April 1, 2010 | AP Press

NEW YORK – Dayton players danced at midcourt and then lingered on ladders as they cut down the nets at Madison Square Garden.

Forgive these Flyers for taking a little extra time to soak it all in. They’re not as accustomed to trophy ceremonies as the North Carolina team they had just beaten.

Marcus Johnson scored 20 points and Dayton denied last year’s national champs another title, topping the Tar Heels 79-68 Thursday night to win the NIT.

“This game kind of is a capsule of our season,” coach Brian Gregory said. “Started off great, had some tough times and then just kind of fight through, and ended up very successful at the end.”

NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen said Thursday no decision has been made about the future of the postseason NIT, which is operated independently by the NCAA.

“Might be a fitting way to end it, for us to win it,” Gregory said.

How down-and-out were these Tar Heels heading into the postseason? When the 32-team NIT draw was announced, they opened at 35-1 odds to win the title.

And while Dayton has been a regular in this event, it was strange to see North Carolina on the college basketball undercard this time of year. One of the sport’s true heavyweights, the Tar Heels own five NCAA national championships, including an 89-72 victory over Michigan State in last year’s title game.

Tom Izzo and the Spartans are back in the Final Four, set to play Butler in Indianapolis on Saturday. North Carolina was left to chase a consolation prize following a 16-16 regular season wrecked by injuries, leaky defense and a string of embarrassing losses.

The blue bloods from Tobacco Road still have one NIT title, which came in 1971.

Every time North Carolina got close in the second half, Dayton had a response.

Tar Heels guard Marcus Ginyard missed a contested layup that could have tied it at 59, and Paul Williams hit one of his four 3s on the other end with 7:46 left.

A 3-pointer by Graves cut UNC’s deficit to 67-63 with 3:37 remaining, but Chris Johnson countered with a 3 of his own and a follow-up dunk to put Dayton up by nine with 2:50 to go.

North Carolina, which committed 15 turnovers, never got closer than five the rest of the way.

“Our guys played with great toughness and desire,” Gregory said. “We answered everything they threw at us.”

This was Dayton’s 22nd appearance in the NIT, second only to St. John’s (27). The Flyers also won it in 1962.

March 30, 2010 | AP Press

NEW YORK — Chris Johnson scored 22 points, including five key free throws down the stretch, and Dayton held off Mississippi 68-63 in the NIT semifinals Tuesday night.

Marcus Johnson added 12 points for the Flyers (24-12), who slowed Mississippi’s high-scoring offense and advanced to the championship game for the first time since winning their second NIT title in 1968.

Next up, Dayton has a chance to end a disappointing year on a high note.

Picked to win the Atlantic 10 Conference before the season, the third-seeded Flyers will play Thursday night against the winner of Tuesday night’s second semifinal between Rhode Island and 2009 national champion North Carolina. A victory by Rhode Island would make it an all-Atlantic 10 final.

Terrico White had 19 points for the second-seeded Rebels (24-11), eliminated in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden for the second time in three years. Ole Miss was beaten by eventual champion Ohio State in 2008.

With New York Giants quarterback and former Ole Miss star Eli Manning sitting in the second row, near the Rebels’ bench, Mississippi’s Murphy Holloway had a chance to tie it at 64 with 35.8 seconds left. But he missed the second of two free throws, and the Rebels never scored again.

London Warren hit one of two free throws with 23.7 seconds remaining, extending Dayton’s lead to two. Trevor Gaskins drove through the lane for Ole Miss but came up short on a twisting layup, and the Flyers grabbed the rebound.

Chris Johnson’s two free throws made it 67-63 with 11.2 seconds to play. On the other end, London Warren knocked the ball out of Chris Warren’s hands and out of bounds. Chris Johnson then stole the inbounds pass, got fouled and hit one of two free throws for the final margin.

Chris Wright, Dayton’s leading scorer and rebounder, was held to nine points on 1-of-9 shooting. He pulled down 12 rebounds, though.

