5 bold predictions for the Sweet 16

As we enter into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, we've had our fair share of surprises, though many of the teams which have made it here might be considered 'chalk' for a lot of people. UCLA and N.C. State seem to be the biggest surprises, though more than a few brackets probably lost some points to Wichita State and Michigan State.

I was happy to ride the Shocker Bandwagon this far and have thought the Spartans were being underrated but patting myself on the back doesn't make up for missing the boat on the Bruins and relying on Villanova not to choke, which they did.

I've put together some predictions for this next round of games, with an eye towards the details, and while trying to make whatever I've typed look sane. So despite these being 'bold predictions' I'm not picking against Kentucky just to be 'bold' because 'bold' doesn't mean 'ridiculous.'

That's not to say West Virginia can't beat Kentucky-just that after looking at all the details around that game I couldn't talk myself into one I found probable.

With that as my baseline (let's try and keep it smart was the tagline over bagels this morning), I tried to look not just at who might win or lose but who will play well both as a team or individually. 'Bold' is a relative word (some of you will think everything is and others will think nothing is) but I tried to take the road less traveled, assuming that road wasn't one I needed to talk myself into 'just because.'

So these predictions cover everything -- some are upsets, some are not, some are performances and some are team performances.

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