2012 NCAA Tournament Predictions

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East Region

#1 Syracuse over #16 UNC-Asheville

Breaking news today is that Syracuse will be without Fab Melo for the entire NCAA Tournament. This will definitely affect Syracuse’s run, but it will not affect this first match-up. The one thing that is affected the most by the loss of Fab Melo is the 2-3 zone defense that Syracuse runs. If they can still run it to perfection without Melo then they should win this match-up.

#9 Southern Miss over #8 Kansas St.

The one thing I think is important about this Southern Miss team is that they have experience playing in close games. Southern Miss has played five overtime games and two of them were double overtimes. Also, Southern Miss takes care of the basketball and they have a balanced attack on offense. If they can limit turnovers and if they can control the intensity of Kansas St., they should win this game.

#5 Vanderbilt over #12 Harvard

This is not your father’s Vanderbilt team. This team will not be an easy out of this years NCAA Tournament. This team showed this is the SEC Conference Tournament against Kentucky. This team can score from three point land or from in the paint. I pick them to win this game and I believe they will go far in this tournament.

#13 Montana over #4 Wisconsin

The biggest thing that hurts Wisconsin is their inside presence. They can shoot the three point shot very well , but their paint play is lacking. I believe Montana’s 7-footer Derek Selvig will end up being a big factor in this one. If Montana can use Selvig in the paint and give Wisconsin fits in the paint, they should be able to upset Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament.

#11 Texas over #6 Cincinnati

If Texas wants to win this game, they are going to need to help out J’Covan Brown. Brown scores 28% of the teams points and Texas and his teammates need to help him out. The one thing that this team does well is shoot foul shots. I’m picking the upset in this one.

#3 Florida St. over #14 St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure barely got into the NCAA Tournament. They are pulling one of the toughest first round games in Florida St. Florida St. is coming off of an amazing ACC Conference Tournament by beating both Duke and North Carolina to get it. Florida St. does two things defensively to lead to wins. That is creating turnovers and blocking shots. I’m picking Florida St. in a blow out.

#10 West Virginia over #7 Gonzaga

West Virginia is mostly a two man show between seniors Kevin Jones and Darryl Bryant. However, I think the most important player, if West Virginia wants to upset Gonzaga, is Deniz Kilicli. I say this because if we look back to the game West Virginia played against UConn, West Virginia fell apart after Kilicli fouled out of the game. I pick West Virginia because I think Kilicli can help out Jones and Bryant.

#2 Ohio St. over #15 Loyola MD

Ohio St. has one of the best rotations in the nation. Jared Sullinger is a mad man in the paint. The only problem for the Ohio St. Buckeyes is foul trouble, but I do not see that being a problem in this game. I say Ohio St. wins by a big margin.