The refs are letting the boys play in St Louis. Gotta love it.
1* St. Johns Johnnies -3.5
Bill Self has no other option than to guard Zubi with either Bidunga (sophomore) or Tiller (freshman). Zubi is 24th in the country in free throw rate. Slick Rick has been around the block a time or two, and I can only imagine, the gameplan will be to attack the basket every time down. Get something at the rim, or get fouled. If either of those two mentioned above get in foul trouble, and I think that will happen, I don't know how Kansas can stay in the game. Yes, they have the best player on the floor, but Zubi, as far as effectiveness goes, is right there too. And I think he has a better supporting cast. The Johnnies are also the hottest team in the country right now. It'd be a shame if Peterson cramped up.
1* Florida Gators -9.5
The Hawkeyes are grossly undersized in the front court in this game. Haugh is the shortest of the bigs for Florida, but he's number one in effort and that means a whole hell of a lot more to me. Condon and Chinyelu have a little bit of a size advantage, and just like all year long, they are going to own the glass. Own the glass, own the game. Iowa is a one trick pony. If you can limit Bennett Sturtz, where does the offense come from. Ben McCollum plays a ton of guys, aside from Sturtz who rarely leaves the floor. But that can really hurt an offense as far as rhythm goes. The Gators are wayyyy too athletic for the Hawkeyes.
1* UCONN Huskies -4.5
The Tyler Bilodeau saga continues. Micky said the would "100% play in the first NCAA tournament game" and then he didn't. It didn't kill them, but I think the knee is worse than we are being led to believe. You don't sit out a 7/10 NCAA tournament game if your knee is a "little sore", and then magically, two days later you're ready to take on this frontcourt. No sir. Tarris Reed has been a beast and will feast on this undersized front court of the Bruins. If Bilodeau doesn't go, they get REALLY small. But even if he does, the Huskies should own the glass given the size difference alone.
1* Texas Tech/Alabama Under 164.5
It's going to be a three point shooting contest, but at least a lot of them should be well defended. Tech guards the arc as well as they shoot it, so hopefully they aren't going down at a record pace. But looking back at when Alabama played what I'd consider an equal defense to Techs, since conference play started, they got to 80 twice out of 6 tries. Given the stakes, I think both teams take more methodical approaches late in the game, and the tempo slows. The first half over may be live, but after the adjustments at half, I think we see a slower second half with less possessions.
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