When Richmond is the center of the Sweet 16, you know it’s madness.
The NCAA tournament resumes Thursday with only one of the four regionals even close to expected form. The West has the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 seeds remaining. Otherwise, many folks are filling out consolation brackets after their first attempt last week evaporated.
The Southwest regional still has No. 1 Kansas, but the Jayhawks play No. 12 Richmond while No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth faces No. 10 Florida State. That means two Richmond-area schools might meet in the Elite Eight.
Richmond seems unlikely to beat Kansas, but VCU stomped Georgetown and Purdue, so Florida State doesn’t scare the Rams. Can VCU become the next George Mason? At this point, there’s no reason why not.
The fun regional is the Southeast, where No. 8 Butler faces No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 2 Florida meets No. ?3 BYU. Butler showed last week’s Verizon Center crowd it’s every bit of last year’s Cinderella with a pair of buzzer-beater victories. Seriously, the Bulldogs were one second away from losing or overtime in both games. Look for Butler to beat Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Florida-BYU is the best game in the round of 16. But here’s the only stat you need — Florida coach Billy Donovan is 8-1 in Sweet 16 games. The Gators have a serious chance to reach the championship.
Connecticut seems to be the best team in the West regional. The No. 3 Huskies face No. 2 San Diego State, while No. 1 Duke meets No. 5 Arizona. Connecticut showed Verizon fans that its five straight wins to capture the Big East title didn’t gas the Huskies. San Diego State won’t stay with Connecticut.
Duke nearly blew its third-round game to Michigan. The Blue Devils look vulnerable even with guard Kyrie Irving expected to play significant minutes following his return from a toe injury. Like most years, Duke is simply a well-disciplined team that wears down opponents.
In a rematch of Duke’s 2001 NCAA title game victory over Arizona, the Wildcats will need their bench and defense to upset the Blue Devils. Still, the pick here is Duke.
Connecticut-Duke might be the best Elite Eight game, with the Huskies advancing.
No. 1 Ohio State has perhaps the toughest remaining path among the top seeds. The Buckeyes face No. 4 Kentucky before a likely East region final against No. 2 North Carolina (assuming the Tar Heels beat No. 11 Marquette).
Ohio State is clearly the class of the East. Its ball movement and speed can’t be defended. Kentucky awakened after nearly blowing its first game against Princeton, but the Buckeyes are simply better. As for an Ohio State-North Carolina matchup, the latter is a fraud. Roy Williams should get coach of the year for rallying this group.
A Final Four of Ohio State, UConn, VCU and Florida? That’s not madness, just handicapping.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
