Sweet 16 Predictions – Part 1 (Thursday)

Here are my predictions for Thursday’s slate of Sweet 16 games:

#3 Miami vs #2 Villanova
Angel Rodriguez played the game of his life Saturday and Miami still almost choked away a 20-point lead. This Nova team is for real and coming off the beatdown of Iowa, they got the monkey off their back from last year’s tournament. Nova advances.

#1 Kansas vs #4 Maryland
Which Melo Trimble shows up: The one that looked like the best PG in the country the first 2 months of the season or the one who was average during conference play? Nobody seems to be giving Maryland much of a chance, but I sure am. If Diamond Stone stays out of foul trouble and Trimble plays well (I’m counting on both) Maryland makes their first Elite 8 since 2003.

#1 Oregon vs #4 Duke
Uh oh…… I’m scared. Yes, I’m scared. I think this has potential to get ugly and my god I hope I’m wrong. Oregon’s athleticism is going to be a major problem for Duke. The Blue Devils will more likely than not be forced to play zone and the Ducks are one of the best teams in the country against a zone. Duke will need max efforts from Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram and even that might not be enough. Oregon advances (please be wrong Shayne).

#2 Oklahoma vs #3 Texas A&M
This is by far the hardest game for me to pick. The only thing I know for sure is there will be points…Lots of them and I’ll roll with Oklahoma because of the Buddy Factor.

Twitter: @sugashayne3

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