My NCAA Bracket- Regrets and Predictions for the Thursday Games of the Sweet 16

Today we are going to take a look at my NCAA bracket as the Sweet 16 schedule has been set. It has been such an amazing tournament so far with wonderful upsets and a bunch of overtimes. The great thing about the tournament is that we get to see the heart and passion of these under dogs beat the wonderfully skilled teams. We get the upsets in the early rounds and a premier brand of basketball from this point on. Enjoy!

My entry into the the ESPN Tournament challenge is currently ranked 195th out of the some 11 million entries. I have 550 points, 40 behind the leader. Below is a look at my bracket.

Looking at my bracket, I can't say I have many regrets so far. If I had to choose one, it would probably be the against the grain mindset. This may seem ironic since I picked 3 of the 4 favorites to make the final four but picks like KSU over Kentucky and GW over Memphis were selections that I chose to go against the greater population. While these were simply first round match ups, with my impeccable 20-20 vision, they were obvious picks. 

Predictions for Thursday

Stanford #10 vs. Dayton #11

Let's start with the double digit seed Sweet 16 matchup. Stanford versus Dayton deems two of the the three cinderellas remaining in the tourney. For me the selection is simple, I believe Stanford moves on based on their inability to stop Chasson Randle and Dwight Powell. The Flyers, I'm anticipating, are spent and their magic has run out. As amazing of a run as Dayton has put together my instincts tell me that Stanford's talent will overcome the heart of the Flyers. This may seem ridiculous as the Flyers have defeated Syracuse and Ohio State, two teams who arguably sport much more talent than the Cardinals but one must remember that both squads struggled a lot down the stretch. Therefore, I believe Stanford wins 70-64.

Wisconsin #2 vs. Baylor #6

The streaking Bears take on a Wisconsin team that is back in their best form. What people forget is that the Badgers began the year on a tear ranked among the top 3 teams in the country. They hit a rough stretch during the Big Ten slate of games but found themselves during the tournament. Their counterparts have struggled all year despite having NBA caliber talent and high expectations. They are finally beginning to show their true potential. Wisconsin needed a huge 2nd half to escape the 7 seed Oregon Ducks while the Bears coasted past Creighton and McDermott. Baylor's newly implemented zone has posed problems with their superior length. Wisconsin, though, has the shooters to stretch the zone and cause problems. On the other side, Baylor should be able to crush the Badgers down low. Wisconsin does have Frank Kaminsky, a 6' 11 big man, but he does not compare to both Isaiah Austin and Corey Jefferson. I believe both teams will be able to score the ball tonight and this game will come down to getting defensive stops. In the tournament, I'm going to roll with the team that is going to force their opponent to shoot 3s. This team is Baylor. Baylor takes down Wisconsin by 5 and advances to the Elite 8.  70-65 Bears.

Florida #1 vs. UCLA #4

The other game in the South region pits Florida vs. UCLA in what I believe is the one team stopping Florida from winning a National Championship. Call me crazy but if Florida beats UCLA they have a  relative cake walk into the final four. Many will argue that Michigan State and Arizona/Louisville could pose problems in Texas but I truly believe the Gators, if they surpass UCLA, win will it all. But hold on. The Bruins pose major match up problems for Florida. Everyone knows about the senior experience of the Gators especially their Point Guard, Scotty Wilbekin, but UCLA has their own 6 foot 9 point guard who is a walking triple double. Wilbekin will have trouble guarding Kyle Anderson all day long. In addition, the Bruins best wing player, Jordan Adams, is a flat out scorer who could overcome Florida's tough defense. Finally, the Wear twins, the two big men for the Bruins,   have the ability to stretch the floor with their excellent mid range game. This could pull Patric Young away from the basket opening up driving lanes for Anderson and Adams. As much as I'm touting the Bruins, I cannot pick against my Gators. They simply have the experience and coaching to counter anything the Bruins can do. I think the Gators win 70-68.

