Our 2013 NCAA Tournament predictions continue on Thursday, March 28th with the Sweet 16. Join us as the #6 Arizona Wildcats and the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes go to war in what should be a remarkable opening game of the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness: Arizona Wildcats vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Arizona vs. Ohio State Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Arizona vs. Ohio State Date/Time: Thursday, March 28th, 7:47 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: TBS

Key #1: Arizona has to continue to do a great job of defending the perimeter
The Wildcats have really done well on the outside in this tournament, and they have done so against some teams that really can stroke the three-ball. New Mexico had no answer for the three-point shooting that Harvard brought to the table, while most were under the impression that Belmont was going to go all Florida Gulf Coast on the Wildcats. Instead, the two teams were held to just 13 three-point makes between them, and in this day and age in the NCAA Tournament against mid-majors, that’s not all that bad. Ohio State isn’t going to jack up nearly as many threes as the Crimson or the Bruins, but when it does shoot it from the outside, it does so with purpose. Arizona has to find a way to make sure that G Aaron Craft and all of those perimeter players stay quiet, because if they don’t and the Bucks get going, this game is going to be said and done with.

Sweet 16 Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#6 Arizona Wildcats +3.5
#2 Ohio State Buckeyes +3.5
Over/Under 134
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Key #2: Deshaun Thomas has to remain a consistent star
For as good as the Big Ten was this season, there aren’t many players that are nearly as good as Thomas is. He’s big, he’s lanky, he’s quick, and he can shoot the ball from anywhere in the gym. He also is insanely consistent in his ways, and he rarely leaves games for more than a blow. He only sat out two minutes against Iowa State, and he has played at least 34 minutes in all but one game since January 26th. More importantly, he feels like he is good for at least 16 points every single night. In fact, in actuality, that’s precisely what he does. Thomas has put up at least 16 points in seven straight games and at least 14 points in every single game that he has played since that January 26th game against Penn State. If Thomas continues at this pace, he’ll be in great shape going forward. However, when he is on a drought, this whole offense seems to be out of whack, so Head Coach Thad Matta knows that he needs to get Thomas’ best game on Thursday to ensure taking care of the Wildcats.

Key #3: Ohio State has to stay on the gas pedal
How much longer can the Buckeyes really keep this pace up? That’s a real question that we have at the moment. Ohio State had to play three games in three days at the Big Ten Tournament two weeks ago, and last week, it had to play at a wicked pace against both Iona and Iowa State in a span of just a few days. We had a sense that perhaps the Buckeyes were getting tired at the end of that game against the Cyclones, and that’s perhaps why a double-digit lead was squandered late in the game, setting up Craft for his heroics. Did the week off really give the Bucks enough time to recover from such a brutal stretch? Playing Arizona isn’t going to make life any easier for sure, and the pace of this game is going to be kept down as a result. OSU doesn’t want to play this game into the 70s like Arizona will want to, and though there is no doubt that both teams can win at the other’s pace, we know that it is more important for the Buckeyes to use their energy on the defensive end of the court instead of having to run up and down with 60-70 possessions each.

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Our 2013 NCAA Tournament predictions continue on Friday, March 29th with the Sweet 16. Join us as the #6 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and the #2 Florida Gators go to war in what should be a remarkable opening game of the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness: Florida Gulf Coast Eagles vs. Florida Gators
Florida Gulf Coast vs. Florida Location: Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX
Florida Gulf Coast vs. Florida Date/Time: Friday, March 29th, 9:57 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: TBS

Key #1: Florida needs to have used its few days off wisely
There’s no such thing as overlooking a team at this point in the dance. It’s clear to see what happened in the case of Florida Gulf Coast in the first week of the tournament. Georgetown, a perennially underachieving team in the NCAA Tournament, just didn’t seem to care all that much about what the Eagles were doing on the court, especially in the second half. San Diego State probably spent most of the week leading up to the dance focusing in on what Oklahoma and then Georgetown could bring to the table. Now though, comes the hard part for FGCU. Can the team really ultimately figure out how to beat the Gators? Florida is going to have two more big time games to watch that the Eagles played, and it is going to have had a full four days to look at tape and prepare to take on this exciting bunch. As long as Florida isn’t caught napping, something that we don’t suspect to see happen, the orange and blue should be on their way to the Elite Eight without all that much in the way of hassles.

Sweet 16 Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#15 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles +13
#3 Florida Gators -13
Over/Under 135
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Key #2: The Eagles have to continue to believe that they belong here
This really is the point in the tourney when a lot of the much smaller schools start to bow out of the NCAA Tournament. Cinderella has a nice run into the second week of the dance, but after that, the clock strikes midnight, the chariot turns into a pumpkin, and that’s the end of the whole glass slipper story. Still, so many of these underdog teams feel like they are just happy to be in the moment. Granted, we know that the Eagles are out there having the most fun of any of the 16 teams that are left in the field, and if they were beaten by 60 on Friday night, they’ll still leave Dallas with their heads held high. However, this is where we are going to see whether Head Coach Andy Enfield and his gang are really ready for the big time or not. The cameras have been on lowly little Florida Gulf Coast for a full week, and there is no doubt that this is the biggest thing that ever hit this campus. Will FGCU act like it belongs here and challenge the Gators the same way that it challenged San Diego State and Georgetown? That’s the question that badly needs to be answered.

Key #3: The Gators have to put this game away with their defense
Regardless as to whether or not Florida Gulf Coast truly is a team that is worthy of being in the Sweet 16 or not, we do know one thing from that first week of the tourney. We know that this team can run, and we know that it can score. Not just anyone can score 78 on Georgetown and 81 against San Diego State. Those were two very strong defensive teams. The Gators though, have a tendency to be in a different league from that standpoint. This is a very athletic team and is one that has the guards that should be able to slow down G Brett Comer and the gang. A lot has been made of the running style that the Eagles deploy, and we have seen those hammer ally-oop dunks over and over again over the course of the few days. F Erik Murphy is going to stay at home though, and he isn’t going to get lured out of position by all of the ball movement and the speed of the game. Simply put, Florida has to slow this thing down, take the air out of the basketball, and force the game into half-court set after half-court set. It’s not flashy, but it’s not dangerous either, and as we have seen, it’s when FGCU starts getting flashy that it is really getting the crowd into the game.

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Our 2013 NCAA Tournament predictions continue on Friday, March 29th with the Sweet 16. Join us as the #6 Michigan Wolverines and the #2 Kansas Jayhawks go to war in what should be a remarkable opening game of the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness: Michigan Wolverines vs. Kansas Jayhawks
Michigan vs. Kansas Location: Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX
Michigan vs. Kansas Date/Time: Friday, March 29th, 7:37 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: TBS

Key #1: The Wolverines need to contain Jeff Withey
Get used to hearing this for the rest of the tournament for as long as the Jayhawks are in it. At an imposing seven-feet tall, Withey has the type of size that just doesn’t exist in college basketball. He never strays all that far away from the basket, even if his man tries to get him outside. The problem with having a smaller man on him that could at least get him outside of the paint is that someone has to defend him on the other side of the court. That’s the big problem that Big Blue needs to avoid. Withey put up 16 points, 16 boards, and five blocks against an undersized North Carolina outfit the last time out, and there really isn’t going to be much of an answer for him in the Michigan lineup either. The key isn’t going to be stopping Withey, because that isn’t going to happen. They can’t let him get block happy either, as his offensive game seems to feed off of his defensive game. When Withey is rejecting all sorts of shots in the lane, he tends to get himself some more opportunities on the other side of the court, and quite frequently, those shots that he takes are of a very high percentage.

Sweet 16 Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#4 Michigan Wolverines +2
#1 Kansas Jayhawks -2
Over/Under 136
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Key #2: Michigan simply has to get some points on the board
Here are some stats for you that might blow your mind. The Wolverines played some flat out awesome defensive teams this season. Michigan played a total of seven games against Top 25 defensive teams, two against Michigan State, two against Wisconsin, two against Ohio State, and one against Pittsburgh. In games against those teams, the Wolverines averaged just 57.3 points per 40 minutes. (Remember that a game against Ohio State and one against Wisconsin went to overtime.) In Kansas’ last 25 NCAA Tournament games, it has played to the ‘under’ to the tune of a 21-4 record. In that stretch, the team has allowed just 61.4 points per game. In the games that it has lost in the dance since 2007, it has allowed 68.4 points per game, and each of the foes scored at least 66 points against the Jayhawks. In the wins that it has had in that run, it has allowed 59.7 points per game and has only allowed more than 65 points twice in those games. That’s just a remarkably consistent stat for Head Coach Bill Self and the gang, and if Michigan doesn’t plan on getting into the 60s in this one, it isn’t going to end up winning the game.

