South Carolina’s Alaina Coates to miss NCAA tournament with injury

The Irish captured their fourth consecutive ACC Tournament title, defeating Duke 84-61 in the championship game on March 5. Duke has no real equal in its half of the regional bracket.

It was only fitting the most valuable player in the Big 12 Tournament, the senior guard who kept willing the No. 23 Cyclones to victory, got to hang the net around his neck.

Of course, it is March Madness, where upsets happen and anyone could have an off day, but purely looking at the schedule, with the way Duke is playing and the amount of talent, their real first game may not be until the elite 8, in which case, anything can happen from there on out.

The 2016 national champion Villanova Wildcats are the top seed in the East, and hold strong +750 odds to defend their crown.

It doesn’t feel like Florida State is immune to an upset – that’s a 14-3 matchup to watch.

Just to prove how talented of a team head coach Mike Krzyzewski has on his hands this season, Harry Giles, who was the No. 1-ranked recruit in his class (via ESPN), is only averaging 4.3 points in just 11.9 minutes per game.

If you weren’t on the bandwagon before, it’s probably safe to say that after watching the video above that you’ll probably be keeping track of the Northwestern score during their opener. “We just said, ‘Let’s talk about us and let’s get better.’ It has worked”. If Wake Forest can win two games, it would likely battle UCLA in what could be a shootout. That’s especially true when the regional semifinals and final will be played in the state of CT.

While the Blue Devils’ season has been, to put it lightly, rocky, they’re starting to look like the team many saw back in November. “But that’s really what it’s all about”.

No matter the path or the seeding, keep these thoughts in mind when filling out the office bracket: Duke has the best players and the best coach. The Wildcats — who open with Northern Kentucky — have a potential Sweet 16 matchup with third-seeded UCLA (29-4), which beat the Wildcats in December to end their 42-game winning streak at Rupp Arena.

“Tournament experience is extremely valuable, and I think Lexie understands how to take it one game at a time”. “I was very fortunate to walk into him being our point guard”.

While neither of the potential second-round opponents are Top 25 teams, they offer unique challenges.

Yes, Brown and Maryland have a shared history. Kansas has been at or near the top of the rankings for the majority of the season, which is why it was a shock to see them lose to TCU last week. Troy finished with a 10-8 conference record and 22-14 overall record.

The Villanova seniors are 128-16, the country’s best record over the last four seasons.

A team spokesman said Staley would not discuss Coates until Thursday’s media session prior to the NCAA Tournament. I made the statement to my staff that I felt like Syracuse needed to beat Miami the first night. More money was bet on Duke to win the national title than any other team at the SuperBook, more than double the amount bet on Kentucky, which attracted the second-most money.

During the regular season, Butler was second place in the Big East Conference behind first-place Villanova. The Pirates are in the NCAA field for the sixth time in the past eight seasons.

WhatIfSports.com fired up its college basketball simulation engine to play the entire 2017 NCAA Tournament 1,001 times.

Temple and OR will also play at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, with their game starting at 6:30 p.m.