In this piece, we’ll go over each of the final four teams in this year’s tournament and tell you how they got to Atlanta and what they’ll need to do in order to return to campus with a National Championship.

Louisville

Louisville celebrates the Midwest Regional Championship (SI.com)

When Kevin Ware’s leg broke in two places Sunday, it was the most disturbing and gruesome injury many of us have ever seen on live TV. It wasn’t immediately clear if his absence would inspire Louisville to be beat Duke and move on to the final four.  Duke ran out to a three point lead in the minutes following the injury and it looked as if we were heading for a grind-it-out game that would be decided in the final minutes. That is until Louisville went on a 13-2 run, led by Peyton Siva and Russ Smith. Louisville would go on to win the game by 22.

Kevin Ware talks about his teammates to ESPN's Reece Davis (ESPN)

The Cardinals have to be the favorite going into this weekend. They’ve won their four tournament games by an average of 22 points and look unstoppable. Siva and Smith are playing at speeds in which defenders just can’t stay in front of. Their speed also helps disrupt opponents on defense, they have far and away the best defensive efficiency in the country. Gorgui Dieng is one of the nation’s most improved players and he ranks among the best shot blockers in the country. Chane Behanan is the glue guy, he does a little bit of everything. He is averaging just over seven points and four rebounds per game in the tournament; but, what he gives this team doesn’t always show up in the stat line. Barring a complete disaster, it’s difficult to imagine any of the three teams left in the tournament knocking the Cards off.

Wichita State

Wichita State celebrates winning the West Regional (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)

You might be asking yourself: how did Wichita State get here? There wasn’t much hype surrounding the Shockers entering the tournament. Most people thought that Pittsburgh would move on to test Gonzaga in the Round of 32. And it seems as though the lack of confidence surrounding this team was justified. In the regular season WSU lost to NIT team Tennessee by nine, Evansville twice and Creighton twice in the regular season’s last eight days. Nothing about that screams “poised for a final four run.” So, how did the Shockers get to Atlanta?

I don’t want to take anything away from Gregg Marshall and the tough-minded players of WSU, but and some fortunate match-ups and a little bit of luck didn’t hurt the Shockers. The West Region was ripe for the taking and the Shockers took advantage of their good fortune. Wichita knocked off the the shakiest 1-seed in Gonzaga and then a generously seeded 2-seed in Ohio State. Harvard did some work by knocking off New Mexico (easily the worst 3-seed for what it’s worth). La Salle helped by beating a very good Kansas State team. The West Region was a mess from the get-go, and good for Wichita State for seizing their opportunity.

Malcolm Armstead was the West Regional MVP (Harry How/Getty Images)

Malcolm Armstead has proved himself as capable ball handler and WSU’s most potent offensive threat. He can create his own shot, make big plays and control the tempo. Armstead is the key.  Carl Hall has been phenomenal on the defensive end for the Shockers during their run. His six blocks against Ohio State helped sway the game. Cleanthony Early is one of the best athletes in the entire tournament. Averaging 14 points a game in the dance, he’ll have to help share the offensive load with Armstead if the Shockers want to continue their Cinderella story.

Syracuse

Syracuse celebrates their Elite Eight victory (USA Today Sports Images)

Syracuse was looking like a team bound for a early round upset in late February. They had lost four of their last five games, including a 22 point smack down at Georgetown to finish out the regular season. Despite their 18-1 start, they were looking more like the 2011 flavor Syracuse (in which they were a 3-seed and lost in the second round) than last year’s 34-3 Elite Eight team. What turned it around? It’s been hard to put their remarkable turnaround all on one thing. The Orange have had someone step up offensively in each of their four tournament games: Michael Carter Williams scored 24 against Indiana, C.J. Fair had 18 over Cal, Brandon Triche poured in 20 over Montana and James Southerland scored 16 in a slow paced struggle against Marquette. The Orange have been dangerous this postseason because they have so many scoring options. They don’t need to rely on any one player.

James Southerland is key to Syracuse title hopes

No team in the tournament so far has been able to score on their 2-3 zone. Indiana was frustrated to pieces last weekend, even with a week to prepare for it. Will Michigan have an answer? The zone has been the engine driving Cuse’ to the final four. If they want a chance to play for the title Monday, the zone will have to stay dominant. The key, as always, is James Southerland. If he’s knocking down shots from the outside Syracuse is a very difficult team to stop.

Michigan

Michigan players just minutes from capturing the South Regional Championship (ESPN)

Michigan and Syracuse’s strangely seasons mirror each other. Both teams started the season going red hot, going 18-1 over their first 19 games. Then Michigan, like Syracuse, hit a late season skid.  The Wolverines went 6-6 in their last 12 games including an embarrassing loss to Big Ten doormat Penn State. How did Michigan turn it around? Michigan has shot the ball extremely well in the postseason. They’ve hit 53% of their two point FGs and over 40% of their three-point FGs in the tourney. Any team that shoots that well has a chance to not only make it to the final four, but win it all.

Trey Burke's 30-foot bomb against Kansas will be a shot basketball fans will remember forever (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The biggest reason Michigan is here is because of the Trey Burke’s incredible 30-foot shot to tie the game against Kansas. We had seen this play before. End of game situation. Ball in Trey Burke’s hands. Instead of driving, he settles for the long contested jump shot. He took the same shot against Ohio State at home and on the road. During the regular season both shots looked good, but rattled out. Against Kansas, it fell. Sometimes you need a little luck or at the right time and Michigan found it in a bomb from Burke from way out. Michigan will need to continue their hot shooting and find a little luck if they want to be playing for the title.

