The College Basketball Blog: 2013 NCAA Tournament Predictions

2013 NCAA Tournament Predictions 

There’s not gonna be any long introduction this year, faithful imaginary readers. I haven’t slept in a while. Like a considerable amount of time. So, ah, yanno, we gotta get this thing in. It’s friggin’ 5:20 AM on Thursday. 

We’ve arrived at that great moment in time: The Tournament. It doesn’t get any better. 

I don’t have high hopes for my picks this year. I didn’t get off to a good start this season, as I had to do a half-assed rendition of my normally exhaustive season predictions. Actually, it was more like one 64^th of an ass. 

Anyway, this year has been complete parity. There aren’t any great teams and there are absolutely no stars. So you might expect this March to be Mad. But I really couldn’t figure out a way to make my picks reflect that notion. 

Okay, this is turning into an introduction which I said wouldn’t come. That’s all. Here are the picks. Enjoy the greatest weekend of the year. 

Midwest 

First Round

#1 Louisville over #16 North Carolina A&T

#2 Duke over #15 Albany

#3 Michigan State over #14 Valparaiso

#4 Saint Louis over #13 New Mexico State

#12 Oregon over #5 Oklahoma State

#6 Memphis over #11 St. Mary’s

#7 Creighton over #10 Cincinnati

#9 Missouri over #8 Colorado State 

Second Round

#1 Louisville over #9 Missouri

#2 Duke over #7 Creighton

#3 Michigan State over #6 Memphis

#4 Saint Louis over #12 Oregon 

Regional Semifinals

#1 Louisville over #4 Saint Louis

#2 Duke over #3 Michigan State 

Regional Finals

#1 Louisville over #2 Duke 

West 

First Round

#1 Gonzaga over #16 Southern

#2 Ohio State over #15 Iona

#3 New Mexico over #14 Harvard

#4 Kansas State over #13 La Salle

#12 Mississippi over #5 Wisconsin

#6 Arizona over #11 Belmont

#10 Iowa State over #7 Notre Dame

#8 Pittsburgh over #9 Wichita State

Second Round

#1 Gonzaga over #8 Pittsburgh

#2 Ohio State over #10 Iowa State

#3 New Mexico over #6 Arizona

#12 Mississippi over #4 Kansas State 

Regional Semifinals

#1 Gonzaga over #12 Mississippi

#2 Ohio State over #3 New Mexico 

Regional Finals

#2 Ohio State over #1 Gonzaga 

South

First Round

#1 Kansas over #16 Western Kentucky

#2 Georgetown over #15 Florida Gulf Coast

#3 Florida over #14 Northwestern State

#4 Michigan over #13 South Dakota State

#5 Virginia Commonwealth over #12 Akron

#11 Minnesota over #6 UCLA

#10 Oklahoma over #7 San Diego State

#8 North Carolina over #9 Villanova 

Second Round

#1 Kansas over #8 North Carolina

#2 Georgetown over #10 Oklahoma

#3 Florida over #11 Minnesota

#4 Michigan over #5 Virginia Commonwealth 

Regional Semifinals

#4 Michigan over #1 Kansas

#3 Florida over #2 Georgetown 

Regional Finals

#3 Florida over #4 Michigan 

East 

First Round

#1 Indiana over #16 James Madison

#2 Miami over #15 Pacific

#14 Davidson over #3 Marquette

#4 Syracuse over #13 Montana

#12 California over #5 UNLV

#6 Butler over #11 Bucknell

#10 Colorado over #7 Illinois

#8 North Carolina State over #9 Temple 

Second Round

#1 Indiana over #8 North Carolina State

#2 Miami over #10 Colorado

#6 Butler over #14 Davidson

#4 Syracuse over #12 California 

Regional Semifinals

#1 Indiana over #4 Syracuse

#2 Miami over #6 Butler 

Regional Finals

#1 Indiana over #2 Miami 

National Semifinals

#1 Louisville over #2 Ohio State

#1 Indiana over #3 Florida 

National Championship

#1 Louisville over #1 Indiana (61-59)

The College Basketball Blog: 2013 NIT Predictions

2013 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) Predictions

History of the NIT: As many fans are aware, the NIT is different from the other “extra” tournaments in that for many years it was considered equal or superior to the NCAA Tournament. That changed in 1975 when the NCAA Tournament did away with their 1-team per conference limit. From then on the NIT was a consolation tournament. 

In the years since then the tourney has gone through many changes, but the format has been consistent now for nearly a decade. It is a straight 32-team tournament, seeded from start to finish. All games are played at campus sites until the semifinals when the scene shifts to Madison Square Garden in New York. 

Championship History: It doesn’t make much sense to recount the NIT’s championship history all the way back to its inception in 1938. For all intents and purposes the pre-1975 NIT is a different tournament from the NIT since 1975. It makes more sense to look at the championship history since the tournament became the secondary postseason tourney that it is today. 

8 teams have won multiple NIT’s over the last 38 years. Minnesota, Tulsa, Stanford, South Carolina, Ohio State, Virginia, and St. John’s have each won twice. Michigan has won 3 NIT’s over the last 30 years. 