Key #3: Glenn Robinson III has to continue to avoid being a no-show
The Big Dog’s son has had himself a very interesting first year with the Wolverines. He averaged 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and he really did show tremendous flashes of athleticism along the way. Robinson though, was wildly inconsistent throughout the season. He scored eight points or fewer 12 times this season in 35 games. In those games where he scored eight or fewer, the Wolverines averaged just 68.3 points per game. They went 6-6 SU and 3-9 ATS. In games in which Robinson scored at least nine points, Michigan went 22-1 SU and 13-7-1 ATS. When you take out the games against teams that aren’t dancing, what’s left are an 0-6 SU record and a 1-5 ATS mark. When Robinson did score at least nine points against tourney teams this year, Big Blue is 8-1 SU and 7-2 ATS. That’s a humongous overlay, and it’s further proof that the Wolverines really need Robinson to step it up and remain a consistent player if they want to have any realistic chance of coming away with a ‘W’.

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Friday night in Indianapolis, the top seed in the Midwest Region, the Louisville Cardinals will take on one of the upstarts of the tournament, the Oregon Ducks. Our March Madness predictions are set to take place here at Bankroll Sports, as we analyze the keys to the game so you can make your Oregon vs. Louisville picks. Join us for the three most pressing factors that are going to help determine which one of these two teams is going to get to the Elite Eight and just one step away from the Final Four in Atlanta.

March Madness: Oregon Ducks vs. Louisville Cardinals
Oregon vs. Louisville Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Oregon vs. Louisville Date/Time: Friday, March 29th, 7:15 p.m. ET
March Madness Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Dominic Artis has to get healthy
We’re starting to wonder if Artis really is ever going to be healthy this year for the Ducks. He hasn’t truly been a major factor in games, especially down the stretch ever since going out with an ankle injury at the outset of the Pac-12 season. Now, he is going to be in the thick of the fight against one of the most talented backcourts in the country. The Ducks have been fortunate to get good contributions from G Johnathan Loyd over the course of the middle of the Pac-12 campaign, and Loyd played well during the Pac-12 Tournament as well. However, he has only scored a total of 14 points and has a total of nine assists against nine turnovers here in the dance thus far, and that isn’t going to cut it. Either Loyd has to be a whole heck of a lot better, or Artis has to prove that he can be on the court and be productive with the game on the line, or the Ducks are in a lot of trouble.

Oregon vs. Louisville Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
#12 Oregon Ducks +10
#1 Louisville Cardinals -10
Over/Under 128.5
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Key #2: Gorgui Dieng has to go back to being a dominating star
All of a sudden over the course of these last few games, Dieng has sort of disappeared in the Louisville rotation. He only has a total of 20 points and 10 rebounds in two games here in the NCAA Tournament, and he just isn’t getting the shot opportunities in the paint that he is used to getting. Part of Dieng’s game is getting the ball in the paint and dominating. We know that here in the dance, those opportunities are going to be fewer and farther between, especially with the way that the three-point shots get jacked up on both sides of the court. However, Dieng is still the one man that few can match up with in this entire country. He had a tough draw against Colorado State on Saturday, and he is going to have a rough one as well against F Arsalan Kazemi, who had eight points and 16 boards in the third round against a very tough Saint Louis outfit. However, Head Coach Rick Pitino cannot lose sight of the fact that he has as talented of a big man as there is in the country, and Dieng needs to be a big part of the game plan to win this one.

Key #3: The Ducks have to capitalize on their trips to the line
Just getting to the charity stripe is a tough task when you’re playing a team like Louisville. However, in the third round on Saturday, the Cardinals committed a total of 24 fouls in spite of the fact that the game was largely a blowout, especially in the second half. As a result, Colorado State went to the free throw line 21 times. Oregon has generally had a degree of success at the stripe over the course of the season, knocking down right around 71% of its chances. However, here in the NCAA Tournament, the Ducks are shooting just 64.9% from the foul line. Oregon isn’t going to be able to keep up the torrid pace that it is shooting three-pointers at right now (48.5% for the tourney), but what it can control is the way that it is shooting foul shots. There is no doubt that this is a team that is going to need to put together every point that it can possibly find. Leaving too many points on the board will certainly result in disaster against a team that it is tough enough to score on in the first place.