Chris Warren had 15 points and Holloway 12 for the Rebels, who averaged 88 points in their first three NIT games. They shot only 33.9 percent in this one, including 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Ole Miss also was hurt by a technical foul on Reginald Buckner with 3:09 left. He and Chris Johnson got tied up going for a loose ball, and Buckner threw a right forearm to Chris Johnson’s throat as they finally untangled.

Wright separated the players before Chris Johnson hit both free throws, pushing Dayton’s lead to 64-58.

Holloway then scored on a jump hook, and Chris Warren hit a pair of free throws to get the Rebels within two with 1:04 to go.

March 24, 2010 | AP Press

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Chris Johnson scored 18 points and Dayton used a strong start to beat Illinois 77-71 in an NIT quarterfinal Wednesday night.

The third-seeded Flyers (23-12) advanced to play Mississippi on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. They also joined Rhode Island in the semifinals, giving the Atlantic 10 Conference two of the four teams remaining in the tournament.

Dayton jumped out to a 23-9 lead behind excellent shooting and never let up. The Flyers shot 48.1 percent from the field, including 8 of 18 from 3-point range.

The Illini’s struggles to get back on defense led to quick, easy baskets for Dayton. Illinois trailed by as many as 16 points before cutting it to four with 18 seconds left.

Johnson was 4 for 11 from the field but 9 of 10 at the foul line.

Demetri McCamey had 13 points and 10 assists for No. 1 seed Illinois (21-15).

March 22, 2010 | AP Press

CINCINNATI – Rob Lowery led an early 3-point barrage that built a 17-point lead, and Dayton held on for a rough-and-tumble 81-66 victory over Cincinnati in the second round of the NIT on Monday night.

The Flyers (22-12) made eight of their first 12 shots from behind the arc to get the big lead, and survived a second-half Cincinnati comeback before pulling away to their most lopsided win over the Bearcats in 25 years.

It was only their third win over Cincinnati in their last 17 games in the southwest Ohio rivalry.

“I had fun out there,” said Chris Wright, who scored 11 points. “When you’re playing against guys you know, you know they’re going to play a lot harder. It’s for bragging rights. It felt like high school all over again.”

Dayton will play at Illinois in the quarterfinals Wednesday, extending a season that held a lot of disappointment. The Flyers were picked to win the Atlantic 10, but blew a lot of leads and suffered a lot of close losses, finishing seventh.

“They’ve been knocked down so many times and they keep getting back up,” coach Brian Gregory said. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of these guys. We told them this would be a test of character and pride and how much the program meant to them. They’ve answered that and today they might have put an exclamation on it.”

Cincinnati (19-16) was prone to long shooting slumps all season, and managed only two field goals during a 10-minute span in the second half. After cutting the 17-point deficit to 44-43, the Bearcats could never make that final push.

“Same story again,” coach Mick Cronin said. “Once we got close, we couldn’t make a shot. We kept missing open shot after open shot.”

The Bearcats set the NCAA tournament as their goal — a place they haven’t been since 2005 — but faded down the stretch and finished 11th in the Big East.

Dayton brought its pep band, cheerleaders and a lot of fans, turning it into a high-energy game in front of 6,479 fans. The Flyers got the best of it early, pulling ahead 34-17 by hitting open 3s. Senior guard Deonta Vaughn scored Cincinnati’s last 11 points in the half, cutting it to 41-36.

Vaughn finished with a season-high 28 points and passed Danny Fortson for third on the school’s career scoring list. He got a standing ovation when he left the floor in the final minute.

“My four years have been great,” said Vaughn, who finished with 1,885 points. “I learned a lot about basketball. I matured a lot since I came here and did a lot of great things to try to help this program get back to where it needs to be.”

The Bearcats were caught flat-footed at the start, outplayed by a Dayton team that had a lot more enthusiasm.

“We definitely underestimated them,” said freshman Lance Stephenson, who said he would return for another season. “We knew they played hard, but we didn’t know they played with that much intensity.”

