Tourney predictions: KU's the team to beat

Published January 08, 2015

Snubs, bubbles, No. 1s, upsets, buzzer beaters, brackets of death ... it's all happening as we speak, after hearing the pairings announced for this season's NCAA tournament. As a self-proclaimed bracketologist and college hoops junkie, I've seen what I like, and – for the most part - I like what I see. Only one team truly got the shaft in my book, and that was Mississippi State. It won half of its SEC games, won 23 games (including Vandy, Florida, Old Dominion, and at both Houston and UCLA) and twice took Kentucky to the limit, culminating in its SEC Championship game loss to the Wildcats in overtime. They're a tourney-level team, more so than the likes of Florida, UTEP and perhaps even Minnesota. Oh well, that's gonna happen. It's great debate now, but in the end, it's all relatively meaningless. Neither Mississippi State, Minnesota, UTEP nor Florida will be making the Final Four anytime soon, so let's talk about the teams who might, shall we? I agree with Duke being a No. 1 seed over West Virginia, but they're both unbelievable teams. I see both making extremely deep runs in this thing. Going region by region, this is what I think you'll see go down in one of the most wide-open tourneys in years. Midwest Region - First Round Winners Kansas - Easy call, as KU was this year's overall No. 1 team. Lehigh will be no match.

UNLV - Great matchup with Northern Iowa, but UNLV's vastly underrated, and the Panthers are the exact opposite.

Michigan State - New Mexico State made a great run to win its conference tourney, but the Spartans hardly get beat this early.

Maryland - Wouldn't put it past Houston to win this one actually, but Maryland has the veteran leadership at the right positions to hold them off.

San Diego State - My first upset of the opening round, as Tennessee just isn't the same without Tyler Smith, Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams and Melvin Goins, four of their top-eight scorers.

Georgetown - They can beat anybody, as they proved in the Big East Tourney. Ohio just can't match up with the size of the Hoyas.

Oklahoma State - Georgia Tech's prized freshmen have impressed of late, which will make this game a fun one to watch. Honestly, it could go either way. Call this one a hunch more than anything.

Ohio State - Evan Turner's the best player in the field, including John Wall and Sherron Collins. The Gauchos of UCSB will have their hands full, and then some. West Region – First Round Winners Syracuse - The loss of Arinze Onuaku will be huge. He's a massive part of that frontcourt. Won't hurt them against Vermont, though.

Gonzaga - Terrific first-round matchup against Florida State, but the Zags know how to get it done in this tourney.

UTEP - Nobody wants to play the Miners in the Big Dance. Of course, nobody wants to play Butler, either! Whoever wins has a chance to make a deep run, and by that, I mean a possible Elite Eight appearance ... I'm not kidding.

Vanderbilt - One of my favorite teams in the tourney this year is led by a team full of veterans who've failed here before when they should've gone further. I like the athleticism of Murray State, but this isn't a good team for it to be playing.

Xavier - They put a scare in teams every year. This season, they'll make a sound statement over the Big Ten runner-ups.

Pittsburgh - I really don't like Pittsburgh this year, but I surely don't think Oakland has the goods to knock them off.

BYU - This is the perfect first rounder for the Cougars. They'll be able to overwhelm a Gators team who can't match their frontcourt size.

Kansas State - Haven't played their best down the stretch, but they're good enough to beat anybody on any given day. Sorry, North Texas. No upset special here. East Region – First Round Winners Kentucky - There's no Timmy Smith for East Tennessee State to rely on any more. This one should be a blowout.

Wake Forest - One of the more intriguing first-round games, but I like the way Texas is playing a lot less than the way Wake is, which isn't saying much.

Temple - I love Cornell's team, but Temple's a team they didn't wanna see. They play similar styles, but the Owls play it better, with better players to do it.

Wisconsin - Congrats to Wofford for making its first-ever NCAA tournament, but Wisconsin won't be losing this one. It's solid all the way around.

Marquette - They know how to win games – it's that simple. Washington's playing well, but it hasn't had to face Marquette's schedule. Think this will end up being at least a 15-point win for the Golden Eagles.

New Mexico - The Lobos are the only non-BCS conference school to get a top-three seed, and deservedly so. Montana's lucky to even be here. Shouldn't be close.

Clemson - Can't wait for this game. Missouri's so erratic, it's impossible to gauge how they'll play from night to night, which is why I have to go with the fave here.

West Virginia - The Big East champs are coming off the highest of highs after winning their first conference title in school history. They'll make mince meat of Morgan State. South Region – First Round Winners Duke - They get the winner of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff/Winthrop game, but does it really matter? Winthrop's the best matchup regionally-wise, but Duke will win this game by 25 points, regardless.

Louisville - Cal earned that No. 8 seed, but Louisville's easily the best lower-seed team in the Big Dance. They're battle tested and should take this one going away.

Texas A&M - I was thinking strongly about taking Utah State in the upset here, and that could definitely happen. But A&M's an underrated squad who I like winning not just one game, but two, in this tournament.

Siena - Finally, another upset, and one I predict a lot of people will also be choosing. The Saints have a nice history of upsets here, and getting to face a Robbie Hummel-less Purdue team makes this the ideal spot to pull off another one.

Notre Dame - I like Old Dominion a lot, but the Irish have finally figured this thing out. Should be a close one, though.

Baylor - One of the true darkhorses this season I believe. No reason they can't go really far, as they have a nicely balanced team. Sam Houston State got put in a bad spot here.

Richmond - I can see people everywhere playing the 10th-seeded Gaels of Saint Mary's in this game, but I believe that's a mistake. Richmond's played in relative obscurity in the A-10, but they're strong.

Villanova - Robert Morris is a good team, but if you think Scottie Reynolds is gonna allow 'Nova to lose in the first round, you're kidding yourself. Second Round Winners Kansas - Seems like an easy play, but UNLV won't be an easy out at all. They play everyone tough. Won't quite be enough to take down the Jayhawks, though.

Michigan State - Getting to the Sweet 16s is what the Spartans do. Maryland will make this one a game, but it isn't the kind of team that can knock off a Tom Izzo squad this season.

Georgetown - I love what San Diego State brings to the table, but Georgetown's playing as well as any team in the country right now. If he doesn't go pro (which is likely), Greg Monroe would be next season's preseason Player of the Year.

Ohio State - Has all the makings of a really fun game, with two of the best players in the country facing off with each other (Ohio State's Evan Turner, Oklahoma State's James Anderson). Turner seems like a man on a mission, though.

Gonzaga - Here's a shocker for ya. We all know the Zags can knock off any team anywhere, and Syracuse is ripe for a loss with a six-man rotation. Gonzaga will be able to guard Wes Johnson better with Onuaku out of action.

Vanderbilt - I was as close as can be to selecting UTEP to make the Sweet 16, but Vandy should be able to weather this storm and move on, but I see an overtime thriller in the making.

Xavier - In what is easily the most-destroyed region at this point, Xavier makes yet another move to a Sweet 16 in the up-for-grabs West. I just don't see Pitt doing much in this tourney. They've been a letdown year after year.

Kansas State - Another game that could go either way almost had me booting this No. 2 seed, but I just don't think BYU's the team to make that happen, despite the efforts of Jimmer Fredette, one of the most underrated guards in the entire country.

Kentucky - Wake's an easy matchup for the Cats in the second round. And if Texas gets by Wake instead, it'd be just as easy. UK has, by far, the easiest road to the Sweet 16 of any team in this tourney.

Temple - They're as solid as they come, having dominated the A-10 all season long. Wisconsin's got game, too, of course, but I like the Owls in a game between two teams with very similar styles of play.

Marquette - Don't sleep on this team, folks. Beating the No. 3 Lobos of New Mexico won't be much of an upset, as I'll take a Big East over a Mountain West more often than not.

West Virginia - Missouri would actually be a tougher battle for the Mountaineers than Clemson would. But I already have the Tigers moving on, so West Virginia gets an easy one in the second round.