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The 2013 NIT Bracket was just released here on Selection Sunday, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are going to be taking a quick look at the teams that are going to be playing in the NIT this year and what they need to do to beat the odds to win the NIT and make it to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Final Four!

We’re going to start over in the Kentucky region, where the Wildcats are actually going to have to go on the road for the opening game of this tournament. The top seed in the tourney is going to have to hit the road to go to Pittsburgh to face Robert Morris, the automatic qualifiers from the Northeast Conference. After taking on the Colonials, either Providence or Charlotte will be on deck in games that really shouldn’t prove to be all that difficult if the Wildcats are going to really play this tournament full out. Arizona State and Baylor are the highlight teams in the bottom of the bracket, but Detroit (arguably the last team that made it to the NIT) and Long Beach State, an automatic qualifier from the Big West are also in the bracket.

The winner of the Kentucky bracket will face the winner of the Southern Miss bracket at Madison Square Garden. Things really don’t setup all that well for the Golden Eagles, knowing that they didn’t beat a single RPI Top 50 team all season long. They don’t have many great RPI teams in this bracket, but Florida State and Louisiana Tech could be ready to pounce in Hattiesburg. BYU seems to be a bit of a paper tiger of a No. 3 seed, but the Cougars were clearly picked here due to the fact that they will fill up the Marriott Center on Tuesday against Washington. The Huskies are a great team that deserved to be in better shape than this for the NIT. The winner has to likely head East to Knoxville, where the Volunteers are going to hope to continue their solid play in the second season.

The opposite side of the 2013 NIT Bracket is going to be insane, as it is chock full of teams that have a ton to prove. The Alabama bracket is going to feature some teams that have to travel quite a long ways to get to each of their games. If the chalk holds up on Tuesday, Alabama will get to host Stanford, which has a tough draw in its own right against Stephen F. Austin. Ohio was probably one of the last teams that made it into the NIT, and it will take on a Denver team that many thought would have little chance to get into the tournament at all, let alone host a game. Maryland and Niagara should make for some exciting basketball as well. The Terrapins really hit their stride at the end of the season, and they have a couple major wins over Duke to their credit as well.

It might be a bit surprising to see Virginia as a No. 1 seed here in the NIT, but that’s bad news for the rest of the teams in its bracket. The Hoos were dominating at home at John Paul Jones Arena this year, and as long as they are over the disappointing of having to play in the NIT instead of the NCAAs, there is a good shot that they can win this tournament. Their first victim is a Norfolk State team that made some history last year when it came out of the No. 15 slot and beat No. 2 Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. St. Joe’s and St. John’s are going to face off in a regional game that should be a thrilled. Iowa and Indiana State both have to be really disappointed that they are so low on the NIT bracket. The Hawkeyes really could have been a top seed in our eyes, but they were relegated to a No. 3 and will likely only get one game at Carver Hawkeye Arena as a result. UMass is the No. 2 seed that will host the first two games in this region as long as it keeps winning, and it gets Stony Brook in its opening soiree.

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The brackets have just been released for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are already tearing through the 68 teams that are going to be in the field and making our March Madness predictions. Join us right now for our 2013 March Madness advice, as well as our 2013 NCAA Tournament predictions for the teams that could be cutting down the nets on the road to the Final Four in Atlanta.

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2013 Midwest Bracket Predictions
Louisville won the Big East Tournament this year, and it predictably was the overall No. 1 seed in the dance. Of all of the No. 1s, there really doesn’t seem to be a much easier road to get to the Sweet 16, and perhaps even the Elite Eight as the one that the Hoosiers have. Oklahoma State is a team that likes to run and gun, but it really is the only team that is going to be able to contend as we see it if it gets that far. Saint Louis is a team that is playing with a heavy heart in memory of its lost coach, Rick Majerus.

At the bottom of this bracket, there really isn’t a heck of a lot to see either in our eyes. Duke is a dangerous team that could ultimately win this bracket, and we think that it is going to be a de facto No. 1 seed through the Elite Eight. Actually, the most dangerous team that we see out of this bracket as a potential sleeper is Saint Mary’s, a team that is going to have to go through Dayton to make it to the main bracket. Michigan State is a team that is always prepared to make a huge move in the dance, as Head Coach Tom Izzo’s teams never go down quietly. Of course, he has a tough bracket to try to navigate through this year, and it starts right away with what could be an upset-minded Valpo side.