March 17, 2010 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio – Chris Johnson scored 13 points and Dayton used a 19-1 second-half run to pull away and beat Illinois State 63-42 in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday night.

Chris Wright grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Dayton (21-12) to a 42-27 advantage on the boards. The Flyers will play at Cincinnati in the second round.

“How we went out there and played today and how we approached this tournament was really more a test of our character and pride in who we are and what we do,” Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. “I didn’t have any doubt how they would respond.”

Dayton was coming off a conference tournament loss to Xavier that was typical of many of its losses this season. The Flyers squandered a 15-point lead in the second half, but this time the formula of a deep bench, relentless man-to-man defense and rebounding worked. The Flyers held the Redbirds to 33.3 percent shooting.

Osiris Eldridge, the Missouri Valley Conference’s leading scorer, shot only 4 of 15 but led the Redbirds (22-11) with 12 points.

Dayton saw its 13-point lead cut to 42-37 with 10:27 to play, but Johnson started the Flyers’ huge run with a 3-pointer.

Four minutes later, Marcus Johnson hit a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper on consecutive trips to put the Flyers up 54-38 with 6:07 left. Dayton scored the next seven points before Eldridge hit a 3-pointer to end a nearly eight-minute field-goal drought for the Illinois State.

“We really defended well and rebounded well,” Dayton’s Chris Wright said. “That’s a team that never quits. Down the stretch we knew we were going to have to play a lot harder.”

Gregory said his players studied film more than usual the past couple days and were ready for Eldridge and point guard Lloyd Phillips.

“Yes, we had a very poor offensive night and certainly we had some shots that could have easily fallen,” Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich said. “But over time, they deserve a lot of credit because they keep a great deal of pressure on you. They’re very athletic and they’re very deep. And it’s a good recipe.”

AP Photo

March 7, 2010 | Atlantic10.com

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Junior guard Kevin Anderson of Richmond has been named the 2009-10 Atlantic 10 men’s basketball Player of the Year in voting conducted among the Conference’s 14 head coaches.

The A-10 coaches also selected Fordham’s Chris Gaston as the Rookie of the Year, Chris Johnson of Dayton as the recipient of the Chris Daniels Award as the league’s most improved player, Temple’s Ramone Moore as Sixth Man of the Year, Damian Saunders of Duquesne as Defensive Player of the Year and Temple’s Fran Dunphy as Coach of the Year. In addition, Yves Mekongo of La Salle was tabbed Student-Athlete of the Year in voting among the league’s sports information directors.

Anderson ranks fifth in the Conference in scoring (17.8 ppg.) while leading the third-seeded Spiders to program highs in both regular season (24) and A-10 (13) victories. A second-team selection a year ago, the native of Duluth, Ga., has scored 20 or more points 12 times this season and also leads UR in assists (83) and steals (56). Anderson is the program’s first student-athlete to be tabbed A-10 Player of the Year since UR entered the league in 2001-02.

A two-time Player of the Week selection this season, Anderson is joined on the All-Conference first-team by Lavoy Allen of Temple, Xavier’s Jordan Crawford, Damian Saunders of Duquesne and Dayton’s Chris Wright. Crawford leads the A-10 in scoring at 19.7 ppg., while Wright garnered second-team distinction last season. For the first time in the league’s 34-year history, the first-team All-Conference consists of only sophomores and juniors.

The All-Conference second-team includes Temple’s Ryan Brooks, David Gonzalvez of Richmond, La Salle’s Rodney Green, Kwamain Mitchell of Saint Louis and St. Bonaventure’s Andrew Nicholson. Teammates Keith Cothran and Delroy James of Rhode Island, Massachusetts’ Ricky Harris, Jason Love of Xavier and Charlotte’s Shamari Spears were named to the third team. Temple’s Juan Fernandez, Damian Hollis of George Washington and Willie Reed of Saint Louis earned honorable mention acclaim

A four-time A-10 Rookie of the Week selection, Gaston leads all freshmen nationally in both scoring (18.0 ppg.) and rebounding (11.4), while his 504 points are the most by a freshman in team annals. The 6-7 forward leads the A-10 with three 30-point performances, pulled down at least 10 rebounds on 20 different occasions, and registered 19 double-doubles. Gaston is the third Fordham student-athlete to earn A-10 Rookie of the Year distinction, joining Bevon Robin (1998) and Bryant Dunston (2005).

