Nick’s Picks: Big Games Week 2

Happy Sweet 16, with KU and Missouri both taking care of business last week.

Nick’s bracket has 12 of the 16 teams, not too shabby.

Starting in the West regional, with Missouri vs. Memphis – Memphis has all the athletic ability in the world. Pound-for-pound better athletes, but are they better players? Nick is looking for Leo Lyons and Demarree Carroll to play big in this game.

Nick’s Pick: Missouri 72, Memphis 69.

Next up is Purdue and UConn. Give the Huskies credit, they looked legit in their first two games. They have a better team, but they don’t have Purdue’s ability to played 40 minutes of gritty hard-nosed basketball.

Nick’s Pick: Purdue 71, UConn 68.

In the Midwest Regional, starting with Kansas vs. Michigan State. It’s a rematch of a game the Spartans won in mid-January by 13 points.

Sherron Collins is playing as well as any guard in the country. Will Michigan State have a plan to take Collins and Cole Aldrich out of the game? Yes, but there are other weapons on the KU team.

Nick’s Pick: Kansas 78, Michigan State 74.

Louisville vs. Arizona. Rick Pitino takes teams to the Final Four every other year. Meanwhile, Nick doesn’t think that Arizona should have been in the tournament in the first place.

Nick’s Pick: Louisville 88, Arizona 73.

Other Picks: Pitt over Xavier, Duke over Villanova, UNC over Gonzaga, Oklahoma over Syaruce.

Looking ahead to the Elite Eight, Nick thinks Louisville will up-end Kansas, but Missouri should defeat Purdue and go to the Final Four.

Nick has UNC and Louisville in the championship game, with the Tarheels getting the win: UNC 74, Louisville 71.

After this, Nick is staying firm with his bracket.

Agree? Disagree? Tell Nick about it at ngriffith@hearst.com

The Big Games

It’s time for the madness in March once again. Nick’s got some bracket breakdowns so that you can dominate your office pool this year.

(But be advised, Nick’s never won the office pool himself, so take this advice for what it’s worth.)

The picks will include first-round action in the Midwest region (where KU is playing) and the West (where Mizzou is playing). He’ll also pick the Final Four, the national champs, and a couple of sleeper teams.

First up, we begin with the national champion Jayhawks. They play the Bisons of North Dakota State in Minneapolis at 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Luckily for KU, the Bisons are not Bucknell or Bradley – the game will be over quickly.

Nick’s Pick: KU 93, NDSU 67.

The next game will be the winner of Dayton and West Virginia. Nicks is going with Bob Huggins’ team.

Nick’s Pick: W. Va. 65, Dayton 59.

For other games in Minneapolis, Nick’s Picks: USC 73, Boston College 68. Michigan St. 84, Robert Morris 55.

In the West, Missouri will be playing their first-round game at 2 p.m. Friday in Boise, Idaho. They’ll be at the tournament for the first time since 2003, and will be tangling with Cornell. The Tigers have a pretty good draw and a chance at a nice run. They played the Big 12 Tournament on all cylinders.

Nick’s Pick: MU 90, Cornell 71.

Missouri will then play the winner of Marquette and Utah State. Fortunately, this is not the same Marquette squad they were earlier in the year, with their senior guard Dominic James out with an injured foot.

Nick’s Pick: Marquette 77, Utah St. 70.

Other games in Boise, Nick’s Picks: Maryland 73, California 71. Memphis 81, Cal State Northridge 62.

On to the Final Four, and some quick picks. Louisville, Duke, North Carolina – so long as Ty Lawson is 100 percent. And Mizzou will make their first Final Four appearance, but will get dropped by Rick Pitino’s Louisville team.

Nick’s Pick for a title game will be UNC and Louisville. So long as Lawson stays healthy, he’ll lead Roy’s Boys to win it all: UNC 74, Louisville 71.

Agree?  Disagree?  Tell Nick at ngriffith@hearst.com

Nick’s Picks: Mizzou vs. OSU

KMBC’s Nick Griffith from the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, chooses Missouri to beat Oklahoma State.

Nick’s Picks: MU 75, OSU 70.

March 7: Three Big Games

There are three big games with area squads on March 7.

Colorado at Kansas State: the Wildcats are playing for seeding in the Big 12 Tournament and they are motivated.

Nick’s Pick: KSU 74, CU 66.

Missouri at Texas A&M – the Tigers can beat the Sooners at home, but have trouble playing on the road.

Nick’s Pick: A&M 71, MU 68.

Texas at Kansas – KU has a chance to win the Big 12 regular season title and are playing at home with a home-court streak on the line.

Nick’s Pick: KU 83, UT 75.

Agree? Disagree? Email Nick about it at ngriffith@hearst.com.

March 4: MU vs. OU

Nick likes Mizzou at home to rebound after their putrid performance in Lawrence and go toe-to-toe with Oklahoma, which has a rough schedule to end the season.

Nick’s Picks: MU 69, OU 64.  And KU 86, Texas Tech, 71.

March 3 actual scores: OSU 77,  KSU 71.

Agree? Disagree?  Email Nick about it at ngriffith@hearst.com.

Nick’s Picks: March 3 — KSU vs. OSU

Nick’s Prediction:

OSU 79, KSU 71.

Pick For The Week Of Feb. 23: KU vs. OU

Nick went 4-0 with his picks last week. This week, he’s focusing on just one game, the Kansas Jayhawks at Oklahoma.

Big Monday score: 0U 77, KU 70.

Now, Nick made his picks before finding out that Blake Griffin will not be playing in the game. So keep that in mind when the game’s final score is posted.

Agree or disagree with Nick, we want to hear your responses at ngriffith@hearst.com.

Picks For The Week Of Feb. 12

The picks:

Feb 18:
Iowa State: 57, # 15 Kansas: 83

Feb 21:
Kansas State: 75, Iowa State: 71
Missouri: 86, Colorado: 70
Texas: 71, Oklahoma: 64

Do you agree with Nick? Email him at ngriffith@hearst.com to tell him where he got it right, or where he got it wrong.