10. Thad Matta is shocked. This was also my face when I saw the Ware injury for the first time, pure disbelief.  

9. I don’t know if you can tell, but Tim Hardaway Jr. is super psyched about going to the final four. 

8. Carl Hall was everywhere for the Shockers Saturday. Here he is with the block on DeShaun Thomas. 

7. Gorgui Dieng says nope. 

6. Russ Smith’s heart wrenching reaction after the Wear Injury. (SBNation has all of the emotional reactions here)

5. Mason Plumlee slams the oop home over Dieng. 

4. Stauskas with the beautiful behind the back pass to McGary.

3. Spike Albrecht averaged less than 8 minutes per game during the regular season. Spike don’t care. He torches the Gators for two here. 

2. Peyton Siva got wherever he wanted to go Sunday. Here he is with the tough finish in traffic. 

1. Glenn Robinson III puts an exclamation point on Michigan’s dominant performance.

Check out previous Tournament Edition Gif City’s:
Gif City: Sweet Sixteen
Gif City: Feather Boa Edition 
Gif City: Three Point Monacle 
Gif City: Florida Gulf Coastin’

This is Gif City…a place where I round up the day’s top action in .gif form. Some of them are homemade, some are from around the web. Watch them, enjoy them, send them to your friends. This feature is not for those of you using a dial-up modem. Even if you have Google’s new fiber connection give the page a second to load, you patience will be rewarded. Have I been forGIFful and missed your favorite? Tweet me at @Brennan_Keller.

9. Tom Crean with the blow by? He’s developing a reputation for this.

8. Peyton Siva makes an outrageous bounce pass to Chane Behanan. 

7. Will this play haunt Kansas fans forever? Why didn’t Elijah Johnson even look at the basket? 

6. Rion Brown gets up for the oop. 

5. I would be remiss if I didn’t include at least one Dunk City Gif. 

4. Ben McLemore skys for the inbounds alley oop. 

3. Mike Rosario with the back-breaking heads up play against FGCU. 

2. LaQuinton Ross nails the three with 3 seconds left to put Ohio State into the Elite Eight.  

1. Trey Burke knocks down the 30-footer to send the game to overtime. One of the tournament’s wildest moments. (Via SBNation)

Check out other tournament editions of Gif City:
Gif City: Feather Boa Edition 
Gif City: Three Point Monacle 
Gif City: Florida Gulf Coastin’

1. Russ Smith has been Russidiculous (in the good way) this postseason. He scored 23 against North Carolina A&T and then racked up 27-points against Colorado State, shooting 65 percent from the field. Can he continue his hot shooting from the field against a top-10 KenPom defensive Oregon team?

2. We knew Oregon was under-seeded, but it was surprising to most how dominant the Ducks looked against a very good Saint Louis team on Sunday. Carlos Emory has given the Ducks a huge lift off the bench, scoring 12 and 14 in their two wins. Will Emory be able to step up again against the nation’s best defense in Louisville?

3. Adreian Payne has developed into a NBA prospect in the last few months of the season. His athleticism (along with Gary Harris’ shooting performance) lead the Spartans past Memphis and Valparaiso this past weekend. How will Payne match up with Duke big men Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee inside? It could be the difference for MSU.

4. Although neither game was really in doubt, Duke looked a little shaky against Albany and Creighton in the first round.  Can Duke’s big men step up? Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee combined for 11 points in their victory over Creighton. The Blue Devils will need a better offensive effort from those two in order to knock off the Spartans.

5. Cleanthony Early’s play was instrumental in Wichita State’s upset over 1-seed Gonzaga. He scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in just 24-minutes of play. Can the shockers rely on him to have another big game to lead them to the Elite 8?

6. Behind Ramon Galloway’s 24 points, La Salle dispatched Marshall Henderson and company by 2 to get them into the Sweet Sixteen. With Galloway taking shots on nearly 30 percent of La Salle’s possessions, the Explorers can be sure that Wichita State will be honing in on him tonight.  Can La Salle find other ways to score if the Shockers limit his touches?

Aaron Craft shoots for the win

7. Mark Lyons has been nothing but spectacular under the bright lights of the tournament thus far. He scored 23 against a solid Belmont squad and 27 against Harvard last weekend. Lyons play has been criticized as inconsistent during the year. Will he be able to continue at such a high level? Especially against the nation’s best on ball defender in Aaron Craft.

8. Ohio State dodged a bullet against Iowa State as Aaron Craft knocked down a game winning shot with 0.2 seconds left. Other than that huge shot, Craft didn’t have a great game offensively: he left points on the free throw line, missed open lay-ups and had a few unforced errors.  How long can the Buckeyes rely on Craft jump shots?  I’ve said it before, but OSU will need either Ravenelle, Smith or Ross to have a big game offensively if they want to make a run to the final four.

9. It’s a good sign that the Jayhawks could pull out a 12 point win over UNC despite leading scorer Ben McLemore only scoring 2 points. Can the Jayhawks continue to win if McLemore’s struggles persist? Michigan is playing some of the basketball they’ve played all season.

10. Michigan blew away Nater Wolters and company and then demolished VCU in the round of 32. The Wolverines seem to be in good position heading into the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan fans have to be happy that they won both games without stellar performace from Trey Burke. He only scored six points (his season low) against North Daktoa State.  Will the Wolverines need Burke to have a big game in order to overthrow Kansas?

11. Florida blew out both of their first round opponents by double digits in the first weekend. How will Florida respond if they find themselves in a close game with Florida Gulf Coast? The key will be how Kenny Boyton responds in crunch time. His play has been known to become a bit erratic when the pressure is on.

12. How will #Dunk City respond to the Florida’s defensive pressure? FGCU was able to coast into the Sweet Sixteen by getting out on the break and finishing in transition. It will be interesting to see how Florida will try to slow their tempo. The key with be Brett Comer. If he can push the ball, can Gulf Coast dunk their way into the Elite 8?

