Overall Record: 23-17

Tournament Record: 13-4

Half of the Final Four is set. I had both Kentucky and Wisconsin to go with Duke and MSU in Indianapolis. I hope your brackets are faring well! With only a few games left in this year’s tournament, we hope to continue our streak (12 of last 13), and gear up for the NBA Playoffs and the MLB in a couple of weeks.

Michigan State (-3) vs. Louisville: You guessed it, I like the Spartans. I’ve now gone to them in all 3 rounds thus far, and they have yet to disappoint me. In today’s game against Louisville, I think MSU matches up very well. Although Louisville does have some size inside with Montrezl Harrell, the Spartan’s have shown that they can handle size throughout this season. Louisville struggles to score, which will be made abundantly clear by a MSU defense that has been playing exceptionally well since the tournament began. Denzel Valentine finally showed some life in the Sweet Sixteen against Oklahoma, and the Spartans managed to hit their late game free throws to get a cover in that game. If Trice and Valentine continue to score the ball like they have, it is going to be a long night for the Louisville defense that has gotten into some foul trouble in the past few games. It will be a very well coached game, with Tom Izzo going up against Rick Pitino, but this Louisville team hasn’t been the same since they lost their point guard Chris Jones, and I don’t think they execute well enough on offense to win this game.

Duke (-3) vs Gonzaga: Duke did not play that well offensively in their last game, registering only 63 points against a pretty tough Utah defense. They will face a much less physical defense today against Gonzaga in the Elite Eight, and I think that will make all the difference. Jalil Okafor had one of his worst games of the season against Utah, scoring only 6 points. Today, I think he could easily go for 30 against a Gonzaga defense that has been shaky all season. They tend to leave their big men 1 on 1 in the post, and there is not a single person in the NCAA who can stop Okafor 1 on 1. Both of these teams shoot the ball well from 3, but both also struggled from distance in their Sweet Sixteen match ups, but managed to survive anyway, showcasing their ability to win games. However, I feel that Gonzaga had a considerably easier match up against 11-seeded UCLA and it would’ve been shocking to see them lose. If Duke can match up with Kyle Wiltjer (I’d assume Justise Winslow will be covering him), then they will be able to limit a very large part of the Bulldog’s offense, and I think that will be the reason they are able to pull away. In late game scenarios, Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones are sure handed with the basketball and can knock down their free throws, so in a close game Duke can still pull away to cover this small spread.