Written by Robert Weihofen
March means spring is right around the corner, but it also means something else: the NCAA Basketball tournament for Division I schools. 68 teams will be competing to win it all: the championship game on April 7th in Arlington, Texas. On March 20th, the real fun began with a full slate of games getting underway.
There are two ways to get into the tournament. One, win our conference tournament and get an automatic bid to the big dance, but this only gets us 32 teams. The last 36 spots are doled out as “at-large” bids and the selection committee then looks at a team’s record, strength of schedule, bad losses, good wins and more. With Selection Sunday over and the field set, now let us take a look at the breakdown of the tournament, some intriguing teams, and who could make it to the Final Four.
The Midwest region is one of the toughest regions with number one seeded Wichita St, who had the perfect season with a record of 34-0, including their conference tournament. Many people are saying they have been over ranked and hyped the whole season, but as a Final Four team last year they are out to prove people wrong. The problem is, their region hosts three of last year’s four Final Four teams, including them, and it is hard to see them making a run like they did again. Top teams they could face include, Duke, Michigan, Louisville, and possibly Kentucky in the round of 32. The fact is the Midwest region is so top heavy it is hard to see a seed lower than 4 making the trip to Austin. Duke and Michigan seem to be favored in this region, and they would meet in the Sweet 16 if they both made it. As long as they do not beat the other up to badly, one of these two teams should be making the trip down to Austin, but do not count Louisville out to make another run, as they are the defending National Champions.
In the East region, Virginia, who went on a tear in the ACC this year gets the number one seed. The Cavilers played their best basketball in years this season only losing one conference game all year and taking the ACC Championship from the team favored to win, Duke. Villanova got the two seed in this region after losing early in the Big East tournament to Seton Hall, a team that did not even make the big dance. Villanova will have to fight if they want to make it far this year. Two other teams to take a close look at in this region are Michigan St and Harvard, yes Harvard. Harvard is a twelve seed, but remember last year they beat New Mexico in the first round and stunned everyone. Look for them to put up a fight again this year. Michigan St had some mid-season problems, but that did not stop them from taking the BIG Ten Title from rival Michigan. State is playing their best basketball right now, and a fully healthy team could be very hard to stop. Look for them or Virginia to be taking the trip to Arlington from this region.
The West Region has Arizona as the top seed, a team that has been at the top for most of the year. This region has a lot of interesting teams including Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Creighton, Baylor and Wisconsin. Arizona will most likely not make the trip to Arlington with these teams that they could have to face. Baylor is a team that just about a month ago was on life support for the tournament and now they are in as a six seed, so look for them to make some noise. Oklahoma St has Marcus Smart back and roaring, but they could face their under ranked in start rivals Oklahoma which would make for probably one of the best tournament games if that happens. Wisconsin is the two seed and I think they could have a quick exit like last year. If they face a team who controls the pace and plays an up tempo game they are gone. This region is a toss-up, but look for Oklahoma St, Arizona or Creighton to make that trip to Arlington.
The final region is the South who holds the top number one seed in Florida. This is probably the toughest Region other than the Midwest, as it also has Ohio St, Kansas, VCU, UCLA, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Florida is going to have their hands full if they want to get back to the Final Four and win it all as they did in 2007. Kansas has been inconsistent this year, and if they face the zone of Syracuse they could face problems but the Orange are not scoring this year and Kansas is 22nd in the nation in scoring. Would be a great Sweet 16 game if it happened. VCU and UCLA are both teams that people look over, UCLA beat Arizona to win the Pac-12 title. Kansas or Florida should make the trip to Arlington from the South region.
Regardless of what happens, this year’s March Madness tournament is bound to be unpredictable and exciting. No matter who comes out on top, they will be considered a deserving winner.