13. If it wasn’t for Victor Oladipo, Hoosier fans would be watching a rematch of Syracuse and Temple in the Sweet Sixteen. Oladipo’s stellar defense on Whyatt and onions three pointer to put the game away allowed IU to move on. Can Cody Zeller step up for Indiana? He’s been the key all season and if they want to be Syracuse he’s going to need to have a solid game.

14. If James Southerland is knocking down shots from the outside, the Orange are scary. Southerland had decent games to start the tournament, but he’ll need to play great if Cuse’ wants to upset the Hoosiers. When the ball is tipped tonight will Southerland come out firing?

 15. Vander Blue has been the player of the tournament so far in my opinion. He had the game winning lay-up against Davidson and then 29 points to knock off a hungry Butler team. He’s obviously the key for Marquette? Can Blue continue to play like an All-American? Durand Scott was one of the best lock up defenders in the ACC. How will Blue respond to the pressure?

 16. Shane Larkin was the hero for Miami in their win over the Illini, hitting a fall away 3-pointer with 8 seconds left to seal the victory. The sophomore needs to continue to play well. Can Miami continue their run and keep Larranaga dancing?

Honorable Mentions: 10. Miami vs. Illinois 9. Florida Gulf Coast vs. San Diego State 8. La Salle vs. Kansas State 7. La Salle vs. Ole Miss 6. Harvard vs. New Mexico

5. Indiana vs. Temple

Wyatt takes it to the hoop (courtesy: Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

It seemed like this one went back and forth from the tip. Temple would build an eight-point lead and Indiana would chip away. Temple would go back up six, Indiana would find a way to bring it back down to two. The two teams scraped and battled and butted heads (literally) the entire game. It was a 40-minute fist fight. The Hoosiers could not stop Temple star Khalif Wyatt. He scored 31 points on 12 of 24 shooting from the field. Even Big Ten defensive player of the year Victor Oladipo couldn’t stay in front of Wyatt. Oladipo was forced to face guard Wyatt 40-feet from the basket, as to not let him even touch the ball. It was pretty cool to see.

Down by four with less than 3-minutes left in the game, it seemed like 1-seed Indiana was in trouble. Big trouble. Cody Zeller looked as though he was asleep, Christian Watford had turned into a ghost and Jordan Hulls was fighting a shoulder injury. It didn’t seem like Indiana had it in them to make a run. Indiana found just enough. As Wooden Award candidates often do, Victor Oladipo came through for the Hoosiers. He nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with just 14 seconds left in the game to put Indiana up 4.

Final Score: Indiana: 58 Temple 52

4. Marqutte vs. Butler

Brad Stevens shows more emotion than we've ever seen before.

Brad Stevens, possible coaching robot from outer space, even showed some emotion in this game…so you know it must have been an intense battle.  Early on it seemed like Butler might run away with the game. The Eagles had no answer for Rotnei Clarke as he bombed threes from deep, scoring 18 points in the first half. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-point lead by halftime. During the break I even let my mind wander how Butler would be going to the sweet sixteen and what secret Brad Stevens knows about basketball that I don’t?

Butler’s lead didn’t last long, as Vander Blue had other plans. He led the Eagles back possession by possession, scoring 19 points in the second half. Marquette took the lead off two free throws with a little under 5-seconds left. It looked like the game was all but over. Then, Butler throws an incredible 90-foot inbounds pass to Andrew Smith and they get a score with less than 2 seconds coming off the lock. Game on. Vander Blue, the hero up until this point, goes to inbounds the ball and throws it away with 2.9 seconds left. Butler ball, down two. Viewers had to wonder, is there anymore tournament magic left for this Butler program?  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. The ball somehow winds up in the hands of center Andrew Smith. He couldn’t catch his balance to get off a good look, the ball slams off the backboard. Game over. Marquette lives to dance another day.

Final Score: Marquette: 64 Butler 62

3.  Ohio State vs. Iowa State

Aaron Craft for the win (Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports)

Aaron Craft is not a pure shooter. Nobody would call his shot pretty.  Offensively, he struggled all game against the Cyclones. So, of course it was Craft who waived off jump shot machine DeShaun Thomas to hit the game winning three pointer at the buzzer to beat 10-seed Iowa State. When Craft let it go, I know Iowa State fans said “We can live with that shot.” I’m sure even half the Ohio State fans yelled out, “What are you doing???” at their televisions. And then the shot went down. Ohio State wins. Aaron Craft is a hero. Iowa State is left heartbroken again.

Much has been made about the controversial charge call on Clyburn. Was Craft too far underneath the basket? Was he in position? What does it matter? It was a 50/50 call made in the blink of an eye. If you don’t call it, Ohio State fans would be up in arms right now. I’m sad that discussion of this game has developed into a debate over this call and not about just how great this game was.

Final Score: Ohio State 78 Iowa State 75

2. Marquette vs. Davidson 

This game was basically over until Vander Blue took over. (Via KenPom)

Final Score: Marquette 59 Davidson 58

“Dang, missed another one,” I said as I crossed off Marquette on my bracket. The game was basically over. Davidson was up nine points with six minutes left. It wasn’t quite sharpie for Davidson, but it was close. Marquette looked half-awake all day and hadn’t made a shot from the outside for 35-minutes. Down nine and on top of that they’re a notoriously bad three point shooting team. They’re done. Or so I thought.

Then something pretty amazing happened. Dan Greene of Sports Illustrated has the best recap: “From the left wing, junior forward Jamil Wilson, Marquette’s top three-point shooter entering the game at 36.1 percent, hit a three to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 54-51 with one minute remaining. It was only Marquette’s second three of the game, on 13 attemtps. On the other end, Brooks hit a layup to increase the lead to five … only to have Blue, a 29.2 percent three-point shooter, answer with another three, the Golden Eagles’ second in a row, to cut the lead to two with 28.5 seconds left. Cochran was then fouled and made both shots, and Davidson led by four. Then Wilson did it again, hitting Marquette’s third three in a row to shrink Davidson’s lead to 58-57 with 10.5 seconds remaining.”

