Arizona Wildcats Basketball: ZZ Staff NCAA Tournament Picks and Predictions

Mar 17, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Florida Gators team members watch the final moments of a game against the Mississippi Rebels during the championship game of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The Rebels beat the Gators 66-63. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

1. Who is your Final Four?

Brooks: #1 Louisville, #2 Ohio State, #3 Florida, #1 Indiana

Stamp: #1 Louisville, #2 Ohio St., #1 Indiana, #1 Kansas

Ceron: #3 Mich State, #1 Kansas, #1 Indiana, #2 Ohio State

Mueller: #1 Louisville, #2 Ohio State, #5 VCU, and #2 Miami.

Schmidt: #2 Duke, #5 Wisconsin, #2 Miami, #3 Florida

2. Who is your champion?

Brooks: #3 Florida

Stamp: #1 Louiseville

Pablo: #1 Indiana

Mueller: #1 Louisville

Schmidt: #3 Florida

3. Who is the dark horse of the Western Region?

Brooks: #8 Pittsburgh

Stamp: Not sure if you count a 5 seed as a dark horse but I say Wisconsin could easily come out of the West.

Ceron: #10 Iowa State

Mueller: #6 Arizona

Schmidt: I’d say Arizona if I wasn’t a Wildcat fan, but we all know what they are capable of. #8 Pitt.

4. Biggest potential upset in the western region?

Brooks: First round: #11 Belmont over #6 Arizona, further rounds: #8 Pitt over #1 Gonzaga

Stamp: #5 Wisconsin over the #1 Zags in the sweet 16

Ceron: #15 Iona over #2 Ohio State

Mueller: #5 Wisconsin over #1 Gonzaga

Schmidt: #13 Boise State/La Salle over #4 Kansas State

5. Arizona’s best case scenario

Brooks: Arizona finds a way to get past Ohio State, either on Mark Lyons back or with him giving up some of his role. Arizona finds a way past a Gonzaga team into the Final Four, where all bets are off.

Stamp: Arizona has the talent to come out of a weaker West bracket.

Ceron: West is the easiest region so they are in the best scenario. New Mexico is a talented bunch, but we beat them followed by Ohio State before heading to Atlanta.

Mueller: Final Four baby!

Schmidt: Arizona causes big upset against #2 Ohio State, and too hungover from such a great victory, falls to #5 Wisconsin or #1 Gonzaga for the ticket to Atlanta.

6. Arizona’s worst case scenario

Brooks: A sharpshooting Belmont team doesn’t just get the upset when it makes 65% of its shots, it beats Arizona by 15-20.

Stamp: Arizona has been inconsistent and could easily fall to a sharp shooting and hungry Belmont team.

Ceron: Belmont is always good in March and more and more upsets seem to happen with each year. AZ has been letting teams back into games late and giving up marquee wins unable to close. Could happen in any game, especially the first one.

Mueller: First round loss to Belmont.

Schmidt: Belmont is dangerous for sure, but Arizona outsizes them and advances to Saturday, where they fall to a #3 New Mexico team that matches up well agains the Wildcats and has a great resume.