March Madness Preview

Here it is, my absolute favorite sporting event of the year, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. This will be the first annual Short Hops and Air Balls March Madness Preview, and hopefully it's the first of many. I won't bore or annoy you with a game by game breakdown, or how great my bracket is. I'm going to speculate on what I think the Sweet 16 will look like, and then a few random observations.

The Sweet Sixteen:

East Region:

• Ohio State vs. Kentucky; Syracuse vs. Washington. That Washington pick kills me because I think they will beat my Tar Heels in the second round. North Carolina has had a great second half of the season but they are still way too young, and their guard play is still too inconsistent. For that reason, Washington beats them.
• This is easily the toughest region of the four, but Ohio State will beat Kentucky in a really close game, and Syracuse will beat Washington. Syracuse is wildly inconsistent and that scares me a lot, but they'll get it done against Washington.
• Ohio State will carve up the Syracuse 2-3 zone and advance to the Final Four
• Upset special from the East: The aforementioned Washington over North Carolina. Breaks my heart.

• Best Player in the Region. Six-Mix-A-Lot Jared Sullinger, Ohio State. The dude has a huge caboose, and uses it as well as anybody in college basketball in maybe the last 10 years.   

West Region:

• Duke vs. Texas; UConn vs. San Diego St. I hate Duke, but I respect the hell out of them. I have absolutely no idea how they won the tournament last year, but they found a way. Having said that I don't think they will this year. UConn is a one man show with Kemba Walker, SDSU plays as a total team, it will be an interesting matchup.
• I'm taking Texas to beat Duke. Texas defends really well, and Duke is too dependent on outside shooting, the Horns win a close one. I think UConn beats SDSU, but I'm not excited about it. I've watched UConn about three times this year, all wins, and each time I wasn't that thrilled with them.
• I think Texas advances to the Final Four by beating UConn.
• Upset Special: Memphis over Arizona in the first round. That Zona team is not very good, they were fortunate to be the most consistent team in a bad Pac-10 conference.
• Best Player in the Region: Kemba Walker; UConn. It's not even close, the kid can flat out play. He's quick, he can shoot, and he's got that killer instinct.

Southwest Region:

• Kansas vs. Louisville; Georgetown vs. Notre Dame. I think the Kansas/Louisville game will be the best Sweet Sixteen game of the tournament. Both teams are very good, both teams defend really well. G'Town/Notre Dame, two teams that are extremely familiar with one another, it will be a scrap.
• Kansas will beat Louisville in a very tough game. Kansas has a High-Low game that will just be too tough for Louisville. Notre Dame will beat Georgetown in an extremely ugly game.
• Kansas beats Notre Dame, and I think they beat them easily.
• Upset Special: I think this region is pretty chalk (whatever the hell that means, I hate that term, doesn't make any sense) but in another 5/12 upset, I'll take Richmond over Vanderbilt.
• Best Player in the Region: This is a really tough one. I think most people would say Ben Hansborough, but I'll tell you, I think he's very good in the ND system, but I honestly don't think he's that great overall. I really like JaJuan Johnson of Purdue, so I'll go with him. If you get a chance, check out Kenneth Faried of Morehead State, he's averaging 14.5 boards a game.

Southeast Region: 

• First off, soapbox time. What in the blue hell was the NCAA committee doing with this region? What a horrible, horrible region. It may be the weakest region I can remember in five years. What a disgrace. Having said all that, here are the picks. Pitt vs. Kansas State; BYU vs. Florida.
• Pitt beats a very game Kansas State team, that is playing really well down the stretch, but had a horrible beginning of the season. Florida is a horrible #2 seed, and I'm a Jimmer fanatic, so I'll take BYU, but that's my heart making that pick, not usually a good idea.
• Pitt totally outclasses BYU, and gets the easy pass to the Final Four.
• Upset Special: Again, not much in this region, but I'll give Tom Izzo one moment as he's always tough in March. I think Michigan State knocks off UCLA, although a 10 beating a 7 isn't exactly going way out on a limb. And to all of my Badger followers, sorry but if your team loses a game in the Big 10 tournament by only scoring 31 POINTS, umm I just can't pick your team to go anywhere.
• Best Player in the region: How about this, in my opinion the two best players in the tournament are in this region. Jimmer Fredette is ridiculous, he can shoot from anywhere, and is sneaky in getting to the hoop. I just hope in the NBA he doesn't turn into Adam Morrison. Also, Kansas State's Jacob Pullen is really, really good. He is just tough, and will do whatever it takes to win. I'll watch either of those two play anytime I can.

Final Four:

• Ohio State beats Texas in what I think will be a very good game. On the other side, Kansas beats Pitt, in what I think will be a very bad game.
• The Championship game. I think the Big 12 is a much better overall conference, but I think Ohio State is the most complete team in the tourney. Sullinger down low, and with Diebler and Lighty on the perimeter they will just be too much for KU. I like Ohio State wininng 81-74.

There it is, the SHAAB preview, don't fill out your brackets without it! Let me know your thoughts either here or on Facebook.