Midwest region, unlocked and loaded.
1. Louisville
2. Michigan St.
3. Kansas
4. Wake Forest
5. Utah
6. WVU
7. Boston College
8. Ohio St.
9. Siena
10. USC
11. Dayton
12. Arizona
13. Cleveland St.
14. North Dakota St.
15/16. Robert Morris, AlabamaSt/MoreheadSt
Discuss the Midwest Region here. What upsets do you see? What interesting matchups? Who will go to the Final Four?
Midwest region, unlocked and loaded.
Go Wake!!!!!!
Lou won the regular season and tournament in the Big East. I'd haaaaate to match up with their D and athleticism.
Wake hasn't played to well away from home. Lou will win.
Louisville will win this bracket.
I LOVE the BC/USC matchup. That might be the best opening round game.
Wake DOES have a nice draw... lets see what they are made of.
This may be the weakest region. I see UL and WVU in a showdown for the Final Four.
It's tough to have much faith in Wake. They get up for the big games, but not the rest.
Mich St...hmmmm...not so great and lots of injuries.
Louisville looks like the real deal this year. Athleticism, great D, easy transition buckets.
After Louisville I think the top seeds in this bracket are all very vulnerable. I wouldn't be surprised to see Louisville playing West Virginia in the regional final. Michigan State and BC will be a heck of a second round matchup.
Cleveland State pulled the upset at Syracuse earlier this year but is just awful offensively; Wake may have gotten a break there.
Personally, I think Wake could present a nightmare for the Cardinals in Round 2.
Michigan State isn't nearly as bad as Phelps says. BC could be a tough game for them but I would expect them to get to an absolute toss-up against KU.
Personally, I really think this sets up well for Wake if they can get themselves back together. I'd be concerned with them holding up under Lousiville's pressure, but their bigs will give Louisville fits.
dukemsu
The Ville will cruise to the Final Four. They trailed at the half in the last two games of their tourney only to come roaring back in the second half. That tells me they made the proper adjustments (coaching) and they wore the other team down (superior depth).
Wake has been exposed and only several hot shooting games from Teague will give them any hope of reaching a Final Four.
I actually think this might be the toughest region.
Louisville and Michigan State are strong 1 and 2 seeds. Michigan State is a balanced team that has played very well since getting their big man back. Moreover, they won the Big Ten handily and the Big Ten is a strong conference this year. We barely beat them in the Challenge and they are #2 in the RPI. Watch out for the Spartans -- they can really do some damage this year.
In addition to a strong top line, this bracket is tough because there are so many lower seeded teams that can cause the upset:
- WVa, definitely the most dangerous 6 seed in the tournament. This is an underrated, well coached team that defeated Pitt in the Big East tournament. If I was Kansas I'd be sweating a potential match against WVa. This is the one 6 seed I did NOT want to see in Duke's bracket.
- Boston College are proven giant killers and Michigan State may have to face them in the second round! Yikes. I'm sure Louisville fans will be doing a lot of cheering that game.
- Is there any more difficult 4 seed than Wake Forest? This is a team formerly ranked #1 in the nation! Louisville would have a very difficult time getting past them in the Sweet 16 should they meet. If Wake plays with maturity (i.e. not like a freshman team as they did in the ACC tourney), they have a reasonable chance of winning this entire region.
- Finally, the easiest 5-12 upset pick for me is Utah-Arizona. Arizona is a team with two first round NBA draft talent. They should win and give Wake a brief scare before folding.
This is a tough, tough region. I wouldn't want Duke to be Michigan State in this bracket. About the only weak thing in this region is Kansas as a 3 seed, and even then, the defending champs aren't exactly chopped liver.
I think Wake deserved better than a 4 seed. IMO, they're better than most, if not all, of the 3 seeds. Finishing second in the strongest conference deserves more credit than a 4 seed. I hope Wake shows the country just how strong the ACC was/is this year.
down...out
They either deserved a bid on Sunday or they didn't. Their performance tonight does nothing to change the merits of the initial decision.
Vitale made a big stink in 2003 about Auburn getting an invitation, and then fell all over himself apologizing to the Tigers when they made the Sweet 16 (losing by 1 to Syracuse). The sad thing for Dick was that he was right the first time, and should have either shut up about it or stuck to his guns.
looks like a major flame-out.
...and I agree completely. As I was watching the end of the game and the announcers talk about what Arizona has "proved" I was thinking that the most enjoyable moments of the tourney so far for me have been Duke's win, and the close games CS Northridge, ND State, American, and ETSU gave higher seeded - and obviously better - teams.
Arizona beating Utah doesn't even register on my radar screen as far as enjoyment goes.
Seth Davis is on this message about this not proving AZ belonged in the tournament also.
I think the hugger-muggers from WVa showed their true colors tonight - a white flag! I've never even been to Dayton, but I was pulling for them tonight. Go Flyers! The most interesting part of the game was that, near the end, Jerry West's youngest son was put in for WVa. I don't recall that he distinguished himself.