Gaston is joined on the All-Rookie team by Chris Braswell of Charlotte, Cody Ellis of Saint Louis, George Washington’s Lasan Kromah, Aaric Murray of La Salle and Rhode Island’s Akeem Richmond.

The first-ever Duquesne player to garner A-10 Defensive Player of the Year distinction, Saunders enters this week’s A-10 Championship atop the league in both blocked shots (93) and steals (84) while averaging 14.9 ppg. and 11.4 rpg. The Waterbury, Conn., resident boasts 19 double-doubles and 19 performances with double-digit rebounds. Moreover, his 84 steals are tops in program history. The All-Defensive team is comprised of Saunders, Allen, Gonzalvez, Dayton’s London Warren and Garrett Williamson of Saint Joseph’s. Allen, Warren and Williamson are repeat selections.

Johnson was tabbed the recipient of the Atlantic 10’s Chris Daniels Award, presented to the Conference’s most improved player. A year ago, the 6-6 forward averaged 6.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and knocked down 24 field goals from beyond the arc. This season, the Columbus, Ohio, native enters the A-10 Championship ranked second on the Flyers in both scoring (11.8 ppg.) and rebounding (7.0 rpg.) while boasting 55 three-point field goals. He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds six times this season and has three 20-point performances to his credit.

Moore has provided a spark off the Temple bench in his sophomore campaign, averaging 7.6 points and dishing out 47 assists in just 17.6 minutes per game. In A-10 play, the 6-4 guard from Philadelphia, Pa., averaged 9.8 points on 51.3 percent shooting (61-for-119).

A three-time Academic All-Conference selection, Mekongo recently earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first-team distinction. The senior forward from Elizabeth, N.J., boasts a 3.81 grade point average while majoring in Integrated Science, Business & Technology. A second-team Academic All-American a year ago, Mekongo averaged 11.0 points and finished his career with 1,014 points. Joining Mekongo on the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference Team are Brian Conklin of Saint Louis, Duquesne’s Jason Duty, Kurt Huelsman of Dayton and Rhode Island’s Will Martell.

Now in his fourth season at Temple, Dunphy guided the Owls to their first A-10 regular season title since 2002 and the top seed in this week’s Atlantic 10 Championship. Ranked 16th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and 20th in the Associated Press top 25, TU compiled a mark of 14-2 in Conference play, while its 26 regular-season victories equaled the Owls’ second-highest total in team history. In addition, Temple leads the league in both scoring defense (56.8 ppg.) and field goal percentage defense (38.1). The Owls have captured the last two A-10 Championships and are 81-48 (.628) under Dunphy.

AP Photo

March 22, 2009 | AP Press

MINNEAPOLIS — The long arms of Cole Aldrich forced the Dayton Flyers down for a rough landing.

Aldrich, the 6-foot-11 Kansas sophomore, posted a triple-double with 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots to lead the defending NCAA champions past the 11th-seeded Flyers 60-43 in the second round Sunday.

Shaquille O’Neal set the NCAA tournament record with 11 blocks in a game for LSU in 1992. Shawn Bradley had 10 in 1991 for BYU. Aldrich’s feat was, officially, the sixth triple-double in the history of the tournament.

Sherron Collins had 25 points to pace the third-seeded Jayhawks (27-7), who moved on to play the USC-Michigan State winner in the Midwest Region semifinals next Friday in Indianapolis.

Chris Wright had 10 points for Dayton, which shot a woeful 22.2 percent for the game.