The Eagles then catch a lucky break as Davidson turns it over. Out of timeouts, Buzz Williams set up the game winning play as the referees checked the clock. Then, this happened. Vander Blue comes off a high ball screen and puts in the game winning lay-in with just seconds left to go. The Eagles had done it, they’d come all the way back. I literally had to go back and rewrite them into my bracket. The eagles then found a way to beat Butler to advance to the sweet sixteen, which makes this game even sweeter.

1. Florida Gulf Coast vs Georgetown

Florida Gulf Coast is the story of the tournament. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

You should already know why this game was awesome. Do I really have to go into detail?

Reasons why this game was awesome:

1. This. and this. and this.

2. It was a huge upset. Georgetown had dominated the Big East all year. John Thompson III has been known for having seasons that end in postseason disaster. But, it wasn’t going to happen again. Not with this team, not with Otto Porter.

3. Who is Florida Gulf Coast anyways? Sure, they beat Miami during the regular season. And the coach is rich and has a hot wife. But, who are they really? Apparently, they’re some of the most athletic dudes on the face of the earth.  And really, really fun to watch.

4. Not only did these guys beat the the Hoyas, they did it with style. When you’re up by a few points on the 2-seed with a few minutes left, you’re supposed to pull it out…play it safe, not throw crazy alley oops.  These guys didn’t look intimidated for even a second and they had fun the entire game. In one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a few years, Sherwood Brown came over and shook the CBS crews’ hands, while they talked about his effort throughout the game. What a great moment.

5. The internet almost exploded. These guys have their own hashtag on Twitter (#DunkCity) and a rap song (with 140,000+ views already). They’re everything you want in a Cinderella team- they went from nobodies to household names in less than 24-hours.

Final Score: Dunk City: 78 Georgetown: 68 

Check out the tournament’s top Gifs.

This is Gif City…a place where I round up the day’s top action in .gif form. Some of them are homemade, some are from around the web. Watch them, enjoy them, send them to your friends. This feature is not for those of you using a dial-up modem. Even if you have Google’s new fiber connection give the page a second to load, you patience will be rewarded. Have I been forGIFful and missed your favorite? Tweet me at @Brennan_Keller.

 7. Seth Davis tells us he doesn’t like Syracuse to win. Eccentrically.  

 6. Another day, another boofed dunk. Jamal Franklin could have topped off the game here. But, nope. 

5. Bruce Weber is speechless. He has no speech. 

4. FGCU wins in just about everything…except bench celebrations. This is gross. 

 3. This Temple fan is psyched. 

2. Probably my favorite moment of the tournament so far. Sherwood Brown comes over shakes Kevin Harlan’s hand while they talk about his impact on the game. 

 1. Florida Gulf Coast celebrates the win

This is Gif City…a place where I round up the day’s top action in .gif form. Some of them are homemade, some are from around the web. Watch them, enjoy them, send them to your friends. This feature is not for those of you using a dial-up modem. Even if you have Google’s new fiber connection give the page a second to load, you patience will be rewarded. Have I been forGIFful and missed your favorite? Tweet me at @Brennan_Keller.

 7. Michigan State kicks off the tourney with a nice little oop. 

6. New Mexico might have lost, but this was sick. 

5. Louisville hustles like a 13-seed here. The Cards are relentless. 

4. Trey Burke didn’t have a great game, but this was nice. Just two great players going at it here. 

 3. The Closest thing we had to a buzzer beater in the first round. Vander Blue with the game winner. 

2. Eddie Murray throws down the tip dunk. It was the beginning of the nuttiness. 

1. My almost brain exploded watching this play live. So gusty. The best thing ever.

This is Gif City…a place where I round up the day’s top action in .gif form. Some of them are homemade, some are from around the web. Watch them, enjoy them, send them to your friends. This feature is not for those of you using a dial-up modem. Even if you have Google’s new fiber connection give the page a second to load, you patience will be rewarded. Have I been forGIFful and missed your favorite? Tweet me at @Brennan_Keller.

8. Here’s Greg Gumbel and Ernie kicking the tournament off right with an awkward fist bump handshake thing. 

7. You just hit a huge three against to go up four on a team you we’re supposed to demolish. What’s the appropraite bench celebration. Well, it’s three point monocle face of course. Just kidding. 

6. Butler’s bench likes the three point monocle too. They just do it a little fancier. 

5. St. Mary’s desperately needs a three. So, Beau Levesque lines it up and throws it out of bounds (twice). 

4. Chane Behanan blow the dunk. Ya dun goofed. 

3. Cal defender reaches for the ball, but gets mostly face.

2. It’s got to be hot in that Ram suit. No wonder this guy’s so sleepy. 

 1. Crabbe: “He stepped on the lin- oh, dear god…” 

South Region

by: Ryan Hester

Will the lethal duo of McLemore and Withey be enough to propel Kansas to the final four?

Two at the Top

We all know about Kansas‘ potent inside-outside combination in Jeff Withey and Ben McLemore – one of the better duos in the country and two potential NBA Lottery picks.  Due mainly to Withey’s presence, the Jayhawks rank 1st nationally in 2-point field goal defense and effective field goal percentage, along with being ranking 3rd in block percentage.

Georgetown also excels on the defensive end. Otto Porter and the Hoyas ended the regular season ranked 4th in Defensive efficiency.  Combine that with their slow-down, ride em’ out tempo (313th), and the Hoyas are allowing just 55.7 points per game (9th in the nation).  They know how to win grind-it-out games, which seem to happen more often than wide open ones in the Tournament.

