2016 NCAA Tournament: Bracket, Preview, Breakdown & Predictions

South Region

(1) Kansas Jayhawks vs. (16) Austin Peay Governors

No team in the country is playing better than Kansas right now. Coming off their 12th straight Big 12 regular season title, the Jayhawks have won 14 straight games, haven’t lost since late January and are one of the top offensive teams in the country (16th in the nation at 81.6 points/game).

Austin Peay comes by via the Ohio Valley Conference tournament title. They’re just 18-17 this season but earned their way into the 2016 NCAA tournament by taking the conference tournament.

I won’t waste a lot of time here. Kansas is too powerful for Austin Peay, so this won’t be the first ever 16 over 1 upset.

Winner: Kansas by 20

(8) Colorado Buffaloes vs. (9) Connecticut Huskies

An interesting matchup here as this contest pits two of the nation’s top big men against each other in Colorado’s Josh Scott and Connecticut’s Amida Brimah. Scott’s an old school post who uses his body and strength to finish inside while Brimah is a long, rangy big who blocks shots with relative ease.

Connecticut comes in hot, having won the AAC tournament title on Sunday. The question here is whether or not the Huskies are prepared to take on a Pac-12 team. The Pac-12 was a grueling schedule for all teams. The AAC is considered the red-headed step child of “major” conferences.

Colorado had much, much more difficult conference games, which should give the Buffaloes an edge in this game.

Winner: Colorado by seven

(5) Maryland Terrapins vs. (12) South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Here’s something for you:

Maryland won the main tournament bracket while SDSU won the subregional tournament bracket. Maryland’s an interesting case. Some view them as being underseeded, but for a team that had Final Four aspirations in the preseason, the Terrapins have underperformed. They’ve been good, but not great.

The Jackrabbits are the Summit League representative and, based on seeding, one of the top mid-majors in the NCAA tournament field. It’s a veteran group (three senior starters) but only one of them was around the last time South Dakota State went dancing.

You may like Maryland here as most people do, but here’s something to keep in mind: South Dakota State was the only mid-major (one bid conference) team that had 10 or more wins, had a winning road record and had multiple wins over Power Five conference teams as well as a win over a Tier Two conference team during non-conference play (sometimes multiple bid conferences, in this case the Missouri Valley).

Winner: Maryland by three

(4) California Golden Bears vs. (13) Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

Another team that’s really hit their stride at the right time, California comes in firing on all cylinders, playing incredible defense and working their offense at a high rate. Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown have become the top-flight NBA prospects we expected them to be before the year, which has helped take the Golden Bears over the top recently

Hawaii’s the Big West representative and has some thinking upset potential. This stems from giving Oklahoma a helluva game back in December.

However, they don’t have a lot else to hang their hats on in terms of good wins and California is a lot better than they were when that Hawaii-Oklahoma game took place and the Rainbow Warriors’ competition went down hill after that one, but they’re one of the toughest defenses in the country going against a young, inexperienced team.

Winner: California by 1

(6) Arizona Wildcats vs. (11) Winner of Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Wichita State Opening Round game. 

Arizona’s a team that’s been good but not great. They’ve sort of been floating around between great to meh all season. The Pac-12 was good this year and they wound up fourth, so it’s not as if they were awful since their competition was on a different level this year. Ryan Anderson and Kaleb Tarczewski are as good of an inside duo as there is in the country.

Spoiler: I LOVE THE VANDERBILT-WICHITA STATE OPENING ROUND GAME … though I don’t think either team should’ve made it over Monmouth.

Regardless, that game in itself is interesting, but that can be broken down on its own. I’ll take Wichita State to win that one because of the Shockers probably playing with a massive chip on their shoulder. They know they’re decently lucky to be in the NCAA tournament field.

Arizona has the clear edge in the paint as Anton Grady is Wichita State’s main option inside. I’ll go out on a limb and say the Wildcats win the points in the paint battle.

Wichita State’s edge is their experience. Arizona also has experience, but the Shockers’ backcourt of Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker know how to win in the NCAA tournament. So does Sean Miller, though. This one’s actually hard to predict.

Winner: Wichita State by six

(3) Miami Hurricanes vs. (14) Buffalo Bulls

Now, here’s a team I could really see making a run at the Final Four. Miami’s a veteran team that has a solid post player in Tonye Jekiri, a solid backcourt duo in Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan and great role players in Ja’Quan Newton and Davon Reed. They’re experienced, tough and have a coach that’s been to the Final Four before.

Buffalo represents the MAC for a second-straight year. This is a completely different team than last year’s squad and it’s a bit surprising to see them here without last year’s top two players and a new head coach. But they’re here. Unfortunately, Miami’s too big and too skilled for them.

Winner: Miami by 14

(7) Iowa Hawkeyes vs. (10) Temple Owls

Iowa dropped from a potential top seed to a seventh seed in the NCAA tournament within a month. That’s a remarkable drop for a team many thought could’ve had the coach of the year. Nobody’s talking about that now. Instead, they’re talking about how the Hawkeyes collapsed and how the team outside of Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok have failed to live up to that early season success.

Not really sure Temple should’ve been in, but here we are. The Owls don’t have a lot of great wins, or any great wins, but they had a successful season thanks to Quenton DeCosey and Obi Enechionyia combining for 27 points per game.

This is a rather unremarkable game to say the least. Pretty much a toss-up game.

Winner: Temple by nine

(2) Villanova Wildcats vs. (15) UNC Asheville Bulldogs

A team some thought should’ve been a top seed, Villanova’s that team nobody wants to play but at the same time the team nobody wants to pick in the tournament. They’ve been bounced early in the tournament the last few years, and while I could sit here and tell you this year is different, you won’t buy into it anyway.

The Bulldogs represent the Big South. While they weren’t the regular-season champ, they feature one of the most dangerous defenses among mid-majors in the NCAA tournament field, ranking fourth in the nation in total steals (307 through 33 games). Their defense could give the Wildcats fits, but Nova takes care of the ball, averaging just 11 turnovers per game.

Winner: Villanova by 13

Next: East Region