Duke - How about the Blue Devils potentially having to play Louisville in the second round?! That could be the toughest game it'll have to play until the Final Four. I'm taking Duke here, but just barely. I know I wouldn't wanna have anything to do with the Cardinals in this tournament.

Texas A&M - One of the surprise Sweet 16 teams should be the Aggies of A&M. They have a seriously nice draw. Not easy, by any means, but nicer than almost any other mid-seeded team.

Baylor - Notre Dame won't be an easy out. But Baylor has the bigs to be able to handle Luke Harangody, and the athletes to stick with the good shooters of the Irish as well.

Villanova - Richmond's gonna give them all sorts of hell, but 'Nova will find a way, even if it's by the slimmest of margins. Elite Eight Kansas - Now this is a top-notch Sweet 16 game with the Jayhawks going against Michigan State. This isn't the same Spartans team as in years past, though. Kansas will take this one without much of a problem.

Georgetown - Another tremendous pairing - Hoyas/Buckeyes – Greg Monroe/Evan Turner – Big East/Big Ten. It could absolutely go either direction, but Georgetown's won bigger games this year. This is why I'm going with them.

Vanderbilt - This is big news if the Commodores can make it to the Elite Eight, but it becomes more of a reality if Gonzaga takes down Syracuse, as I've already predicted. It'll be Vandy's best season ever if it's able to pull it off, having never made an Elite Eight in school history.

Kansas State - I'm not a huge Wildcats fan this season, but they have a terrific road in order to do well in this thing. I have them beating Xavier in the Sweet 16 round, but if it were Pitt instead, I'd still say the same thing.

Kentucky - Whether they're playing Temple or Wisconsin, I don't see them having any problems whatsoever. Sure, Temple's tough on some teams, but they don't have the athletes to compete with the fab freshmen of UK.

West Virginia - Nobody wants to play these guys right now, but they also don't wanna have to play Marquette again, either. They only beat them by one at home for the only time they met this year. They're definitely the better team, but this is a tough test for sure.

Duke - Texas A&M could give 'em some problems, but in the end the Devils are easily the better team here. They have the easiest bracket as a whole, which shouldn't be the case for a team that was the lowest rated of the No. 1 seeds.

Villanova - I really love Baylor. In fact, I think they may be the better team here. However, I just don't see them being able to put together a three-game run with their personnel. 'Nova may not be title-worthy, but it knows how to win these kind of games. Final Four Kansas - The No. 1 team in the country makes it happen, as it should. I just said the same thing about Baylor that I'm getting ready to say about Georgetown: they're a tremendously talented team, but beating too many good teams in a row may be asking too much. They'll be all out of miracles by the time they reach the Jayhawks. Go with the 'chalk' in this one.

Kansas State - Beating Vandy shouldn't be a problem. Their toughest matchup would've come if the Orangemen were still around. Either way, how exciting would a fourth matchup with Kansas be, and this time in the Final Four?! I think it'll happen, thereby making it the biggest sports attraction in the long history of that state. Yes, that's a bold statement, but I challenge you to find a bigger one.

West Virginia - That's right, folks, I have the Mountaineers taking down the mighty Kentucky Wildcats. Deal with it! I really don't think UK has what it takes to win the whole thing this season. Three of their top four players are freshmen. That is asking a lot of any team, no matter how talented are those three guys. WVU is as motivated as any team in the country, and it has the coaching mettle to get the job done.

Duke - This is an easy call actually. I don't think Villanova should get this far, but I just couldn't find anyone who could beat them 'til now. Unless the Devils can't make a three for their lives, they'll win this one handily. Championship – Kansas vs. West Virginia Kansas State's lost just six games since the New Year, and Kansas accounts for three of them. Add a fourth, as it just doesn't match up with the Jayhawks. Whereas West Virginia matches up with just about anybody, and you can count Duke as one of those teams. I love what the Mountaineers are doing right now and see them making their first-ever finals appearance this season. In the end, though, those teams who get there for the first time rarely get over the hump. Kansas has been there before, having won just two seasons ago. They'll do so again this year. Your 2010 national champions will once again be Rock Chalkin' all the way back to Lawrence, Kansas!

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