Top Storyline

It’s easy to say the potential “Roy Williams Bowl” will be the top storyline if North Carolina and Kansas get out of the Round of 64.  But I think the most compelling thing about this region is the Round of 32 game just below Kansas-Carolina.  VCU and Michigan both got very tough draws here and it’s unfortunate for both teams that they’ll have to play each other. But, it’s great for us. It will be interesting to see how Michigan responds to having just one day to prepare for VCU’s havoc press system. Atlantic 10 teams have struggled all year to prepare for the chaos the Rams cause. For VCU, having to play the Wolverines in Auburn Hills is basically a road game. The winner of this game could win this whole region.

Over-seeded and Under-seeded

Colorado State as an 8-seed is the largest seeding injustice in this region. The Rams are a top-20 RPI team with wins over New Mexico and San Diego State. Instead 32nd ranked RPI team San Diego State gets a 7-seed in this region. That seems a bit unfair, I would have liked to see the committee switch these two teams on the seed lines.

Michigan as a 4-seed is a bit low, but the early exit from the Big Ten Tournament combined with the home loss to Indiana as the regular season was closing left them on the fourth line. At least they get to play close to home.

Upset Alert

Because I don’t want to say Michigan is the answer to every question here (and because they’re playing in Auburn Hills), I’m actually going to say Oklahoma as the upset here. The Sooners have the tools to take out the over-seeded Aztecs. For the record, (11) Minnesota over (6) UCLA doesn’t qualify as an upset because the Gophers are actually favored in the game.

In Need of a Slipper Fitting

For the purposes of these previews, this is the team seeded in the double-digits that has the best chance to make the second week of the Tournament. If South Dakota State can beat Michigan in a quasi-home game, I would choose them here, but I don’t see them being able to. While I couldn’t choose them in the last question, I will choose Minnesota here. Their toughness inside combined with Florida’s perimeter-oriented (and therefore potentially inconsistent) could lead to an upset.

Dangerous Team: VCU. The “havoc” system is the notoriously very difficult to prepare for. Since you know that you’re always going to get 100% from the players at VCU, it’s easy to see them disrupting their way to the final four.

Midwest Region

By: Ryan Hester

Louisville has suddenly the tournament favorite

Two at the Top

Louisville is #1 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. Below are the last six teams who ended the season as the top tempo-free defensive team, their seeds, and their tournament results:

• 2012 – Louisville (4) – Final Four
• 2011 – Florida State (10) – Sweet 16
• 2010 – Florida State (9) – Round of 64
• 2009 – Memphis (2) – Sweet 16
• 2008 – Kansas (1) – National Champions
• 2007 – Kansas (1) – Elite 8

Duke is a solid-but-unspectacular 26th in Defensive Efficiency. However, their opponents only dish out assists on 39.6% of their field goals allowed, which is the lowest rate in the country. Duke’s guard play is also strong, especially offensively. They rarely turn the ball over and due to Seth Curry’s sharp-shooting leads Duke to have one of the best field goal percentages in the country. Duke is something outrageous like 18-1 with Ryan Kelly in the lineup. If we see the same Duke team that started the season 15-0, watch out.

Top Storyline
This region is clearly loaded.  Saint Louis was a chic pick for dark horse final four team before people saw they’d have to go up against the coaching likes of Rick Pitino,  Mike Krzyzewski or  Tom Izzo.  Has any region in the history of this tournament had a better trio of coaching royalty than the top three seeds in this region?

Overseeded and Underseeded
The team that should be seeded lower is probably Memphis.  Despite having 30-wins on the season, the Tigers don’t appear to be better than anyone seeded 7th through 10th below them.  They’re ranked just 37th at KenPom.  It’s been talked about, but Oregon obviously did not deserve a 12-seed. Many bracketologists had them as a 7 or 8-seed going into the last weekend of the regular season.

Upset Alert

We discussed  how Memphis is over-seeded as a 6-seed already, so it shouldn’t come as any suprise that I think St. Mary’s has a legitimate chance to knock off the Tigers. Although some of the middle seeds (Creighton, Oklahoma State, Colorado State) seem vulnerable, it seems like the top-4 seeds are poised to run away with this region.

In Need of a Slipper Fitting
For the purposes of these previews, this is the team seeded in the double-digits that has the best chance to make the second week of the Tournament.  In the Midwest, I could see Cincinnati upending two good offensive teams in Creighton and Duke because of their hard-nosed defense.

Dangerous Team: Michigan State. It seems like the Spartans have been quietly lurking around the top of the Big Ten all year. Their inconsistent play lost them a few games in conference play, but if they can put the pieces together and if Keith Appling has a big tournament, this could be another Tom Izzo final four team.

East Region

By: Brennan Keller

Indiana's chances of making the Final Four rest largely in the hands of Oladipo and Zeller

Two at the Top

Indiana was the favorite coming into the year and they’re still considered one of the safest picks to reach the final four. The Hoosiers like to play fast and push the ball, they (by far) have the fastest adjusted tempo and average more possessions per game than any other team in the country. It’s been clear all year that Indiana has the talent to beat any team, anytime, anywhere. It all depends on which Hoosier team shows up. Will we get the Christian Watford that is actively part of the offense? Or are we getting the Watford that looks to defer? Does Cody Zeller look like a star or does he look like role player? There’s no doubt Indiana can win the championship this year. It just depends on which IU team shows up.

Miami is one of this year’s most interesting teams. They seem to come out of nowhere this season. Picked to finish fourth in the ACC, the Hurricanes ran through the league finishing 15-3 and dominating North Carolina in the ACC Championship. It truly seems like the Hurricanes are poised to make a run to the final four. They’ve got a coach who’s been there before (Larranaga reached the final four with George Mason). They have a team full of experienced seniors.  And the one starter who’s not an upperclassman, Shane Larkin, could be a future NBA lottery pick.

