Halfway Through March Madness

This year's NCAA championship is, unsurprisingly, going to be a fight between top teams. The lowest seed left in the tournament is Auburn, seeded 5th, and they proved formidable against second-seeded Kentucky. Crowd favorite Duke fell to the Michigan State Spartans by just one point on Sunday, ruining a number of brackets. Michigan will go on to face first-time Final Four participant Texas Tech on Saturday. The Texas Raiders took out top seed Gonzaga last weekend in a vigorous game that included 12 lead changes and neither team leading by more than six until the last minute. This
makes their match against the Spartans all the more interesting. On the heels of a surprising upset against Kentucky, the Auburn Tigers have shown their teeth and will definitely be bringing their A-game against the top-seeded Cavaliers on Saturday. 

This year's Final Four is proving to be a strange occurrence. Texas and Auburn have never made it this far in the tournament before and Virginia has only been here twice; once in 1981 and again in 1984. Michigan State comes in as the veteran team, making its tenth appearance in the Final Four and has a championship under its belt from 2000. The team is still coached by Tom Izzo, who led the Spartans to their 2000 title. Texas Tech may have bested Gonzaga, but neither team had much experience at that point of the tournament. The Raiders' lack of experience may prove their downfall against Michigan, considering Coach Izzo has made 22 NCAA appearances, equal to the other three coaches combined.

Virginia and Auburn both struggled in their Elite Eight games, suggesting Saturday's game will come down to the wire. Auburn has played with a free-wheeling style throughout the tournament, scoring 49 three-pointers throughout the tournament. They are third in the country when it comes to the number of three-pointers scored per game; Virginia ranks 103rd.

The tournament started with several NBA draft prospects, yet only two of ESPN's latest list of top 20 NBA draft prospects will appear this weekend: Virginia's DeAndre Hunter (5) and Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver (6). 

The SportsLine Project Model has proven effective this year, calling 14 of the Sweet 16 and predicted Auburn's defeat of Kentucky in the Elite Eight. Those betting on the tournament who followed the model are doing well.