SOUTH
No. 1 Seed: Kentucky
Potential Cinderella: No. 12 Virginia Commonwealth
The South is the consensus toughest quarter of the bracket,
with three teams (UK, Duke, Baylor) who spent most of the year inside the top
ten of the polls. The selection committee didn’t do Kentucky any favors, at
least with their possible Elite Eight matchup with one of those powerhouses.
Before that, UK might have to go through VCU. The Rams are one year removed
from one of the most impressive underdog runs we’ve ever seen, as head coach
Shaka Smart led them to the Final Four as an 11-seed. They’re regular season r?sum?is
just as unimpressive as last year, but there’s no reason to think they can’t
make another deep run into the Tournament. Heck, we just saw Butler make the
championship game two years in a row, why not VCU?
WEST
No. 1 Seed: Michigan State
Potential Cinderella: No. 7 Florida
This section has the makings of several third round
(formerly second round) upsets, with No. 4 Louisville, No. 6 Murray State, and
No. 7 Florida all coming in under-seeded. Louisville scorched through the Big
East Tournament, winning four games in four days and bringing back memories of
eventual-champion UConn’s five-in-five run last year. Murray State romped over
inferior competition on their way to a 30-1 record, but don’t rule out the
Racers for a couple of early-round wins. And the Gators have more than enough
talent to raise a ruckus against Mizzou in the third round. They lost by less
than 7 to three top 4 teams over the year, so they are certainly capable of
hanging with the big dogs.
EAST
No. 1 Seed: Syracuse
Potential Cinderella: No. 8 Kansas State
The good news is that Wisconsin got a relatively easy draw
of teams in their “foursome.” None of Vanderbilt, Harvard or Montana should be
able to adjust to the Badgers’ extreme slow-down game. After that, however, the
Badgers would need a miracle to oust top-seeded Syracuse. ‘Cuse had just one
loss during the regular season, and made it through the entire Big East
Conference schedule unscathed (until the Big East Tournament). On the lower
part of the East bracket, Ohio State and Florida State have a relatively easy
road to their Sweet Sixteen matchup, but that should be one of the best games
of the whole Tournament.
MIDWEST
No. 1 Seed: North Carolina
Potential Cinderella: No. 11 North Carolina State
In what looks like the weakest (and probably the most boring)
quarter, there seems to be little resistance to a looming UNC-Kansas Elite
Eight matchup. The selection committee played a cruel trick on NC State, as
they were the very last bid announced Sunday evening. The Wolfpack came out of
their semifinal loss in the ACC Tournament with a spark, so hopefully they can
provide some underdog magic in the first couple rounds. Another intriguing
storyline could come this Sunday, if UNC and No. 8 Creighton take care of
business in their first games. Swingman Harrison Barnes of the Tar Heels played
alongside Bluejays’ star Doug McDermott in high school, winning two Iowa state
championships. Now Barnes is a future NBA lottery pick and McDermott posted
more than 23 points and eight rebounds per game this year. It would be very
interesting to see these two sharing the same court again.