Written by Erik Brady at USAToday.com
Best round of 64 matchup:
Colorado vs. Connecticut
The Buffaloes led the Pac-12 in rebounding and offensive rebounding. They also shoot nearly 40% as a team from three-point range. That’s a great combination except for this: Colorado sometimes has trouble holding leads. And that could spell big trouble vs. UConn, which comes into the tournament with magic dust on its basketball shoes. The Huskies trailed Cincinnati by three with 0.8 seconds left Friday and forced a fourth overtime on a 60-foot heave that saved their season. And don’t forget that coach Kevin Ollie doesn’t know what it’s like to lose in the NCAA tournament. He holds a 6-0 record from UConn’s miraculous run to the championship as a seven-seed in 2014.
Potential upset
UB vs. Miami
This one is a real long shot: Miami is good enough to win the national championship and the University at Buffalo was a surprise winner of the Mid-American Conference tournament. But the Bulls have one of the true feel-good stories of the tournament: Crystal Oats, wife of first-year coach Nate, is bravely battling lymphoma. The Bulls made the tournament for the first time last season, but coach Bobby Hurley left for Arizona State and Oats retooled quickly to become the first western New York school to make consecutive NCAA tourneys since Canisius’ three in a row in the mid-1950s. Buffalo’s men’s and women’s teams broke through on last-second shots Saturday — the men’s a 24-foot three-pointer by Blake Hamilton — earning the Bulls the honorific title University of Buzzer-beaters.
The sleeper
Maryland slipped to a five-seed with a late-season slump, but they have talent befitting a higher seed. Melo Trimble and Diamond Stone are NBA prospects and the Terps can go for 97 points, as they did in the Big Ten quarterfinals against Nebraska — or they can struggle to score, as they did by hitting one field goal in the last 10-½ minutes of the semifinals against Michigan State. But that 64-61 loss to the eventual Big Ten tournament champs showed Maryland can scrap and play evenly against one of the nation’s hottest teams. The Terps played well at home but struggled against top competition on the road; the close shave against Michigan State suggests they may be ready for top competition at neutral sites.
The winner
Kansas has a lot going for it: the overall No. 1 seed, the pedigree — and the victories. They are the only team in the field with 30 wins. And although the 23 combined losses for the four No. 1 seeds is the most ever, no blame goes to Kansas. It lost four games, three in the ever-tough Big 12, and they’re 14-0 since Jan. 25. Different heroes step up every night among Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden, Devonte’ Graham and Frank Mason. In a season of much-ballyhooed parity, Kansas looks like a half-step above the rest. Although this comes with a caveat: Kansas was the overall No. 1 seed in 2010 and lost in the second round to Northern Iowa.
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