Arizona #1 vs. SDSU #4

The last game of the night touts the best defensive team in the country against the remaining power house from not one of the Power 6 conferences. SDSU's best player is a Guard, Xavier Thames. Thames is an unbelievable senior player and the Aztecs sport a tough inside game but this simply isn't a good matchup for them. SDSU goes through stretches where they struggle to score which against Arizona is not a good flaw to have. If Thames is struggling, the entire team struggles. Because of this problem, Arizona will end up reeling off a huge run that they will be able to hang on to for the game. The Wildcats match up pretty evenly down low with Kaleb Tarczeswki and freshman phenom Aaron Gordon but on the perimeter is where the Wildcats will overmatch San Diego State. Nick Johnson is a Wooden Award Candidate for player of the year in the NCAA and his back court mate T.J. McConnell will be too much for the aforementioned Thames to handle in a solid victory by the Wildcats. Arizona wins 61-52. 

All-NCAA Team. The best 5 compilation of college basketball players in 2014

ALL-NCAA TEAM
Today I thought I would write an interesting article inspired by Bill Simmons "Book of Basketball"  in honor of the upcoming Conference and March Madness Tournaments. I am going to create my All-NCAA team, key word team. This is different than the All-Americans or simply the 5 best players in college basketball. For example, the 3 best players in college could all be Small Forwards but the 2nd or 3rd may not make the team. In addition, this is a winner take all, Space Jam kind of game. This team is defending our country from aliens. I am choosing the team that will work well together and will defeat any other combination of 5 college basketball players.

PG- Kyle Anderson (UCLA) 14.9 PPG, 8.6 REB, 6.8 AST, 49% FG, 1.8 STL, 3.2 TO (Sophomore)
Others receiving consideration: Russ Smith (Louisville), Shabazz Napier (UCONN), Marcus Paige (UNC)

A 6' 7 facilitating Point Guard was just too good to pass up. His 3.2 TO per game worry me a little as I want my team taking care of the ball to maximize my shots but his ability to rebound and spread the ball around is just unmatched by any other point guard in the country. There's not much to say about Anderson besides his facilitation and his length. These two things were more important to me than the other 3 guards ability to score. Finally, if we decide to press, play a pressure style defense, or even a zone, I love his length and his defensive capability.

SG- Sean Kilpatrick (Cincinnati) 20.3 PPG, 4.5 REB, 2.6 AST, 43% FG, 85%, 2.1 TO (Senior)
Others receiving consideration: Gary Harris (Michigan State), Juwan Staten (West Virginia)

While Kilpatrick is a true Small Forward, he gets bumped up to the Shooting Guard position for the sake of McDermott. Don't worry, Kilpatrick can definitely handle this. In fact, I'm pretty sure he'd play Center if I asked him to. If you ever have a chance to read about Kilpatrick, take the opportunity. I've never heard a bad thing said about him and he is talked about as an uncanny leader. Throw in the fact that he can get you 20 points, rebound the ball, and even facilitate a little and I'm thrilled. Also, Kilpatrick can lock down your best player at about every position besides the Center. I love everything about Kilpatrick which is why he is the Team Captain of the this squad. Late game, we can throw the ball to him  to either hit the big shot or ice the game with Free Throws. Kilpatrick is the real deal and the fact that he got left off the Wooden Award Candidates is a sick joke. His Bearcats are ranked 15th in the country and are very capable of a late tourney run.

SF- Doug McDermott (Creighton) 26 PPG, 7.0 REB, 52% FG, 89% FT, 1.9 TO (Senior)
Others receiving consideration: CJ Fair (Syracuse), Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), TJ Warren (NC State), Melvin Ejim (Iowa State)

When I first thought of the idea to create an All-NCAA team, McDermott didn't make my team. You must be thinking, what was I thinking. This dude is the best player in College Basketball, he scores 26 points per game, and has Creighton, who would be no better than .500 in the league, ranked 13th in the country. Why didn't he make my initial team? I've seen McDermott play and he is truly unbelievable but two things bothered me. He seemed to get his points by volume shooting. This was my original thought that turned me away from him. Just like Carmelo Anthony, I thought that McDermott was just shooting 20 times a game to get his points. But after the research, I saw that his 52% Field Goal percentage was the highest on my list of players besides the center position. This really changed my opinion. The other thing that worried me was that the entire offense runs through McDermott. Now you are questioning me again. Doesn't the offense always run through the best player? Yes, but for McDermott it usually consists of him posting up or holding the ball for extended periods of time. I didn't like that in the college game especially on this team where I am preaching unselfishness and team play. At the end of the day though, I figured the best player in the game deserved to make my team and his 26 points aren't going to hurt us in the end. Oh, and by the way, McDermott is a 4 year starter. That doesn't hurt given all the late game experience he has gained from that.