Top Storyline

Will N.C. State ever live up to their preseason hype? How about UNLV? It seems implausible now, but with news of a new investigation opening up, could this be Jim Boeheim’s last tournament?

I actually think my favorite story from this region is Indiana’s resurgence onto the national scene. Just five years ago Tom Crean was left with an empty cupboard and asked to whip up a championship. It’s been a long road for Crean and IU, but if they can make the final four, they’ll officially be back and considered one of college basketball’s elite programs again.

Over-seeded and Under-seeded

At 23-8 Marquette was obviously over-seeded as a 3-seed. I’m not exactly sure what the committee saw in their resume that warranted a them as a top-12 team. They were considered a solid 4-seed by most bracketologists before the Big East Tournament and then didn’t do themselves any favors by losing to Notre Dame early in the Big East Tournament. So, that doesn’t quite make sense. But, they still draw a tough Davidson team, so we can’t be that mad.

Upset Alert

I think there are a few in this region. Marquette, Illinois and UNLV better watch their backs. But, I think the team that is most likely to get upset in the first round in Butler. I know Butler has Brad Stevens and Brad Stevens wins games in March, but I just don’t think the Butler team has the DNA like the other Butler teams that made deep runs. Plus, they’re going against a very good Mike Muscula and Bucknell team.

In Need of a Slipper Fitting
For the purposes of these previews, this is the team seeded in the double-digits that has the best chance to make the second week of the Tournament. If someone is going to make a run, why not Davidson? They can beat over-seeded Marquette and then they definitely can beat Butler or Bucknell in the next round. I could see it happening.

Dangerous Team: Syracuse. If James Southerland is knocking down shots, the Orange could be tough to beat.  Cuse’ sputtered in conference play, but they look like they might have got their swagger back by beating Georgetown in the Big East tournament. Syracuse is as talented as any team in the country, so why not the Orange?

West Region

By: Brennan Keller

Two at the Top

Gonzaga still sits atop the polls as the country’s best team. As they should. They haven’t lost to anybody since that crazy buzzer beater in Hinkle Field House, which feels like forever ago. Kelly Olynyk and Elias Harris are two of the top-10 best players in the country…and they play on the same team! That’s scary. Gonzaga has a lot to prove in this tournament. There are still a huge amount of college basketball fans that aren’t sold they’re the real deal.

Let me start by saying I think Ohio State is pretty good. But, I’m not sure where all this final four talk is coming from. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten Tournament and suddenly a lot of experts have them going to the final four. There’s a lot of recency bias there. Aaron Craft is the nations best defender. DeShaun Thomas might be the country’s purest scorer. The buckeyes title hopes rest on Lenzelle Smith, Ravenelle and Ross if they want to make a run.

Top Storyline

Like I mentioned before I think it will be incredible interesting to see how Gonzaga responds to playing higher caliber with some real talent. There is a huge contingent of casual fans that think the Zags can be upset. How will Mark Few and the Bulldogs play when the bright lights of March are pointing down at them?

A story no one really seems to be talking about is how weak this region seems to be. The shakiest 1-seed? Probably Gonzaga. Shakiest 2-seed? Definitely Ohio State. I’m still not sold on New Mexico either. The Midwest is hard to pick because it’s hard to find a team that I think is going to lose. The West region is hard to pick because I don’t have faith in any of these teams that they can actually pull out wins.

Over-seeded and Under-seeded

Pittsburgh might have been a little high at an 8-seed, but overall I like the job the committee did here.

Upset Alert

Watch out Arizona, Belmont is coming for you. Year after year, the experts say, “this Belmont team is actually pretty good, I’ll take them with the upset.” Is this the year they actually do it? Mark Lyons will have trouble with their pressure, Belmont ranks among the best in turning teams over. They also shoot the ball with great confidence. Arizona looks to have advantage inside, but will that be enough to garner a win over the Bruins?

In Need of a Slipper Fitting
For the purposes of these previews, this is the team seeded in the double-digits that has the best chance to make the second week of the Tournament. I like Belmont over Arizona and then I can see them giving New Mexico a run. I also think Ole Miss could knock out Wisconsin early on. That would be a nice treat, having Marshall Henderson around a few more days is always fun.

Dangerous Team: Kansas State is the sleeper team no one is talking about. When Bruce Weber has talent on his teams, he can flat out win. Rodney McGruder is very, very good. I like this team to at least the Sweet Sixteen.

 

Oh, and in case your were wondering (and you might not have been), here are our final four picks.

Check back in a few weeks go see if one of us is a genius.

Can these teams get hot and advance to the Sweet Sixteen? Absolutely. Do I think they will? Probably not. Here are six teams I think will be watching the tournament’s second weekend from home:

1. Creighton

Live by the three, die by the three. It’s either a recipe for success or absolute disaster in March. Creighton shoots the ball better than any team in the country. And that’s great…but not as great when you consider they earned their #1 effective field goal percentage shooting against the wobbly defenses of the Missouri Valley Conference. Doug McDermott is a star and a joy to watch. But, with a week to prepare these NCAA tournament teams are going to have scouted “McBuckets” so well that he won’t be able to breathe let alone get off a shot on the offensive end. The Bluejays are going to have to find other ways to score. Can Gregory Echenique become a legitimate scoring option for the Jays? How about Austin Chapman? Although defensively they’ve improved compared to last year, this Creighton team is very similar to the team that squeaked by in the first round and got steamrolled in the Round of 32 by North Carolina. Could it be a similar fate for the fighting McDermotts?

Risky Pick: Beating Cincinnati. I think Creighton has enough to beat Cincinnati, but I’d still be weary of picking them over the Bearcats. The Bluejays can shoot, but Cinci can guard. They’re a top-15 team in defense efficiency and I’m guessing they’ll be in McDermott’s shorts all game. If Creighton can sneak past Cincinnati, I have a very difficult time seeing how the Jays can beat Duke.

