2022 March Madness South Region: NCAA Men's Tournament Instant Reaction

We've got ourselves a loaded field in the South Region of the 2022 NCAA men's tournament!

The Arizona Wildcats (+600 to win the national championship at WynnBET) of the Pac 12 are the No. 1 seed in the region and will face the winner of the play-in game on Wednesday between 16 seeds Wright State and Bryant in San Diego.

Other notable teams to make the South region include the Houston Cougars as a No. 5 seed, despite winning the AAC outright and in the conference tournament. KenPom ranks Houston as the No. 4 overall team in their rankings.

Furthermore, the Michigan Wolverines make the tournament as the 11-seed outright. Michigan had been considered a bubble team after losing to Indiana in their opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Here are all of the matchups in the South region.

2022 NCAA Tournament South Region Matchups

• No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 16 Wright State / Bryant
• No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 Delaware
• No. 3. Tennessee vs. No. 14 Longwood
• No. 4 Illinois vs. No. 13 Chattanooga
• No. 5 Houston vs. No. 12 UAB
• No. 6 Colorado State vs. No. 11 Michigan
• No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Loyola Chicago
• No. 8 Seton Hall vs. No. 9 TCU

March Madness Prediction and Pick: Who will Win the South Region?

There's no doubt that the Wildcats are an insanely tough out. They won 31 games, are the No. 2 overall team in KenPom rankings, and rank in the top 20 for both offensive and defensive efficiency. That has been a recipe for success in the tournament in 19 of the last 21 years.

However, I've been on Villanova for the last several weeks and I'm not going to stop now. The Wildcats have one of the most experienced backcourts in the country with Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore, rank 8th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, and are the No. 1 free throw shooting team in the country; a scorching 82.3%.

Oh, and Jay Wright has won two titles. Tommy Lloyd, while dominant in his first year as a head coach, is playing in his first NCAA Tournament.

LEAN: Villanova (2-seed)

Follow BetSided's March Madness hub throughout the entirety of the NCAA men's and women's tournaments for full betting previews and picks for every game, futures for the Final Four and national championship, insights, trends, videos, podcasts and more!