@Riggins44 I would agree with your assessment that it has been a good tournament so far. Since we are on the cusp of the next round I figured I could preview the teams / matchups coming up:
#1 UConn vs #5 San Diego St
UConn is the obvious choice here as the start 3 White athletes who are all amongst their top players. Clingan, Spencer and Karaban. San Diego St should be dangerous as a Final 4 team last year but only have one White athlete in the rotation (Heide, a freshman who gets very limited action).
#3 Illinois vs #2 Iowa St
Illinois have a top star in Marcus Domask (a nice transfer up from Southern Illinois) and a key reserve guard Luke Goode. Iowa State only has Milan Momcilovic, but he's really good for a true freshman. Slight edge here to Illinois.
#1 North Carolina vs #4 Alabama
UNC starts former ND guard Cormac Ryan and occasionally uses reserve guard Paxson Wijcik. Alabama starts the very solid Grant Nelson at forward and brings talented freshman reserve Sam Walters off the bench. Sort of a push but I'd favor Bama if I had to choose.
#6 Clemson vs #2 Arizona
Clemson starts 3 White athletes who are all key to their success. PJ Hall is their best player and an athletic big man who can do a little of everything. Schieffelin is a great rebounder and hard nosed glue guy. Girard is a transfer guard from Syracuse who's a good shooter who can score in bunches. Arizona starts the very talented Swedish guard Pelle Larsson. Sadly, beyond him they only give limited minutes to Lithuanian freshman center Krivas. They have another Lithuanian and a Serb if they have to go deeper into the bench. The Tigers scoring another upset would be the best result for us.
#1 Houston vs #4 Duke
Houston does not play White athletes. Duke's star player is sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski. Senior reserve forward Ryan Young is in the rotation. If they have to go deeper, freshman TJ Power gets some burn. Easy choice of Duke here.
#11 NC State vs #2 Marquette
The Wolfpack have got hot at the right time, winning the ACC tourney to get in and now advancing past the first weekend. They start 1 White athlete in senior Stanford transfer guard Michael O'Connell. They also give good minutes to Clemson transfer forward Ben Middlebrooks. Marquette starts star point guard Tyler Kolek who's one of the best in the country. Off the bench, New Zealander Ben Gold provides solid shooting. I prefer Marquette as Kolek is a star and NCST's guys are more role player types.
#1 Purdue vs #5 Gonzaga
Purdue starts 2.5 White athletes who are well known here. Edey, Smith and Loyer. All great players. Off the bench, freshman Camden Heide is a reserve forward who's getting more burn. If they have to go deeper, Ethan Morton, Caleb Furst, Brian Waddell or Will Berg could get the call. The Zags only start 1 White athlete, forward Ben Gregg, who's been playing great lately. Off the bench, Braden Huff and Dusty Stromer are in the short rotation. The Zags are not a terrible choice but Purdue is elite and are one of the most White friendly programs in the country.
#3 Creighton vs #
2 Tennessee
The Bluejays are perhaps the best team for our guys as they start 4 White athletes. Center Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of the best big men in the country and has been a rock for 4 years at Creighton. Baylor Scheierman is a 5th year senior (taking advantage of the COVID year) who leads the Jays in scoring and is a great all around player. This is his 2nd year with Creighton after starting off at South Dakota St. Steven Ashworth, a transfer from Utah State, is another veteran senior who provides outside shooting and hustle. Mason Miller is the only underclassmen and fills the role of glue guy at forward. Argentine Francisco Farabello is the first guard off the bench. Isaac Traudt is a freshman big who can spell Kalkbrenner when needed. Tennessee starts Dalton Knecht the SEC Player of the Year. He's a pretty amazing story, transferring up from Northern Colorado to dominate a top conference. Senior Uruyguayan Santiago Vescovi has had a down year but still provides veteran leadership as the starting PG. Off the bench, freshman big JP Estrella occasionally gets called upon. Shame these two matchup here as I'd pull for the Volunteers over most but not one of my favorites in Creighton. Go Jays!
So out of 16 teams, there are 5 that I would strongly support. On the other extreme, Houston and San Diego State are odious. Every other team has one or two good reasons to watch.