FIRST ROUND
Illinois will score a lot of points and handle Farleigh Dickinson easily.
Texas will pack it in defensively against Nevada and slow down the Wolfpack offense but the Longhorns will not be able to score quite enough points to win.
UW-Milwaukee looked bad offensively against Kansas and Wisconsin earlier this year, but Alabama doesn't play defense as well as those two schools. Neither the Jayhawks nor the Badgers scored easily in those games, however, and Alabama has struggled against good teams away from home down the stretch. UW-MILWAUKEE TO WIN AT +180.
Boston College isn't especially good but they're better than Penn.
UAB has no business being in the tournament, but their stay will be brief. LSU will out-run the Blazers and take the score well OVER 152.
On paper, Utah State appears dangerous. I like their chances of dictating a slower tempo than Arizona would prefer but not their chances of winning. UNDER 139.
Neither Southern Illinois nor St. Mary's score especially efficiently. Darren Brooks will likely make the difference in a close, hard-fought game.
It won't matter if SE Louisiana succeeds in slowing the tempo against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are too good offensively. OVER 125.
SECOND ROUND
Illinois will be glad to see Nevada rather than Texas in the second round. Neither has much of chance against the Illini, but Brad Buckman has the potential to cause problems.
UW-Milwaukee will grind out an ugly win against Boston College while Bruce Pearl yells like a maniac. First team to 55 wins.
Don't be surprised if Arizona beats LSU by a larger margin than they do Utah State. The Tigers are neither equipped to control the pace nor beat the Wildcats in an up-tempo game.
Southern Illinois has the potential to knock off Oklahoma State, but it will likely take someone outscoring the Cowboys to eliminate them.
REGIONAL SEMI-FINALS
Illinois is far too good to be slowed by UW-Milwaukee. The Panthers will give a good effort but be unable to bridge the talent gap.
Hassan Adams is Joey Graham's worst nightmare. Oklahoma State will struggle to control Channing Frye inside, and, though John Lucas may well have his way with Mustafa Shakur, Arizona advances.
REGIONAL FINAL
Arizona has the personnel to slow down (not stop) the Illinois guards and make them work defensively. I think the relative weakness of the Illini's frontcourt has been overstated, there's no big man in the Big Ten as good as Channing Frye.
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