2. Arizona

Arizona started the season 14-0, beating quality teams like: 3-seed Florida and 2-seed Miami along the way. They Wildcats looked poised to make a run to the Elite 8 back in December. The Arizona team that finished the season make those days seem like just a distant memory. While most teams improve as the season goes on, Arizona has regressed. They’ve lost two of their last three regular season games to finish fourth in the watered-down Pac 12. Mark Lyons has proved himself as untrustworthy in late game situations.

Risky Pick: Beating Belmont. Arizona got a tough draw here. For a few years now, Belmont has been poised to make some noise in the tournament. It would seem this year could be the year they finally break through. Mark Lyons will have trouble with their pressure, Belmont ranks among the best in turning teams over. They also shoot the ball with great confidence. Arizona looks to have advantage inside, but will that be enough to garner a win over the Bruins. I’m not putting my money on it.

3. Illinois

Illinois took 265 three-pointers this season. That’s more threes than 90 percent of Division I basketball teams in the country. For shooting that many threes you’d think they’d be pretty good at it. They’re not. They shoot 32.5 percent from long range, which is the bottom 25% of the country. See the problem? You live by the three, you die by the three.

Risky Pick: Beating Colorado. The Illini have the ability to catch fire, but so does any team in the tournament. The Illini don’t excel in any category offensively or defensively. Now, I’m not saying Colorado is a force to be reckoned with, but at least they can play defense. The Buffs are a top-30 team in terms of defensive efficiency. John Groce is a great coach, and the Illini have a chance if they shoot their way past Colorado. But, in the next round they’ll run into a very, very (very) good Miami team. I think it would be a mistake to have this Illinois team going too far.

4. Memphis

Quick…name a top-25 RPI team Memphis has beaten this year. You can’t do it, because they haven’t. The Tigers haven’t proved they can beat anyone (other than C-USA teams) all year. They seem to fold when the pressure is on. They had a big match-up against (non-tournament team) Xavier to prove their worth a few weeks ago and failed to put the game away. You don’t usually see 30-win teams with this spotty a resume.

Risky Pick: Beating St. Mary’s. I’m not saying that the Tigers aren’t any good, they might be. They just haven’t had the opportunity to prove it us all year. That’s why it would be risky to pick them to over nearly anybody this year. St. Mary’s looked solid in their opening round win over MTSU. The Tigers will have to find a way to stop Matthew Dellavedova, and that’s no easy task.

5. Butler

You can never count out a Brad Stevens team, but this Butler team doesn’t have the same DNA of those Bulldog teams that made final four runs a few years ago. Their computer numbers are far from impressive. They rank somewhere in the mid-fifties and sixties in both offense and efficiencies. They earned their 6-seed with big wins over Gonzaga, Marquette and Indiana. Those are great wins. But, they were a long time ago. Butler hasn’t beaten a top-50 KenPom team since that Gonzaga buzzer beater game January 19.

Risky Pick: Beating Bucknell. The Bulldogs should be on upset alert. Mike Muscala pounds the defensive glass better than anyone in the country. Will Butler have an answer for him? Bucknell also defends the paint as good as anyone in the country, putting further pressure on Rotnei Clarke and Roosevelt Jones to score. It will be an interesting match-up, but it’s easy to see why a lot of people are taking Bucknell. If Butler can somehow find a way to get through to the next round, they’ll get a lucky draw in the weakest 3-seed) Marquette or Davidson. Both of those teams aren’t great (I considered adding Marquette to the list of risky teams). So, I guess it’s possible we could see Butler in the Sweet Sixteen. I’d say the chances are slim though, much slimmer than previous years.

6. Ohio State

The Buckeyes won the Big Ten Tournament and suddenly a lot of experts have them going to the final four. Be wary. I think they have a little bit of recency bias. Yes, the Buckeyes have won 9 of their last 10 games. Yes, they have great KenPom numbers. I still think they’re not to be trusted. Ohio State is a one man team offensively. If a team can shut DeShaun Thomas down, OSU is in big trouble. Tournament teams know this. Aaron Craft, who is the country’s best on ball defender, has been giving them a lift offensively lately by knocking down shots from the perimeter. But, he’s not a pure shooter. How long is this going to last? All the way to the Elite Eight? Final Four? I’m not so sure.

 Risky Pick: Beating New Mexico/Sweet Sixteen team. When Ohio State’s pieces are all fitting together and LaQuinton Ross and Lenzelle Smith are scoring, they’re great. When they’re not…they’re just ok. Things can fall apart quickly for the Buckeyes (see vs. Illinois – 19 point loss, vs. Wisconsin – 22 point loss). Aaron Craft and  company have the defensive intensity to clear to Iona and Notre Dame/Iowa State. But, that’s as far as my confidence goes with the Buckeyes. Something about them screams “we can be upset.”

See six tournament teams that should be safe picks.

Similarities between Ole Miss and Wisconsin are few and far between. The 5 vs. 12 matchup is always interesting, but this West Region matchup takes the cake.

Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy will be coaching in his first NCAA tournament. Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan will be coaching in his 12th NCAA tournament.

In those 12 appearances, Ryan’s Badgers have only lost in the first round once.

Wisconsin, as the 5-seed, has a clear advantage. KenPom ranks the Badgers as the ninth best team in the country. Ole Miss is 34th.

Advanced metrics love Wisconsin. The numbers don’t hate Ole Miss (they are KenPom’s highest-ranked 12 seed), but they are the underdog in this matchup.

But Florida, the most-loved possession by possession team in the country, was knocked off by Ole Miss in the SEC championship. The stakes were high, and Ole Miss stepped up to the challenge.

The stage doesn’t get brighter than the Big Dance.

