WEST REGIONAL: Salt Lake City – March 25 & 27
Buffalo (Fri.):
1. Syracuse
16. Vermont
8. Gonzaga
9. Florida St.
San Jose (Thu.):
5. Butler
12. UTEP
4. Vanderbilt
13. Murray St.
Milwaukee (Fri.):
6. Xavier
11. Minnesota
3.Pittsburgh
14. Oakland
Oklahoma City (Thu.):
7. BYU
10. Florida
2. Kansas St.
15. North Texas
OVERVIEW: Most experts believe that Syracuse wasn’t deserving of their #1 seed, but despite the fact that they lost early in their conference tournament, they were the best overall team throughout the season in what was arguably the toughest conference this year. The debate between if West Virginia was better was settled on Selection Sunday with Syracuse being the lone Big East team with a top seed. What will be the question is if they can continue to win and for how long without key starter Arinze Onuaku. In the first round, the Orange face the America East champs, the Vermont Catamounts. If you can remember, not too far back in 2005 a #14 seed Vermont upset Hakim Warrick’s Syracuse squad. But it’s probably not going to happen again this year. Awaiting Syracuse, though, is the winner of the always exciting 8/9 matchup between Gonzaga and Florida St. Although Gonzaga has played a better out-of-conference schedule, look for the Seminoles to take the win in this game but to fall to the Orange in the second round.
#5 Butler and #12 UTEP is another great game. UTEP was the regular season champion in the C-USA but was upset in the conference tournament championship by Houston. They are led by Derrick Character, the former Louisville player who averages a solid 13.8 points and 8 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs have plenty of experience against tough opponents this season, such as wins against Ohio St. and Xavier and close losses to Clemson and Minnesota, all four being NCAA teams. #4 Vanderbilt should have no problem against #13 Murray St but I see them falling in an “upset” to Butler.
In the bottom half of the bracket, we have #6 Xavier and #11 Minnesota in an interesting game. Minnesota did beat both Michigan St. and Purdue in the Big Ten tournament, but they were largely inconsistent this season and it showed in their lopsided losses. Xavier should move on to the second round. There, barring an upset by #14 Oakland, they will face #3 Pittsburgh. The Panthers were another inconsistent team this season, at one point winning 7 straight, then losing 4 out of 5, only to go on another short winning streak. In the end they lost to a Notre Dame team in the Big East Tournament in which they only put up 45 points. Look for Jordan Crawford, who averages 20 points a game, to lead the Musketeers past Pittsburgh to the Sweet 16.
#7 BYU faces #10 Florida, in a game where Florida doesn’t necessarily belong in the tournament. Yes, they did beat Michigan St. early in the year, but so did Texas and North Carolina. Where are they now? They could not beat Mississippi St. when it mattered, a team that was likely more deserving of the bid but ended up going to the NIT, as well as losing to Georgia and South Carolina, teams that didn’t even make it to the NIT. BYU averages 83 points a game compared to the Gators 71 a game. If the same Florida team that showed up to beat Michigan St. and Tennessee comes to play, they will win. But most likely, the team that shows up will be the team that has lost 4 of their past 5 and 6 of their past 10. Cougars win this win and send the Gators packing early.
Kansas St. is likely the most dangerous team in the whole bracket. When they are clicking, they are hard to beat and they give many teams fits, just ask Kansas. They are very well balanced, and are led by Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, their two starting guards who average a combined 17.5 a game. Look for them to head straight to Salt Lake City and meet Syracuse in the Regional Finals. This will be a very tough game, but Syracuse’s zone defense will be hard to beat even with Kansas St.’s guards. Their defense, along with their inside and outside scoring, and transition offense will pull the Syracuse Orange Indianapolis with the chance to cut down nets.
Sweet 16:
1. Syracuse vs. 5. Butler
2. Kansas St. vs. 6. Xavier
Elite 8:
1. Syracuse vs. 2. Kansas St.
Regional Champ: Syracuse
Possible Upsets:
6. Xavier over 3. Pittsburgh
5. Butler over 4. Vanderbilt
9. Florida St. over 8. Gonzaga
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