NCAA Basketball: Mock 2020 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen predictions
1) Dayton Flyers vs 12) Yale Bulldogs
Jake Matteson
We’ve reached the point of the tournament where our Cinderella has to do some heavy lifting and prove they’re the real deal. Riding the strength of their ability to spread the floor and shoot it, along with their key players in Atkinson and Bruner, the Yale Bulldogs are here for a reason.
As is Dayton.
And Dayton has an Obi. Yale does not.
Simply put, Yale doesn’t have an answer for Toppin. His explosiveness and ability to finish any and everything with ferocity at the rim presents a great challenge for the Bulldogs. Dayton isn’t just Toppin and can do damage with their other potential NBA prospect, Jalen Crutcher. Ibi Watson, Trey Landers, and Ryan Mikesell have the ability to impact the game causing Yale to have to respect them or else they risk either of those three going off.
To put it bluntly…the clock struck midnight on Cinderella before this one even got started. It was a fun run for the Ivy League champs, but they’re dealing with a different animal in Dayton.
Dayton 86, Yale 70
Collin Helwig
Behind Obi Toppin’s elite scoring and playmaking capabilities, Dayton will bring an end to Yale’s run and advance to the elite eight for the first time since 2014. Although I see Yale’s historic shot-blocking forward, Jordan Bruner, momentarily slowing down Toppin consequently offering Paul Atkinson and company a chance to grab a lead that will last until the second half, I trust Toppin’s NBA-level talent paired aside Jalen Crutcher’s 15.1 points and 4.9 assists per game to prevail. With Dayton’s three-point shooting and passing both ranking higher than the Bulldogs as well, I expect the Flyers to pull during the game’s closing stages.
Dayton 78, Yale 62
Jake Verboven
This one took me longer than I thought it would come to a final decision. Yale has everything you want when you are looking for an upset. They have an elite scorer on both the outside (Swain 16 PPG) and the inside (Atkinson 17.6 PPG), a top 30 three-point shooting team (37.1%), and the size and skill up front to match up with Dayton. Bruner and Atkinson can even step out to shoot it as well.
Dayton has run through a much improved A-10 league on its way to 22 straight wins. The headliner is obviously Obi Toppin. The unanimous AP First Team All-American has led the charge for this Flyer team in the 2019-20 season, but Jalen Crutcher has been a major reason they are on this run. Crutcher should be able to take advantage of the Bulldogs backcourt and have a big game. This along with a Yale defense that has struggled at times against Ivy league competition (141st AdjD according to KenPom), made the decision for me. Yale won’t be able to contain the Flyers’ two stars down the stretch.