This was Dayton’s lowest scoring total of the season. The Flyers shot 9-for-40 in the first half, and the misses didn’t stop there. Mickey Perry’s layup cut the Kansas edge to 35-30 midway through the second half, but with Aldrich getting a brief break on the bench Tyrel Reed sank a 3-pointer and Collins followed with a layup to stretch the lead back to 10.

During a 10-minute stretch, with Aldrich gobbling up those wayward shots and swatting some of them away before they even got to the rim, the Flyers went 3-for-20. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks — who weren’t in rhythm offensively and sure needed Aldrich’s altering presence underneath on defense — ran away.

The Flyers (27-8), one of four teams given at-large bids from conferences other than the big six, already had their first NCAA tourney win since 1990 but they were after more than that.

A few dozen Michigan State fans wearing dark green got an early start on their cheering, standing and clapping with Dayton’s fight song. Flyers coach Brian Gregory has deep ties to MSU, having served as an assistant under Jud Heathcote and then Tom Izzo. He found inspiration from their presence at the Metrodome this weekend, the latest stop on his attempt to rebuild this program into a perennial tournament team.

Wright and Charles Little shot a combined 16-for-27 in the first round, a 68-60 victory over West Virginia, but all of the Flyers were way off at the beginning of this game. They’re so fast and such high jumpers that sometimes they play out of control, and few of their early looks at the basket could fairly have been called good shots.

UD was 1-for-12 from the floor at one point, going more than 6 minutes without a make, until freshman Luke Fabrizius swished the first of his two 3-pointers to cut the Kansas lead to 13-7. The TV microphone on Dayton’s rim was cranked way up for a few possessions, exaggerating each brick with a fittingly amplified clang.

The Jayhawks didn’t seize their opportunity to build a big advantage. Collins was in his usual get-to-the-lane high gear, scoring 14 points before halftime, but Kansas missed nine of 11 attempts from 3-point range and, worse, seven of 10 foul shots.

Aldrich was all over the boards, but after an early series of putback, tip-in and up-and-under layup on three straight possessions, he stopped attacking the basket with the same aggression and had two passes out of the post go for turnovers. He did, however, convert a three-point play after relentlessly staying with the rebound of his own miss and give the Jayhawks a 29-23 lead at the break.

The official list of NCAA tournament triple-doubles dates to 1986, when steals and blocks were formally added as statistics. Assists were added in 1984. Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson had a handful of unofficial triple-doubles before the stats were streamlined. The last one was in this building, actually, by Dwyane Wade for Marquette in the 2003 regional final win over Kentucky.

AP Photo

March 20, 2009 | AP Press

MINNEAPOLIS – Dayton is haunted by Bob Huggins no longer.

Chris Wright scored a career-high 27 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the 11th-seeded Flyers to a 68-60 win over sixth-seeded West Virginia on Friday in the Midwest Regional, their first victory in the NCAA tournament in 19 years.

They’ll play third-seeded Kansas in the second round Sunday. The Jayhawks defeated North Dakota State 84-74 earlier in the day.

“There’s times that we don’t play very well,” Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. “But we never back down.”
Charles Little added 18 points for once-mighty Dayton (27-7), which had been 1-13 against Huggins’ teams dating to his days storming up and down the Cincinnati sideline.

These Flyers aren’t as easily intimidated by his huffing and puffing.

They’ll play third-seeded Kansas in the second round Sunday. The Jayhawks defeated North Dakota State 84-74 earlier in the day.

“There’s times that we don’t play very well,” Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. “But we never back down.”

Darryl Bryant had 21 points and Devin Ebanks added 14 points and 12 rebounds for West Virginia (23-12), which had won at least two games in the NCAA tournament in each of its last four appearances.

Wright, the highest of the Flyers from Dayton, threw down a one-handed goal-shaker off an inbounds pass and then a soaring tomahawk dunk in transition to give them a 46-37 lead with 14 minutes left in the game. He converted two three-point plays off dunks, with teammate Mickey Perry’s mother hollering “Put them in the hole Superman!” while the free throws splashed through.

