March Madness is one of the best events on the sports annual calendar and Blog SH is covering various parts of the madness. Today I have a guest to discuss the recently released bracket before the 64 teams begin playing. Jonah Skiles is a fellow CCU student who has an avid knowledge for college basketball.
[4:33:14 PM] jonahskiles: Thanks for having me Jack. March Madness is my personal favorite event in all of sports. Obviously I am a huge college basketball fan, as well as a life-long supporter of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
[4:35:42 PM] Jack Kavanagh: Happy to have you here. Lets jump right in and take a look at the South portion of the bracket. Can we assume the #1 overall seed Florida Gators will advance to the final four or is there a team in here that can take them down?
[4:44:29 PM] jonahskiles: Well in my opinion, they will advance to the Final Four due their senior leadership, defensive pressure, and unselfish brand of basketball, not to mention their great coaching staff led by Billy Donovan. However with all that said, there are a couple of teams that I could potentially see giving Florida a run for their money. Kansas is as talented as any team in the country, and if they are to make it through the first couple of rounds without Joel Embiid on the interior, they have enough versatility and athletic ability to take down the Gators. You also have Syracuse in this region, who despite having slipped up a little in late stages of the regular season, held the number one spot in the country for quite some time. C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis could lead the Orange past Florida. Finally, you cannot forget about VCU. Shaka Smart always has his team ready to play by tournament time and this year should be no different.
[4:48:04 PM] Jack Kavanagh: I also do think they will reach the Final Four but Kansas will definitely give them a run for their money if they match up in the Elite Eight.
[4:48:58 PM] Jack Kavanagh: Where can we expect to see upsets in this portion of the bracket? Is the 31-2 Stephen F. Austin team really all they're cracked up to be?
[4:56:17 PM] jonahskiles: I think Stephen F. Austin is a really good team. They are riding a 28 game winning streak into the tournament, which is impressive for anyone. They crash the glass hard, and force lots of turnovers. They should give VCU all they can handle in the first round. Another potential upset to watch out for is the 13-seed Tulsa over the 4-seed UCLA. Former Kansas great, Danny Manning, coaches this team and leads them in to the tournament on a current 11 game win streak. If they can keep UCLA from making 3-pointers, they should have a chance due to their excellent defense inside 2-point range.
[4:59:30 PM] Jack Kavanagh: That is certainly a popular upset pick this year and will be a great game to watch but what do you think the most exciting game will be in the East?
[5:07:37 PM] jonahskiles: That's a tough question because there are some very interesting match-ups in this region. The one I am most interested in is the 3-14 contest between Iowa State and North Carolina Central. Most people overlook this matchup because of the star power of Iowa State in Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane, but N.C. Central has a star of their own in Jeremy Ingram. This young man averages 20.6 PPG and has shown he can do it against big time opponents (27 against Cincinnati, 37 against Wichita State). If they can limit the fast break chances of Iowa State, this game could be close. They play excellent defense in the half-court set and have been competitve against high profile teams, beating N.C. State and losing to Cincinnati by 13 and Wichita State by 11. If Ingram gets hot, this game could become very intriguing.
[5:12:55 PM] Jack Kavanagh: That's interesting because I was not even considering that as a possible upset. Let's move on to West portion which to many is seen as wide open. Is Arizona the one to emerge victorious or can Creighton, Wisconsin, or another team take down the Wildcats?
[5:18:01 PM] jonahskiles: I think Arizona would be the favorite to win the region, but no one should overlook Oklahoma State. Marcus Smart, Markel Brown, and LeBryan Nash could propel them past the Wildcats in a potential second round match. Wisconsin can slow you down and make you play at their pace, which could be enough for them to continue to advance. Creighton is another interesting case. Doug McDermott could shoot them all the way to the Final Four. He's that talented as a scorer. But aside from him, the rest of the team is solid as well, so they could be a tough out for anyone.
[5:21:24 PM] Jack Kavanagh: All solid points. One team that surprised a lot of people this year is Nebraska, are they a cinderella candidate this year?
[5:23:48 PM] jonahskiles: It's a possibility, but I'm not sold on the team. I think Baylor is just too athletic and long for Nebraska to advance to the round of 32.
[5:26:18 PM] Jack Kavanagh: That should be a fun game to watch but what potential match up in the later rounds of the West gets you excited?
[5:30:37 PM] jonahskiles: I would say that this the weakest region, but having said that, the possible Elite 8 contest between Arizona and Creighton would be exciting. Arizona has tons of talent with Nick Johnson leading the way. Flanked by Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson the Wildcats have an uber-talented roster. But I would never count out McDermott and the Blue Jays.
