Clemson has a reasonable chance to get to the Sweet 16. Vandy will be a tough but not equal opponent.
Davidson will be a good "upset" pick.
Please make all comments about the Midwest Regional, being played in Detroit, in this thread.
Kansas, G'town, Wisc, Vandy
--Jason "I know the pairings don't come out until 6pm ET, but I wanted these to be out there early so we would not get a mad rush of new threads in the moments after the pairings are announced" Evans
Last edited by -jk; 03-16-2008 at 06:19 PM. Reason: added top 4 seeds
Clemson has a reasonable chance to get to the Sweet 16. Vandy will be a tough but not equal opponent.
Davidson will be a good "upset" pick.
This region is loaded!
I don't see a challenger to KU before the round of 8.
Wisconsin could be gone in round 2. USC is tough.
I am looking forward to Gonzaga-Davidson--that should be a great game.
Why'd they have to put G-town in this region? I was already counting down the days to the UNC-Kansas showdown in the national semis. G-town's going to complicate that significantly.
Oh well, a girl can always dream...
Loving the Mayo-Beasley matchup in the first round
And if you're Kansas, you don't want to play Clemson..
Let the bandwagon begin to be filled up...
Gonzaga is really tough though and skilled, so we shouldnt get too carried away.
I am struggling with Kansas...how to evaluate them after they blew it in the tournament last year.
I LOVE the USC-Kansas St first round matchup. That is going to be HUGE game with lots of firepower. I think both of these teams can do some damage if they play to their potential. I like whoever wins that to take down Wisconsin. Do they have the times of the games up yet?
I guess CBS has to cherry pick their big time matchups then let the rest fall where they may. I would imagine USC-KSt will get some hype though.
Mayo will probably be chucking up everything to leap into the #1 pick. I could see that going poorly.
Um, most people on this board are glad Duke is playing in DC, where we actually have a more favorable fan base than in Raleigh with UNC on the card.
And, for the record, Gtown has played a better last third of its schedule than Duke has. No way they would be a 2 seed based on the first third of their schedule. Duke's the team that peaked early this year, not Gtown.
And Gtown's overall strength of schedule - remember, they played 18 conference games to Duke's 16 - ranks 36th, not as strong as Duke's 14 but comparable to UNC's 32 and Wisconsin's 37, and a lot better than Memphis's 75th.
I thought the original poster's point was (1) Duke should be playing in Raleigh instead of Gtown, and (2) Gtown got its high seed because of a weak first-third of its schedule.
I fully agree that the first third of Gtown's schedule was weak (in part because Michigan and Alabama both turned out to be dogs). But I think they earned their high seed on the strength of what they did later. The soft OOC schedule had absolutely nothing to do with it. I also think a soft OOC schedule can be discounted at least slightly if a team has to play 18 in-conference games, unlike ACC schools. By the end of the season, Gtown's strength of schedule was about the same as UNC's.
As a Wisconsin fan, I can't be too pleased with the draw as a reward for a 29-4 season, and I agree that they can lose to USC, or possibly K-State, in the second round. But I think they are presented with some very interesting match-ups. I particularly like the coaching match-ups with Bo Ryan against Floyd/Martin, JTIII and Self. Nobody is in more of a groove right now doing what they do than Wisconsin. They led the nation in scoring defense at down around 51 ppg, and I think it will be very difficult for any team to go over 65-70 on them. They are the most balanced team in the country, and don't go into the tourney with the same handicap of last year -- being completely reliant on Alando Tucker's offense. Team chemistry is off the charts.
USC is a real tournament wild card - clearly they have the talent to play with the very best, as evidenced by victories over UCLA and Stanford as well as a pair of very close loses to Memphis and Kansas... but this is a team with a fragile phyche that likes it when things are coming easy but struggles when faced with any adversity.
For example-- they got blown out twice by Washington State. WSU is known for playing tough, hard-nosed D and that frustrated USC. How will USC react if they face tough D in the Dance?
By the way, the committee had to know they were picking a prime-time featured game when they matched USC with Kansas State -- Beasley vs. Mayo. Wanna bet Mayo comes out insanely pumped for that game?
--Jason "CBS is gonna make USC-Kansas State a real feature, I bet" Evans
Kansas lost to UCLA in San Jose in the Elite Eight on a day they were banking in 22-footers. Honestly, I think Kansas beats UCLA maybe 3 or 4 times out of 10 last year. Maybe about the same this year. So, I don't know about "blowing" it.
It's been a couple of years since Kansas really blew it... A loss to Kent State or UNLV would be really blowing it. A loss to Portland State would be hari kari time.
Oh, and thanks to Jason for noticing that Kansas beat USC. Dennis Dodd has an article up suggesting USC was one of our three losses. Silly little things like facts get in the way for Mizzou grads sometime.
I have added a poll to this thread, to see how folks think this region will turn out.
-Jason
Count me in for K-St v. USC - should be a great game!