NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Prediction: (7) Connecticut vs. (8) Kentucky

Let me just start by revisiting the entire spectacle that has been March Madness this year... It wasted no time getting underway as Dayton upset Ohio State in just the first game of the tournament.  Then came incredible nail biters that included UNC-Providence, Connecticut-St. Joe's, Texas-Arizona State, and Louisville-Manhattan, as well as several outrageous upsets including Duke-Mercer, Harvard-Cincinnati, ND State-Oklahoma, and, my pick for best game of the tournament, SF Austin-VCU (still haven't found the foul on the four point play). This was absolutely the best round of 60 in recent memory, but the rest of the tournament was fantastic too, with underdogs like Dayton, UConn, and Kentucky driving far into the tournament and favorites (see: Kansas, Louisville) dropping like flies. I don't think there is a single person out there who would deny that UConn and Kentucky are the two teams that deserve to be in the title game, with the way they have played in the tournament and the caliber of teams they have beaten. A matchup between a seven seed and an eight seed in the finals of this tournament really speaks to the excitement and uncertainty of college basketball, and, quite honestly, the future couldn't look any brighter for the sport.

These are the highest combined seeds in title game history
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 7, 2014

Now that the recap is over, lets focus on all that we have left to focus on: UConn vs. Kentucky. The teams stack up fairly evenly, with Kentucky looking the more potent offensive team but UConn being the stronger defensive team. Overall, I think the game is going to come down to whether Kentucky can keep the game close until the final minutes. If they can, I have tremendous faith in the performance of of the Wildcats down the stretch and think they will pull out the win. The problem with this is, they have to make it to the last several minutes within reach of the Huskies. I think the Huskies have more consistent scoring options (Napier, Daniels, Boatright, Giffey vs. Randle and Young) and will be the better team defensively. However, I believe that, despite these advantages that UConn has, Kentucky will manage to stay in the game for several reasons. First off, they are lead by John Calipari, and I have no reason to believe that he will let Kentucky simply slide out of the game. Additionally, in nearly every game during this tournament a different person has stepped up for Kentucky, whether it be Marcus Lee or Alex Poythress, and I think the same will occur tonight (watch out for Dakari Johnson). Thus, I have Kentucky winning in a thriller (Aaron Harrison sound familiar?) by a final score of 71-69. So long college basketball, it's been a great season...

Game Recap: (1) Florida vs. (7) Connecticut

If you told me that Shabazz Napier would have just 12 points and Casey Prather would combine with Patric Young to score 34 points, I quickly would have flown to Vegas and placed all of the money on the Florida Gators. However, UConn didn't need Napier to have an incredible scoring game, as DeAndre Daniels dominated, with 20 points and 10 boards, and only one starter scored fewer than 10 points. Meanwhile, outside of of Young and Prather, not a single Gator scored more than 7 points. Florida have succeeded this season because they receive great contributions from nearly all of their players, but today, Scottie Wilbekin, Michael Frazier II, Will Yequete, and Dorian Finney-Smith combined for just 12 total points, despite the four of them averaging more than 40 combined points per game during the season. Before the game, people were unsure of whether UConn had the depth behind Shabazz Napier, but with the performances of Daniels, Boatright, and Giffey against Florida, they look a quite formidable team entering the finals.

College Basketball Games to Watch: March 1

(4) Syracuse vs. (12) Virginia - Believe it or not, right now the ACC leaders are not Syracuse or Duke but Virginia.  At 15-1 in the conference, they are 1.5 games above Syracuse and 3 above Duke, not to mention that they are currently riding a twelve game win streak.  Thus, I am completely baffled at how they are not ranked higher than 12th with the resume that they have.  Today will be a huge opportunity for them to prove themselves against a top-shelf team, as Syracuse enter the game having won just one of their last three.  This should be a hotly contested matchup between two teams that both will have their eyes set on a number one seed come tournament time.

(5) Kansas vs. Oklahoma State - There was a time when Oklahoma state was a fixture in the AP top ten rankings; then they lost eight of nine in conference play to drop them out of the rankings altogether. The first of those eight losses was a defeat against then 15th ranked Kansas.  Oklahoma State have won their last two, so they will come into this rematch in better form and looking for revenge.  Also, Marcus Smart has returned from his three game suspension for Oklahoma State, so he will provide them a bit of star-power to combat the Kansas stars: Joel Embiid, Perry Ellis, and Andrew Wiggins.  Kansas has already clinched the Big 12 Title, but the certainly have much to play for as they look for a number one seed come tourney time, while the incentive is huge for Oklahoma State, who likely need to win this game to make it into the tournament at all.

(7) Louisville vs. (21) Memphis - Louisville just won their first game against a ranked team, beating Cincinnati last Saturday on a game-winning jumper by Russ Smith.  Maybe now that they've broken through against ranked opponents, Louisville should have their way against Memphis.  However, Memphis have actually been fairly effective in upsetting higher ranked teams this year, and already have a win against Louisville back in January.  Both of these teams have outstanding offenses, led by Russ Smith and Montrezl Harrell for Louisville and Joe Jackson for Memphis.  You won't want to miss this sure-to-be high-scoring clash between these two ranked, conference opponents.

(11) Cincinnati vs. Connecticut - We have another AAC matchup here, as Cincinnati is currently tied for first in the conference, while Connecticut have dropped back to fifth.  Both teams need to get back on track as Cincinnati just lost to Louisville and Connecticut's loss to SMU is only one game removed. Though neither team is in danger of dropping out of the tournament, they both would like to get back on track before it starts up.  Most important is that both teams get some offensive production out of their supporting units.  Sean Kilpatrick has been fantastic for Cincinnati and Shabazz Napier has been equally as superb for Connecticut, but outside of them, the scoring has been severely lacking from these two teams.  It will likely be a two-man contest between Kilpatrick and Napier but I believe whichever supporting cast steps up today will decide the winner.