When this region was announced on Sunday, just about everybody had Syracuse making it to the Final Four. Syracuse was 32-2 on the year and riding high. Then Fab Melo was ruled ineligible for the tournament due to academic issues and threw this bracket into disarray.
I think Syracuse still gets to the Sweet 16 by beating Kansas State but now I think that Vanderbilt will take them out of the tournament. Vanderbilt has played Kentucky three times this year, beating them in the SEC tournament final. The last time that Kentucky went undefeated in the SEC during regular season and entered the conference tournament with only 1 loss on the year and lost in the conference finals, the team they lost to, Mississippi State, went on to the Final Four. I don’t think Vanderbilt has a Final Four run in them but I do have them taking out Harvard, Wisconsin and Syracuse to get to the Elite Eight. I don’t feel great about this selection because Vanderbilt historically does not fair very well in the Big Dance but what can I say…I’m an SEC homer I guess!
The bottom half of the bracket is a difficult read as well. Ohio State was highly thought of at the beginning of the year. Most experts thought the only three teams with a real shot at winning the championship would be UNC, UK and OSU. The Buckeyes started off proving the critics right but somewhere along the way, they got derailed in the Big 10 conference schedule. Michigan State, Michigan and Indiana greatly exceeded expectations and Ohio State found themselves in a 3 way tie for the conference title and a 3 seed in the conference tournament. They lost again to MSU in the conference final and I just can’t see them making it to the Final Four. I have them beating Loyola and West Virginia but falling to the Florida State Seminoles in the Sweet 16.
Florida State has been one of the surprise teams in the country this year and they seem to be clicking on all cylinders right now. The Seminoles defeated both UNC and Duke this season TWICE. They got the second victories over each in the ACC tournament winning the whole thing. I can’t recall many season in which 1 team could say they beat UNC and Duke twice each. I think the Seminoles are going to be able to carry them momentum all the way to the Final Four beating St. Bonny, Cincy, Ohio State and Vanderbilt. So in the immortal words of John Anderson, “blow blow Seminole Wind, blow like you’re never gonna blow again” all the way to New Orleans.
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