (VCU/ Wichita State )-This is a match up between last year’s tournament sweetheart and last year’s NIT champ. This year, though, Wichita State is by far the best team, but that means nothing as we saw by last year’s VCU team. VCU is a quick team that loves to pressure you but Wichita State has a big advantage inside with Garrett Stutz.

Best chance for 2nd round upset:(New Mexico State over Indiana)- Remember this Indiana team has no tournament experience. New Mexico State beat New Mexico, a 5th seed this season. For a mid major the Aggies have ton of size; they feature a 6’11” and 6’10” player. They are the 6th best rebounding team in the nation. Indiana doesn’t have much quality depth inside so foul trouble could cause a problem. Both teams like to run up and down. If the Hoosiers are hitting threes watch out. Losing Verdell Jones really hurts.

Potential best 3rd round match up: (Kentucky vs. UConn)- This would feature a game between the favorite to cut down the nets this season Kentucky and last year’s champion UConn. UConn has the talent to make a run in the tournament, but at times they always don’t play up to their potential. The NBA scouts will be in full force at this game.

Potential best Sweet 16 match up: (Kentucky vs. Indiana)- Before Kentucky lost to Vanderbilt; Indiana was the only team to beat Kentucky. That game was at Indiana, and this game would be in Atlanta where the Wildcats flock too. It’s tough to beat Kentucky once; I can’t see a team doing twice.

Potential best Elite 8 match up: (Kentucky vs. Duke)- 20 years ago Duke beat Kentucky in one of the best NCAA tournament games ever. However if these teams play again, I don’t think the game will come down to the end. Kentucky would dominate the Blue Devils inside the paint. Anthony Davis would have a field day.

Final Four Sleeper (5 or lower):(UNLV)-Ever since this team beat North Carolina early in the season this team has been on everyone’s radar. This team is an athletic team that can rebound, defend and shoot the three.

Sweet 16 Sleeper (10 or lower): (VCU) – Last year VCU made it the whole way to the final four when not many people even had them in the tournament. VCU lost 4 seniors off last year’s team but Shaka Smart is one of the best coaches in the country. The Rams have won 16 of their last 17.

Winner : Stay tuned for my picks later in the week

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