Keys to Winning in the NCAA Tournament

So what does it take for a team to make a long run in March? I have broken it down into 5 Categories (order is not of particular relevance):

1 - Free Throw Percentage - there is only 1 team in NCAA Tournament (NCAAT) history to win a NCAA Tournament game without making a free throw.(Michigan vs. Tennessee in 2011 NCAAT Second Round) If that isn't a stat to tell you how important it is then I don't know what is.

2 - Rebounds - Teams have off nights game in and game out; however, if tonight is the night that your off night is occurring then your boys better be hitting the glass and cleaning up all those bricks or you will see yourself on a one-way ticket back home.

3 - 3 Point Percentage - They don't make a saying for no reason. "Live by the 3 and die by the 3". It's a way of life and also the great equalizer for a lot of teams that lack size.

4 - Field Goal Percentage - If we are talking about sayings then you can't forget, "Defense wins Championships." Offense wins you games in the regular season (no matter the sport: Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, NFL), but defense wins in the post season. 

5 - Assist-to-Turnover Ratio - What kills momentum? What drives coaches up the wall? Turnovers. You have to value the possession of the basketball in order for the above categories to become relevant and move on in the hope of making it to the Final Four.

Below will be a summary of each team's statistics for all the categories above.  Also, the statistics below will be from games that were played on a Neutral Site bias, since all NCAAT games are not played on any teams so-called home court.

Using that information, I will conclude with providing predictions on what you can expect and who I think will advance to the weekend and just be one win away from the Final Four.

In the upcoming posts, each of the 8 match-ups will be analyzed.