The view from above the Midwest is a cluttered, hot mess. Whichever team escapes from this region could be considered the favorite in Indy because of the road it traveled to get there.
Heard it called The Man Region yesterday, and that’s a great call. I went on the radio last night to talk about these 16 teams, and as I was feebly trying to come off as something barely resembling an analyst, I realized this region is great for us, the viewers. Yeah, it really sucks that Kansas got the toughest region possible, but what a television experience this quadrant is going to be. Let’s see how it’s going to unfold.
The sites of the first weekend: Providence, Spokane, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City.
Most total tournament appearances: Kansas (38), Ohio State (25), Georgetown (25).
Least: UNI (five), San Diego State (five), Lehigh (three), UC-Santa Barbara (three).
Ready for his March moment (non-Evan Turner): Houston’s Aubrey Coleman. There is a gaggle of players I could’ve picked for this category from this region, but let me go with the guy who’s led D-I in scoring all season long. Coleman has been big in clutch moments lately, and you wonder if he could have a little Stephen Curry in him. Coleman vs. Greivis Vasquez will be great theater.
The stats, trends and notables:
Evan Turner's time to shine, no doubt.
—Thad Matta is 12-7 coaching in the NCAA tournament. If he hadn’t gotten Greg Oden and Michael Conley, his mark would likely be barely above. 500.
—San Diego State has never won a Tournament game. Last appearance: 2006.
—Midwest Final Four representative the last five seasons: 1, 1, 1, 1, 5.
—Last year’s amazing coach job (Tom Izzo) could go up against this year’s (Gary Williams) in round two.
—Nothern Iowa’s a 9. Nine-seeds only have three Sweet 16 appearances since 1985.
—Houston is playing in The Tournament for the first time in 18 years.
—The Midwest has had the 12-over-5 upset happen the past six years, and the 13 has won the past two seasons. In fact, the Midwest was a slaughterhouse last season, with the 9-13 seeds winning in the first round.
—The last team to not win at least 10 games in a row prior to The Tournament and win it all was Michigan State. Kansas, Michigan State and Northern Iowa did it this season.
—The MAC hasn’t won a game in six years. With Ohio getting a terrible matchup against Georgetown, expect that streak to extend.
The non-1-seed everyone loves: Ohio State. And why not? If you dislike Evan Turner you probably kill innocent animals on the regular.
The upset pick I hate: Georgia Tech over Ohio State. I run a pool and have received a few sheets. Three of them have this. C’mon now. And I’ve seen talk that Georgia Tech’s NBA talent could give OSU a run. Now we expect the Jackets to start playing up to potential?
The storylines:
The prevailing one: No. 1 overall seed Kansas got jobbed. How can Kansas possibly win this region? Bill Self won’t complain and neither will his players, even though people are saying this is the toughest region in the history of the expanded field. If Northern Iowa gets past UNLV in the first round, who knows what kind of problems it could give Kansas on Saturday. But no team has a better collection of talent, depth, consistent play and good coaching. It’s why Kansas has spent the majority of the year at the top of the polls; why it’s the No. 1 overall seeds; and why it will be the team more people in your pool pick to win it all.
But for as strong as the 1 through 9′s are, the bottom half of the bracket is probably the weakest out there, when you really examine it. Lehigh, UC-Santa Barbara and Ohio are probably the weakest collective crop of 14-16 seeds, and Houston was overvalued at the 13 line. New Mexico State somehow managed to get to a 12, despite only having decent wins over Utah State and UTEP.
Will Evan Turner have a Carmelo-type performance? It’s expected of him, especially since Ohio State has no bench (which is another storyline all to itself).
And the prospect of two future lottery picks going after each other? Yes please. Turner and the Buckeyes would match up interestingly against James Anderson and Oklahoma State. Evan Turner hasn’t taken one game off. I hope Anderson, who can absolutely carry his team (he would be the player who just missed the cut above) but has shown some tendencies to disappear in games, acts the same way Turner has. The NCAA tournament is no time for crawling into your shell.
All those Draft picks. Aldrich. Turner. Monroe. Anderson. Vasquez. Henry. Lawal. Chism. Coleman.
Austin Freeman continuing to learn how to play with diabetes.
Northern Iowa trying to prove itself as a legitimate perennial mid-major team. (Will need to win in round one and keep it close against Kansas.)
Michigan State is quietly sitting in the weeds and waiting to pounce. We’ve seen this play out before. The Spartans have fallen off our radar juuuuust enough to surprise us once again.
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The Sweet 16 teams I WANT to see (bolded is Final Four desire): Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown, Ohio State.
The Sweet 16 teams I THINK we’ll: Kansas, Michigan State, Tennessee, Ohio State.
Buzzer-beater karma from the ghost of the Midwest region’s past:
