March Madness: Part 2

The overall #1 Kansas Jayhawks were shocked by #9 Northern Iowa in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. (Courtesy Photo)

John Wall and the Kentucky Wildcats dominated the first two rounds winning by an average of 30 points. (Courtesy Photo)

Welcome to the greatest time of the sports year: March Madness. What a first week of the tournament! Shocking upsets, double digit seeds raiding the party and the overall top seed falling in the round of 32. Let's dive in to what happened:

• The overall #1 Kansas Jayhawks ended their season in a loss to #9 Northern Iowa in the round of 32. The last overall #1 to lose in the second round was Kentucky in 2004 to UAB.
• In the round of 64, EIGHT double-digit seeds made it to the round of 32, the most since 1985. Three are still dancing in the Sweet 16: #10 St. Mary's (Calif.) - Defeated #7 Richmond and #2 Villanova; #11 Washington - Defeated #6 Marquette and #3 New Mexico; and #12 Cornell - Defeated #5 Temple and #4 Wisconsin.
• Syracuse and Purdue are surprising me with their play so far in the tourney. Syracuse was without their star center due to injury. If he plays in the tourney remains to be seen. Purdue lost one of their top scorers for the season but have somehow found a way to make it work.
  

Analysis:

East

The Kentucky Wildcats have been the most dominite team on the floor. Beating #16 East Tennessee State 100-71 and then #9 Wake Forest 90-60, the Cats are looking solid and ready to make their run for their first National Title since 1998. John Wall has been the leader with players like Eric Bledsoe (8-9 in 3 pointers in game 1) and Darius Miller (Career-high 21 in the Wake Forest game) stepping up. That's the reality with this team: you shut one of them down, there are plenty more that can fill in. Their road goes through Cornell then possibly West Virginia or Washington. But with how physical they are, I see them in the Final Four by the end of this weekend.

West

The Syracuse Orange have rolled in their first two round wins over Vermont and Gonzaga. They have a tough road to get to the Final Four with Kansas State possibly being their Elite 8 matchup. It's a toss up between them and K-State for the Final Four.

South

Duke has had a quiet road so far with wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and California. They have the easiest road of all the top seeds remaining with a game against a pesky Purdue team and then Baylor or St. Mary's (Calif.) Look for them in the Final Four unless #4 Purdue or #3 Baylor trips them up.

Midwest

With #1 Kansas now out of the tournament, this opens up the door for #2 Ohio State. In the top of their bracket, #9 Northern Iowa takes on #5 Michigan State while #2 Ohio State takes on #6 Tennessee. With Player of the Year Evan Turner, I just don't see Ohio State NOT making the Final Four. The only team I'd be concerned with is "Cinderella" Northern Iowa. They are the only one out of the three cinderellas left that have a chance to crash the Final Four.

Predictions

MidWest: Northern Iowa OVER Michigan State; Ohio State OVER Tennessee
Ohio State OVER Northern Iowa
Region Champ: Ohio State

West: Syracuse OVER Butler; Kansas State OVER Xavier
Kansas State OVER Syracuse
Region Champ: Kansas State

East: Kentucky OVER Cornell; West Virginia OVER Washington
Kentucky OVER West Virginia
Region Champ: Kentucky

South: Duke OVER Purdue; Baylor OVER St. Mary's (Calif.)
Duke OVER Baylor
Region Champ: Duke

So the Final Four in Indy should be: Ohio State Vs. Kansas State and Kentucky Vs. Duke.

March Madness commences Thursday night! GO BIG BLUE!