This article covers predictions for the Elite 8 Round games of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (i.e. March Madness). Tournament time is right around the corner on 3/26/23 and that means the best playoff in all of sports has reached the Elite 8 round. Time to get into a daily and weekly cadence of highlighting the best games to watch. Also determining the potential upsets lurking below the radar. Kansas won the 2022 National Championship over North Carolina (72-69) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jayhawks rallied from a 16 point deficit in the second half, to get head coach Bill Self, his second national championship (2008, 2022). The brackets are wide open in 2023 and the next three weeks will determine if Kansas repeats as champs, or if a new team ascends to the title throne in Houston, Texas on 4/3/23.
2022-2023 Season Recap
Weird regular season to say the least. Mike Krzyzewski retired as head coach at Duke and handed his whistle to Jon Scheyer. North Carolina started the season ranked #1, began to crater in late November 2022 and didn’t make the big dance in 2023. Four teams held the #1 ranking during the regular season (North Carolina, Houston, Purdue, Alabama), but there was chaos in the Top 25 each week. Texas head coach Chris Beard was fired on 1/5/23. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim retired on 3/10/23 after spending 47 years leading the Orange, including a national championship in 2003.
2023 Elite 8 Round Picks
Elite 8 Round (games played on 3/25/23) – 1/2 correct thanks to UConn
2023 Overall Picks
First Four – 4/4
First Round -22/32
Second Round – 11/16
Sweet 16 Round – 4/8
Elite 8 Round – 1/2
Overall – 42/62 which is one standard deviation above the mean
2023 March Madness Elite 8 Games on 3/26/23
South Region – Creighton (#6 seed) vs. San Diego State (#5 seed)
Current betting line – Creighton favored by -2.5 points
Analysis: What happened in the South Region this year in the Big Dance? Alabama, Arizona, Baylor and Virginia have all been eliminated, and its a #6 vs #5 regional final game. Bluejays eliminated Princeton in the Sweet 16 (86-75). Junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner continued his consistent tournament play with 22 points and 5 rebounds. Senior guard Baylor Scheierman showed up on the stat sheet, by scoring 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. Quiet guard Trey Alexander chipped in with 19 points and is having a solid tournament. Six game losing streak in late 2022 is a distant memory, since Creighton is playing great team basketball when it matters the most.
Aztecs pulled one of the largest upsets of the tourney, by beating the overall #1 seed Alabama in the Sweet 16 (71-64). Senior guard Darrion Trammell (21 points, 5 rebounds) and senior forward Jaedon LeDee (12 points, 6 rebounds), showed why staying in school can pay dividends on a big sports stage. Have won thirteen out of their last fourteen games and are trending up at the right time for head coach Brian Dutcher. Do they have enough gas left in the tank to defend all of the perimeter shooters on Creighton’s roster?
Prediction: Talk about a ying and yang game. Bluejays will try a ton of perimeter jump shots and SDSU will focus on high percentage shots in the lane. Entertaining second half and Creighton wins by 2 points.
Midwest Region – Miami (#5 seed) vs. Texas (#2 seed)
Current betting line – Texas favored by -3.5 points
Analysis: Hurricanes made #1 seed Houston look like a badly prepared high school team, with a relatively easy Sweet 16 round win (89-75). All five starters scored 11+ points in that victory and shot 51.7% from the field. Looked completely relaxed and confident at both ends of the court. Should be rested and ready to play the Longhorns for forty tough minutes. Thought the ACC was down this year, but I was wrong in that assessment.
Texas made quick work of Xavier in the Sweet 16 round (83-71). Five players scored 11+ points each in that game and used a nine player rotation. Interim head coach Rodney Terry (looked just like Urkel during his last post game interview), has his squad primed to advance to the Final Four. If Texas continues to run a balanced offense and get contributions from their entire bench, they’ll have a short round trip to the Final Four in Houston.
Prediction: Could be an offensive shootout or a bad blowout. Texas stays focused and wins by 4+ points.
Same bat time, same bat channel in one week. I’ll review the results of the Elite 8 Round games and try again in the Final Four round of the 2023 NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament.
Never walk away from the table when you’re on a heater in Vegas!
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