NCAA Basketball: Buy or sell BYU, San Diego State, Belmont as Sweet 16 teams?
By Bryan Mauro
San Francisco Dons – Buy
The West Coast Conference is going to receive four bids to the NCAA Tournament. This will be the first time that has ever happened. The country is used to seeing Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary’s in the NCAA tournament but San Francisco will be a new face to the NCAA tournament field this year. Even if they have not made the NCAA tournament in quite some time, they have a team who is going to be dangerous and is extremely capable of beating anyone they are matched up against.
The Dons are currently 15-2 and have wins over Davidson and Arizona State. The Dons also have one of the best backcourts in the entire country. Yes, I do realize what I wrote, and I will say it again. San Francisco has one of the best backcourts in the entire country and the best point guard in the West Coast Conference.
Jamaree Bouyea would win the player of the year in the conference easily if Drew Timme were not playing in the league. Bouyea is shooting 41% from beyond the arc and is averaging 18 points per game. Bouyea and fellow guard Khalil Shabazz are hard to guard straight up and they cause a lot of problems for teams when they have little time to prepare for them.
San Francisco has the makeup of a team who is going to break a lot of hearts in the tournament. They have the makings of a lower-seeded team who is going to make a run. They have a star in Bouyea, another dominant guard in Shabazz and a rim protector and paint protector in Yauhen Massalski.
Right now, it appears that the Dons are going to be around a 10 seed. If they keep winning and can get wins over Saint Mary’s and BYU and maybe one over Gonzaga that will drastically improve their seeding. The Dons could be a cinderella this season.