The Field: The NIT gets first dibs for teams after the NCAA Tournament. Any high major teams that were on the bubble and did not get a bid to the NCAA Tournament will receive bids from the NIT. There was a time when declining an NIT invite became a bit of a trend, but that’s a rarity at this point. The NIT also gives automatic bids to any regular season conference champion that lost in their conference tournament and did not receive an at-large bid to the Big Dance. Thus, the NIT is made up of decent teams from high major programs, along with many of the top teams from mid and low major conference. It is definitely the strongest field outside of the NCAA Tournament. 

Tournament Structure: One of the best things about the NIT is that it is very easy to make predictions for the tournament. Teams are seeded from the beginning and are not reseeded at any point. There is an actual bracket that can be filled out just like the NCAA Tournament but with just 32 teams. The first 3 rounds are played at campus sites. The semifinals and finals are played in New York. 

Once again this year, the only thing I have added to the NIT bracket is titles to the different regions for clarification purposes. Here are my picks. 

First Round

North

#1 Kentucky over #8 Robert Morris

#2 Baylor over #7 Long Beach State

#3 Arizona State over #6 Detroit

#4 Providence over #5 Charlotte 

South

#1 Southern Mississippi over #8 Charleston Southern

#2 Tennessee over #7 Mercer

#3 BYU over #6 Washington

#5 Louisiana Tech over #4 Florida State 

West

#1 Alabama over #8 Northeastern

#2 Maryland over #7 Niagara

#3 Denver over #6 Ohio

#4 Stanford over #5 Stephen F. Austin 

East

#1 Virginia over #8 Norfolk State

#2 Massachusetts over #7 Stony Brook

#3 Iowa over #6 Indiana State

#4 St. Joseph’s over #5 St. John’s 

Second Round

North

#1 Kentucky over #4 Providence

#2 Baylor over #3 Arizona State 

South

#1 Southern Mississippi over #5 Louisiana Tech

#2 Tennessee over #3 BYU

West

#1 Alabama over #4 Stanford

#2 Maryland over #3 Denver 

East

#1 Virginia over #4 St. Joseph’s

#3 Iowa over #2 Massachusetts 

Quarterfinals

North

#1 Kentucky over #2 Baylor 

South

#2 Tennessee over #1 Southern Mississippi 

West

#1 Alabama over #2 Maryland 

East

#3 Iowa over #1 Virginia 

Semifinals

#2 Tennessee over #1 Kentucky

#3 Iowa over #1 Alabama 

Finals

#2 Tennessee over #3 Iowa

The College Basketball Blog: 2013 CBI Predictions

2013 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Predictions

History of the CBI: This is the 6^th College Basketball Invitational. The CBI can be called the original superfluous postseason tournament. When it was created in 2008 it was the first new postseason tournament since 1974. Throughout its history the CBI has always been a tournament of 16 teams. It is a normal single-elimination tournament with a twist at the end: the finals are a best-two-out-of-three series. 

Championship History: Tulsa won the inaugural CBI championship over Bradley, 2-1. In 2009 Oregon State defeated UTEP, 2-1, to take the title. VCU swept St. Louis, 2-0, to win the 2010 CBI. In 2011 Oregon beat Creighton, winning the finals 2-1. Pittsburgh beat Washington State in the finals last year, 2-1, to take the 2012 CBI championship. 

The Field: Once the NCAA and NIT fields have been set, the CBI and CIT compete for the leftovers. It’s not totally an all out war between the two youngest tournaments, as the CBI is open to teams from BCS conferences as well as the 27 non-BCS conferences. Another difference is that the CBI has not been as strict about limiting the field to teams with at least .500 records. 

Tournament Structure: All games are played at campus sites. In the first 3 years of the tournament the field was bracketed and seeded from the start, and then the final four teams were reseeded prior to the semifinals. In order to make my predictions I had to guess how the final four teams would be seeded if my teams made it. The only difference since 2010 has been that teams were not seeded, even within their regional brackets, so in order to make my predictions I had to guess what teams would be home teams for the second round. 

That will again be the case this year. What I have done in the past is try and seed each 4-team group myself. This year I have decided not to seed the teams because I do not believe the CBI does it that way. I will still give each 4-team region a title for clarification. And of course I will have to try and guess what the seeding will be in the semifinals. Again, this is the best I can do. So here are my picks. 

First Round

South

George Mason over College of Charleston

Houston over Texas

West

Purdue over Western Illinois

Santa Clara over Vermont

East

Wright State over Tulsa

Richmond over Bryant

Midwest

Wyoming over Lehigh

North Dakota State over Western Michigan 

Second Round

South

Houston over George Mason

West

Santa Clara over Purdue

East

Wright State over Richmond 

Midwest

North Dakota State over Wyoming 

Semifinals

#1 North Dakota State over #4 Houston

#2 Santa Clara over #3 Wright State 

Finals

#1 North Dakota State over #2 Santa Clara (2-1)