“I don’t know after watching them on film that our guys knew they were as explosive as they were,” Huggins said.

But Bryant hit two 3-pointers, Ebanks dunked and Da’Sean Butler kissed a jumper off the glass to pull West Virginia within 48-47 with 11 minutes to play.

That’s when the Flyers really locked down defensively, holding the Mountaineers to just seven free throws over the next eight minutes to regain control.

Wright’s fifth dunk of the game, a LeBron-like hammer in transition, punctuated Dayton’s first NCAA tournament win since an 88-86 triumph over Illinois in the first round in 1990.

“It’s hard to even put it in words at this time, to be honest with you,” Gregory said.

This was every bit the knockdown, drag-out, parking lot brawl expected from two teams run by hard-nosed coaches who stress defense, rebounding and grit as the only way to victory.

Gregory’s Flyers hounded every ball-handler, contested every pass and met each cutter through the lane with a sturdy shoulder and scowl.

AP Photo

March 19, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Dayton says it has reached an oral agreement with basketball coach Brian Gregory to extend his contract five years through the 2017-18 season.

Athletic director Tim Wabler says both parties will hammer out a written contract after the season. Gregory told the Dayton Daily News on Wednesday that a long-term commitment is essential for recruiting.

The 42-year-old Gregory has led the Flyers to 49 victories the past two seasons, their highest two-year total since winning 50 from 1954 to 1956. He has a 124-67 record in six seasons at Dayton, which plays in the Atlantic 10.

Gregory is in Minneapolis preparing his team for a first-round NCAA Tournament game against West Virginia on Friday.

March 18, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Bracket Predictions – Enjoy!

East

First Round

Pittsburgh over East Tennessee St. – A tough break for East Tennessee St. drawing Pitt as they deserved a 14-15 seed.

Oklahoma St. over Tennessee – A tough game to pick as the teams appear evenly matched, so I’m going with the team that finished the year 8-2 with the losses being @ Oklahoma and to Missouri.

Wisconsin over Florida St. – Many thought Wisconsin was more of a 9-10 seed so this isn’t a huge typical 12-5 upset.  FSU doesn’t have much after Douglas.

Xavier over Portland St. – Some people are talking about a potential upset here, but X just has too much experience and talent to exit this quick.

UCLA over VCU – VCU is another popular upset pick playing close to home and having the talented Maynor.  But UCLA just has too many weapons for them to shut down.

Villanova over American – American only played three quality teams this year, and they lost each one by 16+.  No chance of a stunner here.

Texas over Minnesota – Not the easiest game for Texas, but it’s a tough matchup for the Gophers as they aren’t a 3 point shooting team and Texas defends inside well.

Duke over Binghamton – Duke barely survived Belmont in the first round last year, so you never know.  Still, it would be a huge surprise to see them go down.

Second Round

Pittsburgh over Oklahoma St. – As talented as Oklahoma St. is, Pittsburgh will likely be able to score at will in this one as the Cowboys don’t have the size to matchup with Blair.

Xavier over Wisconsin – It’s going to be a tough game no matter who Xavier plays in the 2nd round, but they’re the better team and the Badgers are just too inconsistent.

UCLA over Villanova – Despite this being practically a home game for Villanova, the better team will come out the victor.  Villanova just doesn’t really stand out, and they did lose at home recently to Georgetown.

Duke over Texas – Texas has been too shaky offensively throughout the year to come up with the upset.  Duke is better and peaking at the right time.

Sweet 16

Pittsburgh over Xavier – This is actually a pretty solid matchup for Xavier as they can defend inside against Young and Blair.  It just seems unlikely that Pitt goes down this early.

UCLA over Duke – Collison, Aboya, and Shipp are not going to go out easy.  These seniors have been through it all and if they can beef up their defense a little bit, a run to the Elite 8 is certainly possible.

Elite 8

Pittsburgh over UCLA – It’s hard to imagine UCLA making a run past this.  Pittsburgh is just a little bit better in every regard.