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2013 West Bracket Predictions
The biggest question this year in the West Region is whether Gonzaga really, truly belonged as a top seed. In fact, you could ask the question as to whether Ohio State is a legitimate No. 2, or if New Mexico is a legitmate No. 3 as well. What this is setting up for could be a bracket chock full of upsets.

We aren’t particularly worried about the play-in game winners sitting in that No. 13 line that are going to have to face Kansas State playing a de facto home game in Kansas City. However, Ole Miss is a team that has caught some fire of late, and it might be able to make some real havoc in that No. 12 slot, especially against a Wisconsin team that has a habit of falling short in the dance.

The bottom of this bracket contains a ton of dangerous double digit seeds. Iona is one of the highest flying teams in America, and it is going to turn on the jets for the full 40 minutes no matter what Ohio State tries to do to stop it. Iowa State, Harvard, and Belmont are all seeds down here that can score a ton of points and stroke it from long range. The defensive minded teams of Ohio State and Notre Dame could be in some trouble as a result. Keep a close eye on Arizona as well if it can survive that first game against Belmont, as the Wildcats really underachieved all season long. They have the talent to really go far in this tournament.

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2013 East Bracket Predictions
The road to the Final Four in the East Region goes through Washington DC, and for that reason, we have to think that Indiana is going to be at a huge advantage. Miami, the No. 2 seed in this bracket, is going to have some real issues in terms of getting some support from the crowd, knowing that it is a long ways away from both Austin, where it is going to be playing its first two games of the dance, and then at the Verizon Center. That’s why things could be opened up quite a bit in the middle of this bracket. There aren’t a lot of flashy teams in this bunch, but Marquette, Butler, Syracuse, and UNLV are teams that just continue to find ways to win on a regular basis.

However, if you look at the road to the Final Four, there really might not be a path from top to bottom that is easier than that of the Hoosiers. Indiana draws a play in game winner that won’t challenge it, and then it gets either an underachieving NC State team or Temple. Playing against Syracuse could be tough in the Sweet 16, but if that’s the toughest potential game in the bracket for what used to be the No. 1 rated team in America, the Hoosiers have it good.

2013 South Bracket Predictions
The South is bracket that has a lot of teams that can score a heck of a lot of points in it. The highest scoring team in the bunch is actually Northwestern State, the No. 14 seed, who comes into this tourney as the top team in the nation from a scoring perspective. Other teams like North Carolina, VCU, and UCLA love to run and gun in the South Region as well.

However, the top two teams in this draw are both defensive minded teams, though. As long as the pace of the big games stays slow, Kansas and Georgetown are the clubs that should ultimately make it to the Elite Eight when push comes to shove. The Jayhawks don’t really have to go all that far away from home when they head to Dallas for the Sweet 16, assuming that they get there. However, when they do, they could be greeted by either a solid Michigan team, or a VCU outfit that could ultimately be the most dangerous team in the dance. The Rams are going to press for the full 40 minutes, and they have a really tough defense to try to get ready for in short order.

Of all of the brackets, the South is clearly the most competitive of them all.

NCAA Tournament sleeper teams are all over the place this year, and there are a number of teams that are going to be in the field that are going to be teams that can bust your bracket. Check out the Top 10 teams that can do some damage, and be sure to check back after the brackets are released to see who is on Upset Alert for the NCAA Tournament.

#10: Belmont Bruins – Always a terror, Belmont is one of these teams that could always blow up your bracket. The Bruins play fast basketball, and they average 77.2 points per game. G Ian Clark has had himself a great career, and this isn’t nearly his first rodeo in the NCAA Tournament. He’s averaging 18.1 points per game this year, and he has a great supporting cast around him. Give Belmont the right draw, and the OVC reps might ultimately be dancing into the second week of the tourney.

#9: Davidson Wildcats – When you’re hot, you’re hot. The Wildcats have won 17 games in a row, and they feature one of the most efficient offenses in the entire tournament. Davidson is also the only team in the land that hits at least 80% of its free throws, something that really is important at this level when the pressure is on. The Wildcats have a great pedigree, and they are going to have a real chance of making a deep run here in the dance, a la when they had G Stephen Curry knocking down shots from all over the place in the Elite 8.

