The West Region of the 2017 NCAA Tournament offers plenty of intrigue, including a possible matchup between the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Arizona Wildcats in the Elite Eight.
It may not be the most difficult quadrant of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, but the West Region is ripe with potential storylines.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have their best team in school history and earned the No. 1 seed in the West, giving them a shot at their first Final Four. Standing in the way could be the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats, who have suffered heartbreaking defeats in the Elite Eight three times under head coach Sean Miller.
Further down the seed line, the No. 3 Florida State Seminoles have the talent, size and depth to make a run, yet haven’t been consistent this season. Fourth-seeded West Virginia and No. 5 Notre Dame are both outstanding but flawed teams that can challenge Gonzaga in a potential Sweet 16 matchup.
That’s not to mention No. 8 Northwestern, which will have a chance for its first tournament win in its opener against Vanderbilt. Here’s what to watch for in the West Region in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Who’s the No. 1 Seed?: Gonzaga
After compiling  a 32-1 regular season with a lone loss toe end the year against BYU, the Bulldogs held off Pac-12 champion Arizona for the No. 1 seed in the West Region.
The spot on the one line was well deserved, as the Bulldogs picked up neutral court wins over Iowa State, Florida and Arizona, all of whom are top five seeds. Gonzaga also dished out three of the four losses suffered on the year by Saint Mary’s, a team that is loved by advanced metrics and stayed in the AP top 25 all season long.
Many will doubt Gonzaga after it made a Second Round exit against Final Four-bound Wichita State the last time the Bulldogs were a No. 1 seed in 2013. These Bulldogs are much better and rank first in Ken Pomeroy’s overall efficiency ratings as the only team in the top 10 on both sides of the ball.
While there are a number of tough possible matchups starting in the Sweet 16, Gonzaga faces an easier path to the Final Four than some one seeds, particularly North Carolina and Kansas.
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Who’s on Upset Alert?: Maryland
For all the intrigue in the West Region, the first round appears to be a little chalky.
As great as South Dakota State’s Mike Daum is, Gonzaga is not losing to a 16 seed that ranks 307th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. West Virginia is a tempting pick due to questions about how the press-heavy style plays in March and issues at the free throw line, but is playing a not particularly strong 13 in Bucknell.
One massive upset that a few people will think about is Florida Gulf Coast to beat Florida State, as the Eagles are pretty strong for a 14, have a few outstanding athletes, and may even get a decent fan contingent in Orlando. Still, the Seminoles are a tough matchup for any mid-major due to their superior size and counteract Florida Gulf Coast’s preferred style perfectly.
Princeton would get more love as a potential upset pick had it not been playing an outstanding Notre Dame team, although it at least has a chance.  That leaves No. 11 Xavier over No. 6 Maryland as the most likely upset in the region’s First Round in a game that the Terrapins are barely favored in by Vegas anyway.
Xavier fell off the table after losing star point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL in January, but at least resembled its former self recently with a good win over Butler in the Big East Tournament. Maryland won a bunch of close games early before losing six of nine down the stretch, and is also dealing with a key injury to Michal Cekovsky.
KenPom actually has Xavier (40th) rated ahead of Maryland (45th) in overall adjusted efficiency despite being seeded five lines lower. Xavier’s interior defense is a massive concern, but the Musketeers themselves will be difficult for Maryland to stop and figure to dominate the glass.
Both teams have stars capable of carrying them to a victory in Melo Trimble and Trevon Bluiett, so the game could come down to which one has a particularly effective night.
Player to Watch: Lauri Markkanen
How far Arizona makes it in the 2017 NCAA Tournament will be highly dependent on freshman forward Lauri Markkanen, who can be an absolute matchup nightmare but has been inconsistent over the past few weeks.
At 7-foot-tall and 230 pounds, Markannen has great perimeter touch and beautiful shooting form for his size, helping him drop in 3-point shots at a clip of 42.3 percent this year. That coupled with explosive scorer Allonzo Trier allows Arizona to stretch the floor effectively, giving them a high ceiling on offense.
However, Markkanen has been all over the place recently, including an awful slump in early February. The Finnish phenom is not quite back to his earlier form but played well in the Pac-12 Tournament, although he did not attempt a perimeter shot in the title game against Oregon.
If Markkanen shoots as well as he did in the early stages of conference play, the Wildcats are in good shape for a Final Four run. Otherwise, potential games against Saint Mary’s, Florida State and Gonzaga could be tricky.
Team to Watch: Saint Mary’s
The seventh-seeded Gaels are one of the most difficult teams to project in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, as they have an impressive 28-4 record and grade out well in advanced metrics, but played a soft schedule.
Saint Mary’s is ranked 14th overall in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency with top 26 marks on both sides of the ball. Jock Landale is one of the most productive players in the nation and helped the Gaels to rank sixth in the nation in field goal percentage and first in defensive rebounding rate.
Those are traits more typical of a team headed to the second weekend than a seven seed. However, Saint Mary’s only real noteworthy wins are over Nevada and Dayton, and lost all three meetings to Gonzaga by double digits.
Getting by VCU, which is far from a given, would set up a likely meeting with Arizona in the second round. While the Wildcats would certainly be favored in that hypothetical matchup, Saint Mary’s could find some success on the interior against a good yet not elite Arizona defense that ranks 28th in adjusted efficiency.
The Gaels face a tough road, but have one of the best chances to reach the Sweet 16 and beyond for a team seeded seventh or lower. A fourth meeting with Gonzaga is even an outside possibility.
Predicted winner: Gonzaga
While there will be a number of competitive games along the way, Gonzaga will reach its first Final Four by taking down Arizona in the West final.
Following the South Dakota State game, the Bulldogs will face the winner of Vanderbilt and Northwestern. Vanderbilt is a slightly scary opponent due to its ability to get hot from the outside, but Gonzaga is too good to drop a game to a 15-loss Commodores team.
While West Virginia and Notre Dame are strong teams for their seed, Gonzaga is a decent matchup for both. Nigel Williams-Goss can handle the Mountaineers’ press and Gonzaga ranks a solid 27th in turnover rate this season, while the Bulldogs are athletic enough to avoid getting too spread out by the Fighting Irish and would be tough to stop on the interior.
On the bottom half, Arizona matches up well in a hypothetical game with Florida State due to its 3-point shooting, something the Seminoles have struggled against. A meeting between Arizona and Gonzaga would be one of the toughest games of the NCAA Tournament to project, as the Wildcats enter on a roll and certainly pass the eye test despite their shaky advance metrics.
The Bulldogs held Arizona to just one 3-point make and 38.6 percent shooting from the field in a 69-62 neutral court win back on Dec. 3, although the Wildcats were without Allonzo Trier. Gonzaga’s offense is a tricky matchup for Arizona thanks to Przemek Karnowski’s scoring and passing ability from the interior, so maintaining that level of perimeter defense will be the key.
Mark Few’s team successfully ran opponents off the 3-point line and allowed teams to shoot just 30 percent from beyond the arc. If that continues, the Bulldogs will take the region and advance to the Final Four.