[5:31:50 PM] Jack Kavanagh: I would love to see McDermott match up against some of the other top talent in the country as well.
[5:34:11 PM] Jack Kavanagh: Let's here your thoughts on the Midwest Region. The Midwest in my opinion is the most intriguing region and contains the best competition. Where does our favorite lie in this quarter of the bracket?
[5:38:33 PM] jonahskiles: Well I'm going to have to ride the nation's bandwagon on this one and choose the defending champion Louisville Cardinals. They are peaking at the right time and have the championship experience to go the distance. I truly think they will have a rough time getting past Wichita State in a potential Sweet 16 match-up. Wichita St. has a better team this year than last year's Final Four team. The only issue could be the pressure of living up to the undefeated record with which they enter the tournament. Coach K is always going to have his Duke squad ready to play as well. The Jabari Parker-Rodney Hood tandem could be the best 1-2 punch in the nation.
[5:43:30 PM] Jack Kavanagh: Louisville has really been impressive these last couple weeks. One team I haven't heard anything about is Mercer. They come out of the same conference that Florida Gulf Coast does and I think we all remember what happened last year. Mercer faces up against Duke a team that lost to 15 seed Lehigh two years ago. Is this game a match made in heaven or a 35 point loss for Mercer?
[5:46:40 PM] jonahskiles: Well this Mercer squad knocked off Florida Gulf Coast this year in the Atlantic Sun Conference final on Dunk City's home court. That is an accomplishment in its self, but I think Duke is just too strong and talented from top to bottom for Mercer to pose a huge threat.
[5:52:31 PM] Jack Kavanagh: As we move on to the East, this region has special significance for you and I. Coastal Carolina lines up against ACC Champions Virginia. There has been a lot of hype for this game being that it is a 1 VS 16 match up. Can the Chanticleers be the first 16 seed to ever take down a 1 seed?
[5:57:16 PM] jonahskiles: Well it's a stretch, that's for sure, but the Chants might have a chance. They have enough length and athleticism to challenge the Cavaliers. Badou Diagne could be the X-Factor in the game with his relentless attack of the boards and his knack for momentum-shifting plays. If Elijah Wilson and Warren Gillis can get hot from the floor, it's at least doable. But if they are even the slightest bit off their game, Joe Harris and Virginia will bury them because they rarely make mistakes.
[5:58:35 PM] Jack Kavanagh: It would be a real treat for Coastal Nation especially the two of us because we will be attending the game Friday night in Raleigh.
[5:59:05 PM] jonahskiles: That would be something special to witness.
[6:00:25 PM] Jack Kavanagh: Indeed. Now is the East similar to the Mid-West in that the four seed Michigan State is the favorite?
[6:04:27 PM] jonahskiles: I believe so. They are my pick to win the tournament. You can pretty much throw their record out the window because of all the injuries they have faced throughout the year. Keith Appling, Adrien Payne, and Gary Harris provide such a strong core, and when everyone is healthy this team has showed that they can beat anyone. They dismantled Michigan in the Big 10 Conference final this past week. With everyone on the team healthy, it will be hard not to bet on the Spartans. Also, Coach Tom Izzo has never failed to take a senior class to the Final Four in his tenure at Michigan State.
[6:06:43 PM] Jack Kavanagh: They are a popular pick to win the title. With that said my final question will be how do you expect your beloved UNC Tar Heels to fair against Providence and beyond?
[6:12:51 PM] jonahskiles: Providence is riding a confidence high off of their Big East Championship win and have a star in Bryce Cotton. However, the team is not deep and each starter plays over 30 minutes per game. With UNC's breakneck pace that they love to play at, Providence should run out of gas. UNC has been extremely up and down this year. They have beaten Louisville, Michigan State, Kentucky, and Duke but have bad losses to UAB and Belmont among others. If Marcus Paige can keep up his stellar play and can get some help from James Michael McAdoo and J.P. Tokoto, they could potentially make a deep run. But if McAdoo doesn't show up to play, they could have an
early exit. I guess we'll see what they're really made of in the next few days.
[6:13:55 PM] Jack Kavanagh: They surely have been up and down this year but are undoubtedly one of the most exciting teams to watch all year.
[6:15:46 PM] Jack Kavanagh: I think and I believe you share the same opinion that we are in for one of the best tournaments in recent years. Thank you for giving us your time here today it is greatly
appreciated by all of us here at Blog SH.
[6:17:03 PM] jonahskiles: Thank you very much for having me Jack, and thanks to Blog SH for taking my insight and opinions!
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