PF- Jabari Parker (Duke) 18.8 PPG, 8.9 REB, 48% FG, 2.4 TO (Freshman)
Others receiving consideration: NONE

Jabari Parker is the best power forward in the country but am I saying that no one is close. There are players that could have garnered consideration but to be honest none really contested with Parker. McDermott could qualify as a PF so I guess him but ultimately Parker is far and away the best power forward in the country. He is going to bring the effort, the rebounding, and can add on a little scoring if needed. On this team, I don't need everyone to score their 20. Rather, I'm looking for the little extra and that is exactly what this Freshman adds on. His presence down low and his ability to stretch the floor when needed in addition to his great rebounding are all factors that led to Jabari receiving the PF spot on this team.

C- Jordan Bachynski (Arizona State) 11.2 PPG, 8.4 REB, 55% FG, 4.2 BLK (Senior)
Others receiving consideration: Joel Embiid (Kansas), Julius Randle (Kentucky)

To be honest, the casual college basketball fan has probably never heard of the big man from ASU but now you have. Is Bach the best center in college basketball? Absolutely not, but he is going to complete my team by doing what I believe is most important, protecting the rim. Looking at the numbers, he is on average with Embiid for points and rebounds but clearly surpasses him at the rim. Randle's scoring and rebounding are better but once again his defense does not match that of Bachynski.  In addition, Jordan can finish at the rim so he is not an offensive liability. Besides the shot blocking ability, the second most important factor that I considered was Bachynski, a senior, versus the two Freshmen, Randle and Embiid. If Bachynski picks up two early fouls, I trust him to not foul and I can keep him in the game. I feel much differently with Randle and Embiid who will play with the same reckless abandon whether they have 0 or 4 fouls.

Coach: Mike Krzyzewksi (Duke)
Others receiving consideration: Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), John Calipari (Kentucky)

Who else would you want coaching this team besides Coack K. His 4 national championships and 11 final fours are a great number but more importantly all this guy does is win. It was a pretty simple decision and throw in the fact that he already coaches the only freshmen on this team and you have icing on the cake. Boeheim received consideration because he is of equal ability as a coach but I would rather have this team in man to man than a 2-3 zone. For me a hot shooting team can beat any zone no matter how good the players, I'm not going to take that risk. And finally, John Calipari. Personally, I don't think Calipari is that great of a coach but he has actually had a team built with a bunch of superstars so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt of knowing how to coach with 5 superstars. In the long run though, Coach K is leading my All-NCAA team to victory.

Post-Game analysis:
What scares me about this team is that only one of them, Jabari Parker, is ranked in the top 10 and both UCLA and ASU aren't ranked. What brings me back down to earth is that I have a nice balance of 3 seniors, a sophomore, and a freshman. I know that I'm getting scoring from somewhere and I can rebound the ball as well as protect the rim. The only issue my team has is distribution. While I have some solid passers, I don't have an excellent assist man at the 2 spot because of Kilpatrick's shift to the shooting guard position. Nonetheless, I'm confident that my team would beat any grouping of 5 men in college basketball

Toughest decision/Biggest regrets:
The point guard and center position were the hardest positions for me to choose from. Kilpatrick, McDermott, and Parker as the core 3 were simple selections but passing up two national champions at the PG spot (Napier, Smith) was tough but they just didn't fit the mold of the team. They are some times erratic with the ball turning it over and shooting bad shots. I couldn't risk that when this team should be getting the highest quality of shot every time down the floor. The Center spot was tough because I love Randle and Embiid but the freshman aspect and inability to be as supreme defenders as Bachynski were too much to keep them off the team. My final regret or decision was not including anyone from the top 3 teams in the country. I need winners on my team and those guys simply win. The thing is that those top 3 teams are built as a team where each player compliments the other which is exactly the mold that I attempted to build with my All-NCAA team.

ALL-NCAA TEAM:
PG Kyle Anderson
SG Sean Kilpatrick (Captain)
SF Doug McDermott
PF Jabari Parker
C Kyle Anderson
Coach: Mike Krzyzewski