Author Spotlight
Ben Henschel
I usually have that “my-bracket’s-screwed” moment a day or two in. March will do that to you. I’m good at this stuff, I thought — at least I did before this year, and for good reason. I’ve won in all of my three routine groups at least once (in two of them, twice), the largest of which being a pay-to-play with over 200 participants.
Three hours in, I had that angering my-bracket-sucks realization that’s so well known and well hated by bracketologists and fans. The worst part? It wasn’t because of upsets.
And it wasn’t just that upsets were lacking. The upsets I picked — the ones much of the country picked, too — were seconds away from happening. But the higher seed stuck it out almost every time.
I was one of the guys who had no. 14 Yale handling no. 3 LSU, but they lost 74-79. I knew no. 11 Belmont could kick out no. 6 Maryland, but they lost 77-79. Plus no. 11 St. Mary’s should’ve dealt with overrated no. 6 Villanova, but they lost 57-61.
And I can’t begin to tell you how pissed I was when no. 12 New Mexico State blew it after a player missed two out of three vital free throws with 1.1 seconds left against no. 5 Auburn, which set their 77-78 loss in stone. To think Kansas could’ve made it one more round, right?
But regardless of how this year lacks that small school standout (miss you, Sister Jean), here are my picks for this year’s Bland and Predictable 16.
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Purdue
Number three offense takes on the number five offense. This game is going to be awesome.
After a too-close OT win against no. 10 Iowa on Sunday, Tennessee’s awake — and with scorers like Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield, Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner wreaking havoc on pretty much every team they’ve come across this year, the only question in my mind is how much they’ll win by.
Big disclaimer, though — Purdue has the number five offense in the league, as I said before. They’ve got Carsen Edwards averaging 23 points per game, and a team average of 44.6 percent from the field and 73.2 percent from the free throw line. One big game out of Edwards could mean trouble for the Vols.
No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 12 Oregon
Ducks, man. Have to put them through for the love of the game — and for making me one of 18.3 percent of ESPN brackets that picked them to secure a Sweet 16 spot.
Virginia came pretty close (until around ten minutes left in the second half) to repeating the infamous no. 16 UMBC loss that made history last year as the first time a one-seed went down in the first round. So you could say I’m almost as excited to watch this one as I am to watch Tennessee-Purdue.
No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Houston
If Kentucky plays like they have the second half of this season, and not the way they played against Wofford. They closed out the season winning 17 of their last 20 (two of the losses and one win coming against Tennessee, two wins against Auburn), but they didn’t play like it against the Terriers.
The Wildcats shot 40.4 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from three, and kept the game a little too close with a 28-26 score at the end of the first half by playing some unenthusiastic defense, at best.
They should be more than fine against a good, but not stellar Houston team if they assume form.
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 Virginia Tech
Duke came much too close to losing on Sunday (One. Tip. Away.) to no. 9 UCF to let themselves slip in much of the same way Kentucky did. Virginia Tech put up a substantial win on Sunday, but that was against no. 12 Liberty — a team that should not have beaten Mississippi State and moved on to even play Tech. Not to mention the fact that Liberty was up 32-29 at the half and had only one less rebound than Tech in the end.
I don’t think there could’ve been a more advantageous matchup for Duke out of all 16 teams left at this point.
No. 3 LSU vs. No. 2 Michigan State
I’m still pissed about Yale losing. Sparty.
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Texas Tech
Texas Tech is scary good, with Jarrett Culver and David Moretti leading the Big 12’s best team this year (as much as it hurts to say). Even though Michigan’s looked great as of late — taking down Florida 64-49 and Montana 74-55 before that — Tech’s won by around the same, and with their years of chemistry they should end up with a win.
Side note — not too confident about this pick. Very evenly matched teams, could really go either way depending on who shows up.
No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 Florida State
Florida State, man!
They looked even scarier than Texas Tech after handling Ja Morant and wildcard no. 12 Murray State 90-62, shooting 50.7 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three. Don’t exclude Mfiondu Kabengele’s 10-12, 22 point performance along with seven boards and three blocks, either.
Gonzaga’s good, but Florida State’s on too much of a roll. Easy upset.
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Auburn
North Carolina’s too good to lose in the Sweet 16. It should be simple as that, but Auburn is the team to mess around and put a powerhouse team — one that entered the season as the best team in the country — down 51-25 in the first half like they did with Kansas.
Still, I think Roy’s got at least one more win in him before the team draws out a bad performance.
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