A look at the West Region for the 2017 NCAA Bracket.
Every March, college basketball fans look to fill out their NCAA Bracket. It even brings together people who aren’t consistent viewers of the sport. This could be through office pools or just a group of friends wanting to join in to pick that next double-digit seed to go to the Sweet 16.
In the NCAA Bracket, there are four regions made up of 16 teams (once the First Four games are completed) — East, Midwest, South and West. Each region eventually sends one team to the Final Four, but not before having to go through at least four games to get there.
ESPN is projecting the 2017 West Region to be led by Gonzaga with a No. 1 seed. Oregon would be at No. 2, with Florida State, Purdue and Florida being the next three seeds in that order.
The West Region#SelectionSunday pic.twitter.com/EcA8GbNaYd
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 12, 2017
The West Region has been one of the most exciting parts of the bracket in recent years, including in 2016. This region produced the memorable Yale team as a No. 12 seed. They upset No. 5 Baylor, making for a fun opening weekend story.
In the next round, Yale looked to be underdogs again by taking on Duke, the 2015 champions. The Bulldogs put up a fight, but lost, 71-64.
The rest of the West Region saw things play out as expected into the Sweet 16. This had No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Duke in. Oregon defeated Duke and Oklahoma topped Texas A&M to get to the Elite Eight.
The Final Four representative from the West Region would be the Sooners. However, they got trounced by Villanova, 95-51 in a game that never came close.
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In the 2017 NCAA Bracket, we’ll potentially get a more exciting Final Four game from the West Region. Better games under bigger spotlights always make for a more intriguing end to the tournament, so we’ll see what happens when we get to the 2017 Final Four in a few weeks.