College Basketball Analyst Picks - March 16

By Jonathan Lee

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The first full day of the NCAA tournament saw just two lower seeds win games.  VCU defeated Wichita State in what can’t really be declared a true March upset.  The Rams had already won 28 games on the season, and memorably reached the Final Four.  Coach Shaka Smart really has the program firing on all cylinders, and were not intimidated by a higher ranked mid-major opponent.  The other lower seed to win was Colorado building a huge lead on UNLV (20 points) before hanging on to win by 4 in the final game of the night.  The Buffaloes are playing their best basketball at the right time, and won despite committing 23 turnovers.  They had committed 22 turnovers total in their previous three games.

Another big story from Thursday was the loss by Connecticut to Iowa State.  The Huskies became the first defending champion to lose its opening tournament game since UCLA in 1996.  The Cyclones ran out to a big lead in the first half, and the Huskies never truly threatened.  This was a supreme failure all around as UCONN is thought to be supremely talented with Andre Drummond, Jeremy Lamb, Ryan Boatright, and Shabazz Napier.  Lamb and Drummond are likely to be high NBA draft picks this summer.  Now the questions turn to Jim Calhoun, and his status as coach going forward.

Inside I have four picks for the second day of the second round of the NCAA tournament.

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