With the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 coming up for both the men’s and women’s tournaments, let’s throw together a combined parlay that gives elite guard play the edge in March.
On the women’s side, expect Notre Dame’s guard duo of Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo to easily defeat TCU, while in the men’s Sweet 16, Florida should roll past the inconsistent Maryland side.
Maryland won their Round of 32 game at home against Alabama 111-108. Yes, that is a college basketball score, not an NBA score. The Terps have a potential lottery pick in Shyanne Sellers (14.5 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3.7 RPG) and have three players shooting the three-ball at a 35% clip or better.
I had the pleasure of watching this Maryland squad play against Syracuse in the early portion of this season and they are fast, big, and can dominate opponents on the offensive end.
Maryland lost to USC by 5, beat Duke by 5, and lost to UCLA by 15. South Carolina should win this ball game, but I expect Maryland’s scoring attack to keep this Sweet 16 matchup close.
Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, and Sonia Citron will be starters in the WNBA. They have dominated in March so far, defeating Michigan with an all-around effort on both sides of the ball to place their ticket in the Sweet 16.
They take on a top-heavy TCU team led by Hailey Van-Lith (17.7 PPG). With Notre Dame’s elite defensive duo of Miles and Hidalgo (5.1 SPG combined), and their elite 3PT shooting at 39.5% as a team this season, Notre Dame should run away with the win here and get a much-anticipated matchup between either Texas or Tennessee in the Elite 8.
Sorry, Terps fans, but two Sweet 16 exits will take place this week. The men’s team has a chance to beat Florida with the momentum built up from Derik Queen’s last-second winner against Colorado State.
However, as we saw in that game, they simply aren’t consistent or deep enough to compete with the most complete team in college basketball. Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin, and Will Richard are playing the best basketball of their careers, and that shouldn’t stop them against Maryland. Gators win big here.
Tom Izzo doesn’t lose these types of games. After a horrendous shooting performance from their best offensive player in Jase Richardson, the Spartans still were able to beat New Mexico with elite defense and rebounding down the stretch.
Against an Ole Miss team that won’t be used to the type of physicality Michigan State plays with (especially on the offensive side of the ball), I think Sparty will get the Rebels into foul trouble early and come away with a low-scoring victory and punch their Elite 8 ticket.