Midwest

Louisville over Morehead St. – Louisville will take on Morehead St., who should have been preparing Tuesday night while Chattanooga played in their place.

Ohio St. over Siena – There’s been some love for Siena, but they haven’t been able to beat a tournament team in four tries.  Ohio St. just made the Big Ten final and is playing too well.

Utah over Arizona – This game could likely go either way, but with Arizona’s holes defensively and struggles at the end of the year, I’m leaning towards Utah.

Cleveland St. over Wake Forest – Wake is a young team going against a Cleveland St. squad that starts four seniors.  They are so tough defensively and could very well pull off the upset.

West Virginia over Dayton – A tough break for Dayton as many thought they should’ve been in the 9-10 seed range, and on top of things they draw a tough 6 seed in West Virginia that recently knocked off Pitt.

Kansas over North Dakota St. – The Bison start four seniors and Kansas is pretty young.  Ben Woodside dropped 63 in a game earlier this year, and he’s going to have to have another big game to get the W for ND State.

USC over Boston College – A good draw for USC getting a BC team that many had in the 10-11 seed range.  BC is young and weak defensively.

Michigan St. over Robert Morris – Robert Morris shoots 40% from deep as a team so if they get hot they could stay in this game for awhile.

Second Round

Louisville over Ohio St. – OSU’s nice run to finish the season ends here.  They just have too many holes on defense and won’t be able to muster up enough points against Louisville.

Utah over Cleveland St. – It doesn’t seem like too many have them going to the Sweet 16, but why not?  Utah shared the regular season MWC title and then won the conference tournament.  They have a win over Gonzaga, too.

Kansas over West Virginia – This will be one heck of a game if it happens.  But everyone has doubted Kansas all year and Self will prepare them well for this one.

Michigan St. over USC – An upset wouldn’t be out of the question considering MSU has had some surprising losses during the year.  But the better team should prevail.

Sweet 16

Louisville over Utah – The Cards are just a little too strong and the Utes are just a little too weak.  It could be a game for awhile but eventually Louisville will pull away.

Michigan St. over Kansas – These two met earlier in the year and the Spartans came out with a 13 point win.  Despite that game being in East Lansing, it’s hard to imagine that big of a swing.

Elite 8

Louisville over Michigan St. – As we’ve seen in Michigan St.’s losses, they just get too pedestrian like on offense.  And with how good Louisville is on defense, it’s hard to see them making the Final Four.

South

UNC over Radford – For what it’s worth, Radford starts all upperclassmen and will be used to UNC’s fast paced style.

Butler over LSU – Brad Stevens always gets his boys ready for big games, and always does a great job in close games.  LSU finished the year losing 3 of 4.

Illinois over Western Kentucky – Another fairly popular upset pick, but I’m not seeing it.  WK did beat Louisville, but they lost to a lot of bad teams.  Illinois is too tough defensively, even without Frazier.

Gonzaga over Akron – Akron’s defensive minded and slow tempo approach could keep them in it for awhile, but in the end Gonzaga should pull away.

Temple over Arizona St. – Dionte’s not going out without a fight.  The Owls have a lot of size and defend the paint well which is how the Sun Devils like to score.

Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin – Stephen Austin will surprise the Orange with how good they are on defense.  But these teams are on completely different levels in terms of talent.

Clemson over Michigan – I’ll ignore Purnell’s tournament struggles because Clemson is definitely the better team.  Michigan does not have much size and will struggle defending Booker and Sykes.

Oklahoma over Morgan St. – If a 15 were to knock of a 2 this year, Morgan St. would be the one.  That’s wishful thinking, though.

Second Round

UNC over Butler – Too much talent on UNC’s side and too much inexperience for Butler to pull off a shocker.  But their style of play may frustrate the Tar Heels at times.

Gonzaga over Illinois – Illinois is pretty young and lacking enough talent to hang with the red hot Zags.  This one probably won’t be all that close.

