2017 NCAA Tournament: West Region Capsule
The 2017 NCAA Tournament brackets are out! The brackets are out! The NCAA tournament is the single greatest spectacle in American Sports. Yeah, the World Series is fun to watch, but it rarely has the chaos involved in the NCAA tournament. Daytona 500? Yeah, it’s a historic event, but they are still driving in a circle. The Super Bowl? Don’t even get me started on what a farce that is. The first four days of the NCAA tournament are better than any drama anywhere for the rest of the year! Enjoy it!
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For those of you that do the bracket games, I will unveil all of my picks by Wednesday night. For those of you that play the round by round games, I will also put my picks out there after every round as well. There will be something for everyone!
In the preview, I will give you a favorite, and dark horse team (which would be a four seed or higher than could win the region),a team to watch for, overseeded and underseeded teams, and of course, a double digit seed most likely to win one or more games.
Up next is the West regional!
Favorite: Gonzaga. The Bulldogs lost just one game all year. That was to BYU about three weeks ago. They were rewarded with a one seed, which I don’t really disagree with. However, they beat the two seed in this region (Arizona) earlier in the season. They got arguably the easiest draw despite being no stronger than the third overall team heading in.
Watch out for: Florida State. The Seminoles are one of the most talented teams in the field this year. They beat seven teams ranked in the top 25 this season, and can play with anyone. Florida State got a really good draw here. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for them to make the Final Four.
Dark Horse: West Virginia. The Mountaineers are relentless on defense. They are like the old “40 Minutes Of Hell” teams that Nolan Richardson had at Arkansas. They aren’t a high scoring team, and are prone to extended droughts on offense, but they have the defense to lock down anyone in this region.
Begging To Be Upset: Maryland. The Terps have lost four of their last six, which likely affected their seeding. They still may be too high. They have a tough draw in Xavier. Perhaps the only thing going Maryland’s way is the fact that they haven’t lost in the first round in 20 years.
Overseeded: Gonzaga. Hey, just because they are the best team in this region doesn’t mean that another team wouldn’t have been better served as a one seed. The only other one that really has a legitimate gripe is Duke, and with Kansas being the second overall seed, you can’t hardly throw them in the West. Gonzaga got this seed based on location, which is fine. The point is that no one is really overseeded here.
Underseeded: Notre Dame. The Irish beat the three seed in this region not once, but twice during the regular season! The Irish finished second in the ACC, and really shouldn’t be punished for losing to eventual ACC tournament Champion Duke. Not only that, but they get a tough 12 in Princeton.
Cinderella: Vanderbilt. They have some bad losses, but the Commodores beat Florida three times. Northwestern did not get a good draw in their first ever NCAA tournament berth. The Commodores have a legitimate chance at taking down Gonzaga if they can shake the Wildcats.
Next: DraftKings Picks For March 13
Come back for all of the regional capsules, the picks for the First Four, and of course, the bracket picks!