By Alexis Camel
The initial weekend of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball lived up to the title of “March Madness”, UAB and Georgia State successfully busted brackets everywhere as they took down the 3 seeds in their respective regions, Iowa St. and Baylor. As the weekend came to a close we discovered the matchups that will entertain viewers for this final weekend of March. This years Sweet Sixteen includes several intriguing match-ups including undefeated Kentucky vs. The Mountaineers of West Virginia, Notre Dame vs. Wichita State team that comes in with a lot of momentum after beating state-rival Kansas. 1 seed Wisconsin will take on UNC, a streaking NC State will take on Montrez Harrell and the Louisville Cardinals, Xavier and Arizona will face each other after winning dominantly in their previous contests. Oklahoma will face-off against a very hot Michigan State squad, as dominant Duke will take on the Utes of Utah and UCLA looks to upset Gonzaga.
Kentucky vs West Virginia: This Kentucky team has dominated all season long and is very talented across the board, West Virginia’s starters will be able to compete but their bench is going to be the deciding factor. After only amassing nine points from the bench, look for the Mountaineers to struggle once again as this Wildcats team features a bench with players who could very well be starters on almost every other team in the nation.
Prediction: UK wins by 13 while WVU’s bench struggles to produce.
Notre Dame vs Wichita State: The Shockers definitely shocked the residents of Kansas this past Sunday as they took down the state’s basketball powerhouse by 13 points, showing not only the Jayhawks that they mean business, but to the rest of the nation. Notre Dame is coming off an overtime win over Butler. The luck of the Irish really saved Notre Dame after Zach Auguste almost cost the team a Sweet Sixteen bid after a late turnover when the big attempted to run a fast break himself then stumbled with indecision and gave Butler an opportunity to win the game with two seconds left. He eventually redeemed himself with a block in overtime that basically sealed the teams victory.
Prediction: Shockers continue with the upsets and win by 5.
Wisconsin vs North Carolina: Wisconsin has been one of the top regular season programs in the country these past few years but has failed to turn that success into an NCAA title, UNC struggled against an energetic Harvard team and squeaked out a victory but redeemed themselves with a sold victory against Arkansas and Wisconsin is coming off a seven point win over Oregon. UNC is much more talented than Oregon, but which Tarheels team will show up? Marcus Paige is the key in order for UNC to win.
Prediction: The Tarheels pull off the upset and Marcus Paige leads them to the Elite Eight with a 25 point performance.
Arizona vs Xavier: Arizona is coming off an victory where they dominated Ohio State in the second-half outscoring the Buckeyes by 14 points. This Wildcats team has yet to be challenged in this years tournament. Their rebounding dominance and ability to take control of the game in the second half will be their best assets in winning this game. Xavier shot lights out against Georgia State, shooting 67% from the field and shooting 53% from behind the arc. These numbers will be hard to duplicate, especially against a team as talented as Arizona.
Prediction: Wildcats by 7, as The Musketeers fail to repeat their shooting success.
Louisville vs N.C. State: This N.C. State team has already taken down the one seed in their Western region so the momentum is on their side. Louisville has struggled at times this season and barely beat UC Irvine but cruised past Northern Iowa. These two last met on Valentine’s Day where the Pack ended up with the win by a nine-point margin.
Prediction: N.C. State repeats their Valentine’s Day success and keeps the momentum, Pack by 6
Oklahoma vs Michigan St.: Both of these teams come in off of six point victories, the difference being in that Sparty’s comes over 2 seed Virginia. Not only is momentum on the side of Michigan State but also coaching as Tom Izzo’s experience and pure coaching ability always keeps them as part of the Madness of March.
Prediction: Michigan St. by five in overtime, fans need some overtime excitement for the weekend, right?
Duke vs Utah: Utah beat Georgetown this past weekend but is not prepared for this Duke team. Duke’s freshmen Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones have been excellent this season and Quinn Cook has finally lived up to his potential, if Kentucky doesn’t win the title this year then Duke does.
Prediction: Duke by 10.
Gonzaga vs UCLA: Gonzaga has dominated in their wins against NDSU and Iowa but be aware of this Bruins team and be prepared for them to humble Gonzaga. The Pac-12 is a fairly good conference, very competitive to say the very least, so most will predict that the power conference shows Gonzaga what they have to deal with during their conference season. Look for this to be another close game.
Prediction: Gonzaga squeaks away with a two point victory.
SportsTalkFeed 
Ahh! You predicted against my Badgers?! 😉 I would argue it depends on which teamS show up. The Badgers can come out flat at times, and we can hurt ourselves with poor shooting….
I have the Wildcats winning only cuz they don’t seem to lose. But I wouldn’t be surprised if The Mountaineer pull of the upset.