Each game day during the NCAA tournament, the Post’s Marc Raimondi, Anthony Sulla-Heffinger and Justin Terranova will be providing you with their input for that day’s games.
For the evening session of the second round, Terranova is picking South Dakota State to upset Michigan and UNLV to struggle away from home.
Here are his picks:
MIDWEST REGION
(16) North Carolina A&T vs. (1) Louisville: 6:50 p.m.
This isn’t Liberty any more. The Aggies edged the Flames 73-72 in the opening round, but Louisville is a different beast. The Cardinals press will prove particularly troublesome and this one will get ugly early.
Prediction: Louisville 81-52
(9) Missouri vs. (8) Colorado State: 9:20 p.m.
Missouri finished the year playing well until choking away a double-digit lead to Mississippi in the SEC quarters. But they may have a little too much athleticism for Colorado State and this time will pull out a close game.
Prediction: Missouri 69-65
SOUTH REGION
(4) Michigan vs. (13) South Dakota State: 7:15 p.m.
I talked about this game in my three to watch and think the upset will happen here. Nate Wolters will become a national name by neutralizing Trey Burke and the Jackrabbits pull the biggest upset of the day.
Prediction: South Dakota State 57-56
(12) Akron vs. (5) VCU: 9:45 p.m.
Akron to the Selection Committee: Thanks for nothing. Late in the season Zips point guard Alex Abreu was suspended for trafficking marijuana. To their credit Akron won the MAC tournament, but to go against VCU and their stifling full-court pressure will be way too much.
Prediction: VCU 79-62
WEST REGION
(11) Belmont vs. (6) Arizona: 7:20 p.m., TNT
Lots of people think Belmont will knock off the Wildcats, but I am not one of them. The senior leadership of Solomon Hill and Mark Lyons will help settle the Wildcats against a Bruins team they can beat, unlike UCLA’s version who they went 0-3 against this season.
Prediction: Arizona 75-69
(14) Harvard vs. (3) New Mexico; 9:50 p.m.
New Mexico will ugly you to death and this young Harvard team has made impressive strides just to make the NCAA tournament. But it won’t be a long run.
Prediction: New Mexico 80-66
EAST REGION
(12) California vs. (5) UNLV: 7:27 p.m.
UNLV is not the same team away from Sin City and the Bears are playing close to home in San Jose. Cal might be getting overlooked after laying a dud in the Pac-12 tournament, but they get redemption here.
Prediction: California 62-58
(4) Syracuse vs. (13) Montana; 9:57 p.m.
A tall order for the Grizzlies in any scenario, but losing leading scorer Mathias Ward in February makes this nearly an impossible task. The Orange found their groove at the Big East tournament before getting overwhelmed by Louisville in the second half of the championship. No such worries here, though.
Prediction: Syracuse 66-49