Gem City Sports Network

The madness has arrived! I deliberately posted these predictions late because, well, I don’t want anyone stealing my computerized picks and beating me in any bracket pools, obviously!

But anyway, I was more than surprised to see the computer picking Gonzaga to go all the way, but then again maybe I shouldn’t. Going 30-1 doesn’t happen by accident. And lest you think that these results were thrown because of their high win count, Wichita State was only predicted to beat Dayton (boo!) before falling to Kentucky in the second round. In more regional action, Xavier is predicted to pull off the upset over Maryland by 3 before falling to Florida State by 2. Cincinnati doesn’t fare so well, falling to the First Four’s Kansas State by 1, though the “true” predicted margin is roughly a quarter-point, so in reality it could go either way (the number in square brackets is the “true” predicted margin of victory).

The predicted Cinderella story of the tournament looks to be Iowa State, upsetting Kansas by the slimmest of margins in the sweet sixteen, and beating Louisville by about three before falling to Kentucky in the final four by a razor-thin margin.

Maybe I’ll add more predictions as the rounds progress. Let us know if you’d like to see that!

First Round (final score) [“true” margin of victory]
(1) Villanova defeats (16) Mount St. Mary’s (89-54) [35.12]
(8) Wisconsin defeats (9) Virginia Tech (77-67) [10.09]
(5) Virginia defeats (12) North Carolina-Wilmington (80-63) [16.83]
(4) Florida defeats (13) East Tennessee State (83-69) [14.01]
(6) Southern Methodist defeats (11) Southern California (79-67) [12.8]
(3) Baylor defeats (14) New Mexico State (81-64) [17.4]
(10) Marquette defeats (7) South Carolina (72-71) [0.89]
(2) Duke defeats (15) Troy (90-66) [24.72]

(1) Kansas defeats (16) UC-Davis (89-61) [27.63]
(8) Miami (FL) defeats (9) Michigan State (69-64) [5.08]
(5) Iowa State defeats (12) Nevada (87-71) [15.72]
(4) Purdue defeats (13) Vermont (82-67) [15.63]
(6) Creighton defeats (11) Rhode Island (82-75) [6.42]
(3) Oregon defeats (14) Iona (90-70) [20.69]
(7) Michigan defeats (10) Oklahoma State (76-75) [0.87]
(2) Louisville defeats (15) Jacksonville State (82-59) [22.63]

(1) Gonzaga defeats (16) South Dakota State (96-64) [31.82]
(9) Vanderbilt defeats (8) Northwestern (68-67) [0.83]
(5) Notre Dame defeats (12) Princeton (77-64) [12.62]
(4) West Virginia defeats (13) Bucknell (87-64) [22.6]
(11) Xavier defeats (6) Maryland (70-67) [3.1]
(3) Florida State defeats (14) Florida Gulf Coast (90-72) [17.81]
(7) Saint Mary’s (CA) defeats (10) Virginia Commonwealth (74-64) [9.67]
(2) Arizona defeats (15) North Dakota (88-62) [25.19]

(1) North Carolina defeats (16) Texas Southern (92-64) [27.78]
(9) Seton Hall defeats (8) Arkansas (77-73) [3.52]
(5) Minnesota defeats (12) Middle Tennessee (77-73) [4.23]
(4) Butler defeats (13) Winthrop (81-67) [14.38]
(11) Kansas State defeats (6) Cincinnati (69-68) [0.26]
(3) UCLA defeats (14) Kent State (94-77) [16.75]
(10) Wichita State defeats (7) Dayton (81-66) [14.97]
(2) Kentucky defeats (15) Northern Kentucky (93-66) [26.16]

Second Round
(1) Villanova defeats (8) Wisconsin (73-69) [3.8]
(5) Virginia defeats (4) Florida (68-67) [0.55]
(6) Southern Methodist defeats (3) Baylor (69-68) [1.43]
(2) Duke defeats (10) Marquette (85-74) [10.73]

(1) Kansas defeats (8) Miami (FL) (77-72) [5.46]
(5) Iowa State defeats (4) Purdue (80-77) [2.76]
(3) Oregon defeats (6) Creighton (84-82) [1.84]
(2) Louisville defeats (7) Michigan (73-72) [0.63]

(1) Gonzaga defeats (9) Vanderbilt (84-68) [15.92]
(4) West Virginia defeats (5) Notre Dame (80-74) [6.33]
(3) Florida State defeats (11) Xavier (76-74) [2.7]
(2) Arizona defeats (7) Saint Mary’s (CA) (70-67) [3.12]

(1) North Carolina defeats (9) Seton Hall (78-75) [2.05]
(4) Butler defeats (5) Minnesota (74-72) [2.07]
(3) UCLA defeats (11) Kansas State (83-79) [3.08]
(2) Kentucky defeats (10) Wichita State (83-82) [1.32]

Sweet Sixteen
(1) Villanova defeats (5) Virginia (70-64) [6.13]
(2) Duke defeats (6) Southern Methodist (76-73) [3.64]

(5) Iowa State defeats (1) Kansas (84-83) [0.06]
(2) Louisville defeats (3) Oregon (78-76) [1.66]

(1) Gonzaga defeats (4) West Virginia (84-79) [4.75]
(2) Arizona defeats (3) Florida State (79-75) [3.89]

(1) North Carolina defeats (4) Butler (79-75) [4.53]
(2) Kentucky defeats (3) UCLA (94-90) [4.4]

Elite Eight
(1) Villanova defeats (2) Duke (79-77) [2.45]
(5) Iowa State defeats (2) Louisville (80-77) [3.24]
(1) Gonzaga defeats (2) Arizona (84-75) [9.21]
(2) Kentucky defeats (1) North Carolina (89-83) [6]

Final Four
(1) Gonzaga defeats (1) Villanova (82-79) [2.92]
(2) Kentucky defeats (5) Iowa State (85-84) [0.34]

Championship
(1) Gonzaga defeats (2) Kentucky (90-84) [5.66]