It’s been awhile since a team with such prestige was stuck in a play-in game. UCLA shouldn’t have been in this position, but they failed to beat very beatable teams late in the season. They weren’t playing their best basketball at the end of the year.

St. Bonaventure found themselves in this tough spot by overlooking Davidson in the semifinals of their conference tournament. They would have solidly been in the regular field as they were on a long winning streak up until that game.

Can either one of these teams be a real threat to the Florida Gators in the first round?

Who do you think will win? 

Who do you have: St. Bonaventure or UCLA?

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies (I love that name) finished second in the Atlanta 10 regular season. Everyone thought they would end up facing Rhode Island in the tournament final, but Davidson upset the Bonnies in the semifinal. St. Bonaventure now finds themselves in a play-in game. They have one of the best back-courts in the field. Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley are good shooters and the offense runs through them. 

UCLA started out the season with the whole China debacle and lost some players due to suspension. This freed up a spot for Aaron Holiday to become a beast. The Bruins have had way more success with the Holiday brothers than the Ball brothers…and they gave them way less hassle. UCLA is well-coached, but a tad inconsistent. They were swept by Colorado and couldn’t seem to stop Oregon’s offense at all. Also, head coach Steve Alford has missed having a dependable perimeter shooter on the wing.

Here’s the deal with UCLA…if Aaron Holiday struggles with his shot, they don’t have much of a second-option. Sure, Thomas Welsh will get his buckets, but Holiday will just keep shooting. St. Bonaventure’s guards can all defend well. This could be a huge problem for UCLA. I’m taking the Bonnies to win the play-in game and go on to play Florida.

Prediction: #11 St. Bonaventure Bonnies

**Check out the rest of our NCAA Tournament picks** 

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.