OK, here we go.
No more filling out brackets, no more plucking teams from a hat.
We’ve decided to go out on a limb with some very specific NCAA Tournament predictions for Thursday’s games that you won’t find anywhere else.
Well, you may find some elsewhere, but only if you look really hard. So you can stop looking now.
No, really. Trust us.
Upset of the day: A 12-5 game isn’t really much of an upset anymore, so let’s go with No. 13 seed Penn knocking off No. 4 seed Boston College, who have lost four of their last eight games. Boston deserves some heartbreak.
High scorer: Adam Morrison, Gonzaga. Morrison can score from all over the court and averaged 27.5 points in the Bulldogs’ last two games. Against Winthrop, he’ll hit for 33 with seven 3-pointers. How can we be so specific?
We practice black magic.
Buzzer beater: Nothing comes easy for Steve Alford’s Iowa Hawkeyes, who will beat Cincinnati on Jeff Horner’s 3-pointer after a mad rush up the court. Either that or they’ll lose by 28.
Scariest player: Boo Davis, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Pretty good player, but scary good, of course, because of that name: Davis.
Biggest blowout: Somebody’s going to go back to Kentucky in a body bag, and it’s not going to be the boys from Lexington. Expect Kentucky to destroy Eastern Kentucky, 88-55. Not because they want to, but because they have to.
Best potential headline: After Oklahoma defeats Niagara the Buffalo papers will scream, “Niagara falls!” Never gets old.
Best non-Illini local player: Mike Hall, George Washington. The Shepard graduate averages 10.8 points and 8 rebounds for the Colonials, who will upset No. 5 seed
Georgia Tech. Raise your hand if you
know where Shepard is? Palos Hills? You cheated!
Our All-Thursday team: Morrison; Luther Head, Illinois; Chris Paul, Wake Forest; Ronald Ross, Texas Tech; Kennedy Winston, Alabama.
– – –
Thursday games
on WBBM-Ch. 2
11:25 a.m.: Alabama vs. Wisconsin-
Milwaukee *
1:40 p.m.: Cincinnati vs. Iowa (broadcast signal)
1:45 p.m.: Boston vs. Penn (high-definition signal only)
6:10 p.m.: Texas vs. Nevada *
8:30 p.m.: Illinois vs. Fairleigh Dickinson *
Friday games
on WBBM-Ch. 2
11:30 a.m.: Minnesota vs. Iowa St. *
1:50 p.m.: Southern Illinois vs. St. Mary’s *
6:20 p.m.: Wisconsin vs. Northern Iowa (broadcast signal)
6:10 p.m.: Syracuse vs. Vermont (high-definition signal only)
8:30 p.m.: Michigan St. vs. Old Dominion *
