Top Half of the Bracket Prediction
Loyola Chicago Ramblers vs Michigan State Spartans
This has a chance to be one of the better games of the tournament as you have a powerhouse program in Michigan State and one of the best mid-majors in the country in Loyola Chicago. The Ramblers have a bit of a new look under head coach Drew Valentine. Their offense and overall tempo have seen an uptick while the defense is still elite but not as good as it was a season ago.
It’s still early and the defense still projects to be very good for the Ramblers. Michigan State is loaded with talent and they have had another team who appears to be good enough to finish in the top half of the Big Ten but may struggle with the best teams in the league.
The Spartans play good defense and hold teams to low shooting percentages. They are a great rebounding team and they shoot the ball well overall from the outside. The one thing that Michigan State drastically needs to improve upon is turnovers. They have a penchant for turning the ball over a lot.
Michigan State wins a close one 74-68
Auburn Tigers vs UConn Huskies
Welcome to the best opening round matchup of this tournament. There are so many storylines and great matchups to watch in this game. The game has the best matchup of Big Men in the entire tournament as well. Auburn has two skilled big men in Jabari Smith and North Carolina transfer Walker Kessler, and they are going to be going up against dominant UConn big man Adama Sanogo and shot-blocker Akok Akok.
This matchup in the trenches is likely going to decide this game. Both teams have great rosters overall, but the big men are the players who do the bulk of the heavy lifting for both teams. Sanogo can score quickly and take over a game for UConn. It is going to be up to Kessler and Smith to try and slow down the dominant Sanogo. Likewise, for the big men for the Huskies as they are going to be tasked with slowing down the big men for the Tigers.
Sanogo has a huge game and leads UConn to a victory 83-71