Previewing the wild West Region for the NCAA Tournament
West Region
The West region is a fun mix of former great programs and blue-bloods with recent success. Florida and Maryland won championships in the early 2000s while St. Johns was great in the 80s and 90s.
Kansas has a recent title and UConn is the reigning champ, but a three-peat is not in their destiny, nor is a Final Four run in the cards for the Jayhawks.
Who wins the West: Florida
I’m going with chalk again, but if they can get past Maryland in the Sweet 16, I like their chances against whover comes out of the bottom half of this bracket. The Red Storm play great defense but their lack of shooting will catch up to them, keeping them from the Final Four.
Potential Upset #12 Colorado St over #5 Memphis
Want to see the Gopher interwebs catch fire? Watch the Rams take down the Tigers and all hell will break loose surrounding the Gopher’s coaching search. But really, CSU is a good team that is very capable of beating Memphis.
Drake is also an interesting one to watch, and if they weren’t playing Missouri, I’d probably pick them to win. But as long as Mizz boxes out, they should be fine in this game.
Players to Watch
This list starts and ends with Bennett Stirtz from Drake.
A year ago he was playing D2 basketball and now, as a junior, he was the Missouri Valley Player of the Year. He is a 6’4” guard who makes 38% of his threes and averages 19.1 points per game. Earlier in the year he had 21 against Miami, he had 22 against Kansas State and he struggled scoring against Vandy but still managed 16 points and 11 assists. He is exactly the kind of player who comes out of nowhere to become a name everyone will remember.
Elijah Hawkins is with Texas Tech and might be worth watching in the first round.
PrizePicks Lock: Alex Condon (FL) OVER 9.5 Rebounds
Norfolk doesn’t rebound very well and the 6’11” Condon should be able to rack up some rebounds.
I would also take Elijah Hawkins OVER 5.5 assists.
Intriguing later-round matchups
Florida and Maryland is going to be an interesting matchup (potentially). The Terps are a tough team who have been dealt some brutal losses this year. But if anybody in this bracket can knock out the Gators, it will be the Terps. This should actually be a great game.
Best Mascot
Antelopes of Grand Canyon are at least unique while the Florida Gator is a fun mascot.