Men's NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Overview
The Midwest Regional is pretty tough. North Carolina is strong and Kansas could have been a #1 seed pretty easily. Throw Georgetown and their always tough defense into the mix and this should be a fun region that should remain competitive from day one all the way to the regional final.
Who Can Win?
North Carolina is the obvious favorite to win the bracket, but that is pretty much true of any one seed. But we all know top seeds do not always make it to the Final Four. North Carolina proved to be vulnerable with their loss to Florida State in the ACC Tournament Final. The Tar Heels have some other questionable losses, most notably their other loss to FSU when they lost 57-90. UNC should not be losing by 33 points to anybody. Kansas and Georgetown are both quality teams as well. The Jayhawks have more pure talent and that is necessary to knock off UNC, but Georgetown plays tough defense (like Florida State) and that could get the well tested Hoyas to the Final Four.
Who Can Surprise?
The Missouri Valley and Mountain West teams across the board are dangerous. In this region we have a disrespected Creighton as the #8 seed and San Diego State at the #6 seed. The Bluejays do not have a strong defense and any hopes they have for a surprise will likely end at the hands of North Carolina. San Diego State is a pretty young team and can be inconsistent, but when they are playing good basketball, they can certainly run over North Carolina State and beat Georgetown.
Who’s Hot?
Time for Creighton again, but their draw is just horrible. The Bluejays won seven in a row before heading to the NCAA Tournament, including a win against Long Beach State. Creighton struggled for a few games before that, but this is a team back on track and then some. The other hot team is Saint Mary’s. The Gaels do not have a long winning streak in progress, but they are flying high after knocking off Gonzaga, finally, in the WCC Tournament.
Who’s Cold?
The Midwest Regional is full of some struggling teams. Temple has a couple questionable losses over their last four games. Alabama, the #9 seed, finished off the regular season by losing to Mississippi and won just one game in the SEC Tournament. Even Georgetown, the #3 seed, is coming off a surprise loss to Cincinnati and lost three of their last seven games before heading to Madison Square Garden. But the teams who really backed their way into the NCAA Tournament are California and South Florida, who will play for the opportunity to face Temple on Tuesday night. The Golden Bears played Colorado and Stanford twice during their last four games and only beat Stanford during the Pac-12 Tournament. The Bulls have not had a bad loss in a long time, but they still have lost three of their last six games.
Upset Alert!
One has to feel bad for Belmont. The Bruins love to get up and down the floor and they can have trouble when they run into a team that can dictate tempo. Last year it was Wisconsin who the Bruins played in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. They were ready for an upset, but they could not get their dynamic offense in rhythm against the Badgers. The story could be the same this year when Belmont plays Georgetown. However, the Bruins are a team with the talent to win a game in the NCAA Tournament.
What Possible Matchup is Interesting?
If Michigan is hitting their shots, they can beat anybody. And, if the seeding holds true, the Wolverines will get a shot at North Carolina in the Regional Semifinals. The Tar Heels will dominate the Wolverines on the inside, but Michigan can make things very, very interesting Most teams, like Michigan, that rely heavily on the outside shot usually do not make it too far in the NCAA Tournament because eventually the three-pointers are just going to be a little bit off, but the Wolverines can make it play against North Carolina.
Which Player Will Dominate?
There are some superstars in this region, most notably Thomas Robinson of Kansas and the entire North Carolina frontcourt, but keep an eye on Robbie Hummel at Purdue. Hummel is averaging 16.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game heading into the NCAA Tournament and he has been waiting a long time to help the Boilermakers in March. The draw is tough for Purdue, but Hummel will do everything he can to keep his team around as long as possible.
Which System is Tough to Prepare For?
Georgetown's version of the Princeton offense can throw any team for a loop. This is a team that can control the tempo of the game. On offense they have big guys who can step outside and at least knock down the mid-range jumper. But it is on the other side of the floor where the Hoyas cause teams the most problems. The Hoyas allow only 59.0 points per game and it is not just because they slow down the tempo. This is a team that always gets a hand up on a shooter and the opposition connects on just 38.8 percent of their shots. It is very tough to get clean looks at the basket against Georgetown and that will frustrate every team Georgetown runs into in the Midwest Region as they attempt to reach St. Louis and, eventually, New Orleans.
Midwest Regional 3rd Round Game Breakdowns
