Breaking down the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament where North Carolina is the top seed, but can they make the Final Four?
At first glance, the Midwest region presents some of the most interesting matchups in the bracket, pitting blue blood programs against tournament newcomers. Led by top players Cameron Johnson and Coby White, North Carolina looks to be a threat once again this season, as the team fueled by a solid rotation of experienced leadership and new talent, they’ll take on No. 16 seed Iona in their first tournament game on Friday.
Another intriguing matchup comes in The Utah State versus Washington matchup. It could be one of the hardest to pick out of the 8-9 matchups in this year’s tournament. The Mountain West Champion Utah State comes into this game on a double-digit win streak, looking for their first NCAA Tournament win since a 2001 win in overtime.
Perhaps the perfect counter to a hot team, however, is a tough zone, and the Washington Huskies have played one of the most suffocating zone offenses in the country this year. Whoever takes this game may find themselves in an opportunity to succeed down the road, after overcoming a tough initial matchup.
Iowa State’s draw set the Cyclones in a nice position to succeed headed forward. They will be a very popular pick as a Cinderella in this year’s bracket challenge, thanks to some incredible young talent, and a fast-paced offense that allows for a plethora of scoring. Led by the experienced senior guard in Marial Shayok, the Cyclones are a promising team going forward, if they can get past a battle-tested Ohio State team.
Though I don’t think we’ll see quite the incredible upset we saw last year in UMBC over Virginia, there are several upset possibilities in this bracket, thanks to a nice mixture of teams.
The biggest upset-potential in this region comes from the same game mentioned just above, however, as the Ohio State Buckeyes have relied on top senior talent to power them through many a game in this year’s tough Big Ten. If Iowa State can’t find a way to penetrate an experienced defense, watch out.
As mentioned above, there is a good chance of an upset in the 8-9 seed game, as the Washington Huskies come into this game having broken an eight-year NCAA Tournament drought. They finished the season at 26-8 and are one of three Pac-12 teams to find their way into the tournament.
Aside from the first round, this side of the bracket features several teams that could make a run at a higher seed down the stretch, including a seemingly eternally dangerous team in the Kansas Jayhawks, who finished third in the Big 12 despite considerable player losses and come in as a No. 4 seed. They’ll have to get through a Northeastern Huskies team that provided for one of the most effective offenses in college basketball and can light it up from behind the arc. If they get hot from deep, we could see a blue blood program make an early exit.
The majority of the best matchups of the Midwest region, however, come in if we see some of the blue blood teams get through the early rounds upset-free. Kentucky and North Carolina, as the No. 2 and No. 1 seeds, respectively, always boast some of the top talents in the NCAA, and this year, both teams are armed with experienced and talented upperclassmen.
If they can make it through to the Elite Eight, it could be one of the most intense match-ups as the historical programs go head to head.
of the most intense match-ups as the historical programs go head to head.
Another potential-top matchup we could see comes in the form of a second round matchup, with Iowa State and Houston going head to head. The two programs on the rise coming together would be a clash of talent, as it’d be an early indication of the competitiveness of the bracket, with the No. 6 seed and No. 3 seed coming together.
The Midwest region has the potential to be either the most hectic region, or the calmest region, depending on how blue-blood programs find themselves a few (or one) round in.
As for a forecast for the Midwest region, look for one of the blue blood programs to make it through, most likely North Carolina, and for one of the more unsuspected teams to make a deep run into this year’s bracket. If either Iowa State or Auburn can remain hot, we could see them push their way into the chance to take down a blue-blooded Goliath.