Syracuse over Temple – Syracuse has won 7 of 8 so it’s hard to see them not reaching at least the Sweet 16.  A10 teams always have seem to give them trouble, though.

Clemson over Oklahoma – Oklahoma has lost 4 of 6 headed into the tourney so they seem like a good team to fade.  Clemson has plenty of talent to pull off the upset.

Sweet 16

Gonzaga over UNC – A lot of people talked up St. Mary’s in the past week, and Gonzaga crushed them by 25 in the WCC finals.  Kansas exposed UNC’s defensive woes last year and the Zags will, too.

Syracuse over Clemson – Sticking with the red hot Orangemen.  Flynn, Devendorf, and Harris have been a very tough trio for their opponents.

Elite 8

Gonzaga over Syracuse – Gonzaga is well balanced and much more under the radar than they have been in the past.  Syracuse is a little too weak defensively for their run to continue any further.

West

UConn over Chattanooga – Very easy matchup for UConn as Chattanooga has 25+ point losses to Tennesse, Missouri, and USC.

BYU over Texas A&M – In a rematch of a 1st round match last year, BYU avenges it’s loss to A&M.  They are much improved and have a deadly good trio in Cummard, Fredette, and Tavernari.

Purdue over Northern Iowa – UNI has only played one tournament team all year, and that was a 30 point loss to Marquette.  They will be well overmatched.

Washington over Mississippi St. – Mississippi St. is hot and could give Washington a nice run for their money.  But Washington is hot and too good on defense.

Marquette over Utah St. – Marquette is tough to read since their only win since James has been out is over St. John’s.  Still, you have to think they find a way to win this one.

Missouri over Cornell – The Big Red can stroke it from deep.  But they struggle on defense and didn’t play well against any of their tougher opponents this year.

California over Maryland – Another fairly popular upset pick, but Maryland doesn’t have anything after Vasquez, and the Terps won’t be able to shut down Randle, Christopher, and Boykin.

Memphis over Cal St. Northridge – Memphis hasn’t given up 50 points in their last four games.  That won’t happen again as CS Northridge plays a very up tempo style, but they’ll have a lot of bad possessions.

Second Round

UConn over BYU – If a one seed were to exit this early, it would likely be by the hands of BYU.  How far UConn can go without Dyson is a question mark.

Purdue over Washington – Purdue is beaming with confidence after winning the Big 10 Tourney, and they will pose matchup problems for Pondexter and Brockman.

Missouri over Marquette – Marquette hasn’t proven that they can win a big game without James.  Missouri has flown under the radar going 28-6 overall including winning the Big 12 Tourney.

Memphis over California – If Cal can find a way to put up points Memphis will be in for a long game.  Memphis needs to shoot the 3 ball well at some point.

Sweet 16

UConn over Purdue – People forget that Purdue is still a young team, and they haven’t shot the trey ball as well this year.  Too much UConn for them to handle.

Memphis over Missouri – Memphis’ defense would appear to be too good for the Tigers, especially inside as they can shut down Lyons and Carroll.

Elite 8

Memphis over UConn – The Huskies look to be a little too weak on offense to make a run further than this, as they haven’t had anyone step up with Dyson out.  They will have a very hard time putting up points in this contest.

Final Four

Louisville over Memphis – As good as Memphis is, they just don’t have the perimeter shooting that they’ll need against Louisville to pull of a victory.  It’ll be a grind it out type of game but in the end Louisville will prevail.

Gonzaga over Pittsburgh – Pitt has quietly been weak defensively (especially on the perimter) and it’s been exposed recently against West Virginia and Marquette.  Gonzaga can stroke it from deep and stop you on the other end.

Championship Game

Gonzaga over Louisville – I’m definitely going out on a limb picking Gonzaga to win it all, but UNC and Pitt are too weak defensively for my liking, as are Louisville and UConn on the offensive end to dodge six landmines in this tournament.  Gonzaga is solid on both ends of the floor, and has the talent and experience to pull off an incredible run to win it all.