#8: Valparaiso Crusaders – Wake up the echos of Bryce Drew! Remember when the Crusaders pulled off the great upset in the NCAA Tournament against Ole Miss back in the day? This Valpo team could be just as dangerous. The Crusaders ranked sixth in the land in shooting percentage this year at 48.9%, and that came against a solid schedule that included a very tough Horizon League. This is another one of these teams that can rotate players in and out at will, and it plays some hardnosed defense as well. Ryan Broekhoff is a 6’7″ big man that can cause all sorts of matchup problems, especially knowing that he averages knocking down almost three triples per game.

#7: Harvard Crimson – Ever since Cornell went on its great run a few years ago, we have always had our eyes on these Ivy League teams as clubs that could make some noise. Harvard shoots over 40 percent from beyond the arc, and in a tournament where the three-ball is the great equalizer, it’s no wonder why the Crimson are expected to make some noise. G Wesley Saunders knocked down a whopping 52.6%(!!!) of his three-point attempts this year, and when he and his mates get going, look out! Harvard is going to put someone on upset alert for sure.

#6: LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds – LIU Brooklyn didn’t have as great of a season this year as it did a campaign ago, but it still won the NEC Tournament and will dance for the third straight season. The Blackbirds still fly up and down the court like they always have, and with the right matchup, they could prove to be problematic. F Jamal Olasewere is a much more experienced player than he was a few years ago when Long Island cracked into the dance the first time and tried its best to run with North Carolina. Now, this bunch of chiseled vets could ultimately prove to give a high seed some real problems.

#5: Northwestern State Demons – The Demons feature the top scoring offense in America at 81.0 points per game, and they are able to force the tempo against literally anyone that they play. This is a deep, deep team that will rotate 10 players, all of which average at least 15 minutes per game on the court. Are there any real stars? Not necessarily. However, just like VCU (more on the Rams in a second), Northwestern State is going to push you for the full 40 minutes and go full bore in the process. Though this isn’t a team that could make a huge run, there is no doubt that no one is going to want to see this club on its line on Selection Sunday.

#4: South Dakota State Jackrabbits – G Nate Wolters was a man that we highlighted last year for the Jackrabbits, and he is the man that we are going to keep a close eye on once again. The guard averaged 22.7 points per game this year, and he had a great Summit League Tournament. The Jacks now have some experience under their belts having been to the dance last year, and they are going to be ready to take it to an unsuspecting high seed this coming week as well. South Dakota State shoots the daylights out of the basketball, and it could be primed for an upset.

#3: Iona Gaels – The Metro Atlantic champs are back in the NCAA Tournament once again, but this year, they have the MAAC’s automatic bid that they are bringing with them instead of having to play in the First Four in Dayton against BYU. This was obviously a good enough team to get into the field as an at large last year, and most of the pieces are back from that puzzle. Why do we think Iona is a dangerous squad? Not only did the Gaels average 80.7 points per game this year, but they were beaten 11 times by five points or fewer this season. The only team to really whip Iona was a La Salle team that is going to likely be in the field of 68 as an at large.

#2: Colorado State Rams – Last year, we warned to keep a close eye on Colorado State, only to see it bow out in the first round in a bad matchup against Murray State. The Rams are back with a very similar looking team, and they once again can really dominate with their bigs. This is a team that is averaging outrebounding teams by almost 15 boards per night. Colorado State doesn’t have the guards to make a huge run in the dance, but if the bracket falls right for it and a bunch of teams that don’t have remarkable guard play turn up on the line with it, look out! The Mountain West really can play this year.

#1: VCU Rams – HAVOC is back! The Rams are going to be an underrated team in the dance this year, and if they can get the right draw against a team that can’t handle the pressure of playing against the full court press for the full 40 minutes, they’ll have a shot at the Final Four once again. Head Coach Shaka Smart knows that he has a solid team this season once again, and VCU is averaging nearly a dozen steals per game. The difference between this year’s team and the one that made it to the Final Four a few years ago? These Rams can shoot the three. Those did in the dance, but didn’t in the regular season. Watch out for sure. HAVOC is coming to get you!