ESPN’s Insider tool gives Wisconsin a “strong edge” against Ole Miss. Only two CBS Sports experts (Gregg Doyel and Matt Norlander) picked Ole Miss to advance.

Ole Miss is the underdog. Is there any way they can advance?

Well, it is March. And Marshall Henderson (you should know this name) brings Madness in every game he plays.

Henderson’s hot shooting and a few errors on the Wisconsin side could lead to an Ole Miss upset.

The matchup to watch this game will be Henderson vs. Ryan Evans. Wisconsin will likely use a bevy of defensive tactics to prevent Henderson from catching fire early on, but Evans will be the primary defender.

Ole Miss has the size to compete with Wisconsin down low, and their up-tempo style could fluster Wisconsin.

The Rebels are seventh in the nation with 78.2 points per game. Wisconsin is 206th in the country, averaging 66.2 points per game.

Pace will be key in this game. Wisconsin’s track record under Ryan gives them an edge, but if Ole Miss shoots well, this game could be a bracket-buster.

Follow @MOvering

1. Louisville

You can trust the Cardinals. They’ve won 11 straight, including three impressive wins on a neutral court to win the Big East tournament. If you’re hot in the Big East tournament, you’re usually hot in the national tournament. Look at UConn in 2011, or well, Louisville in last year’s tourney. It seems as though the Cards have the issues that plagued them in the early part of the Big East season under control. Russ Smith has played with better poise, Chane Behanan is playing with passion and Peyton Siva is taking care of the ball.

Safe Pick: The Elite Eight. The Midwest is easily the toughest region, but Louisville should be fine until it meets either Duke or March dangerous MSU in the Elite Eight.

2. Miami (FL) 

If you watched this team during the ACC tournament, you know they’re legit. This senior laden squad is has the experience to pull off a major run and the youngest player on the floor in Shane Larkin is probably the most talented. Kenny Kadji is an absolute match-up nightmare. The Hurricanes just ooze talent. I mean, Julian Gamble has been playing so well that Reggie Johnson didn’t see more than 20 minutes of playing time the entire ACC tournament. I think Miami is easily this year’s most dangerous team and I would go as far as to say I would be surprised if they didn’t advance to the Elite Eight this year.

Safe Pick: Elite Eight. The Hurricanes have a cakewalk of a first game in Pacific and they will play either Illinois or Colorado in the next round. Both teams have struggled all year, the Hurricanes should have no problem moving on to the Sweet Sixteen. In the second weekend, they play either a vastly over-seeded Marquette team or perhaps a gritty March Butler team. Either way, this Miami team should out-talent these teams and be looking forward to an Elite Eight matchup with Indiana to get to the Final Four.

3. Kansas State

Kansas State hasn’t lost to a bad team all year. They’ve had five losses since December 18th, and three of them were to Kansas. This KSU team has flown under the radar all year. Is the tournament their time to shine? We’ll just have to find out. One thing I do know, is that they should be able to handle Boise State or LaSalle in the Round of 64. In the next round they should face a tough, defensive-minded Wisconsin team. Rodney McGruder and Kansas State should cause some match-up problems for the Badgers. I see the Wildcats moving on. Can this Kansas State team beat Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen? Absolutely. But, I wouldn’t necessarily bet on it.

Safe Pick: Sweet Sixteen.

4.  Saint Louis

Not only has Saint Louis been a great story all year, but they’ve been good…really good. They’ve won 14 of their last 15 games and ran through VCU for the A-10 Championship. Saint Louis likes to get dirty on defense too. They rank in the top-10 in defense efficiency. Going into seeding, they were a popular choice to be a surprise final four team. It’s too bad they’ll have to go up against Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen.

Safe Pick: Sweet Sixteen. New Mexico State shouldn’t be a very tough match-up for the Bilikens, because New Mexico State is not very good. In the round of 32, they should face Oklahoma State. OSU is talented no doubt, but they’ve struggled to find consistency all year.

5. Michigan State 

This team is coached by Tom Izzo. It’s March. Need I say more? The Spartans have all the tools to get to the Final Four. Derrick Nix and Adrien Payne have developed into some of the country’s best forwards. Towards the end of the season, we got a glimmer  that Keith Appling may be returning to his old ways. Gary Harris is one of the country’s best shooters. Denzel Valentine and Branden Dawson are some of the best all-around glue players out there. They have all the pieces. Can they put it together in time?

Safe Pick: Sweet Sixteen. Valparaiso can really shoot the ball, but Michigan State closes out on shooters among the best in the country. They should be safe. In the next round they’ll most likely play Memphis, a team that hasn’t proved it can beat anyone all year. Tom Izzo is 17-3 in the first weekend of the tournament. That’s outrageous and it would be silly to pick against that.

6.  VCU

They say defense wins championships and the Rams play a whole lot of defense. Shaka Smart’s patented havoc system forces other teams to turn the ball over more than any other team in the country (and it’s not even close…VCU forces 2% more turnovers per possession that the next best team). The havoc system has caused a lot of problems for teams all year, just ask Butler.

Safe Pick : Round of 32. With Alex Abreu, one of the nation’s best ball handlers in terms of assist rates, out for Akron the Rams should breeze through their first round game. VCU has been the popular choice for dark-horse final four team. I’m not sure if I’d go that far. If Michigan advances it’ll be a tough draw for VCU, because Trey Burke never seems to be rattled.

Check back in tomorrow to learn more about out six teams you should only choose if you’re feeling bold.

Midwest Region 

It’s already been discussed by more than a few analysts, the Midwest region is by far the toughest. Louisville may be the overall no 1. seed, but if they want to make it to the final four they’re going to have to go against March perennials Michigan State or Duke or a red hot Saint Louis team. Also, don’t forget about 8-seed Colorado State. They’re the best rebounding team in the country and could give the Cards (or any team, really) fits inside.

1. #5 Oklahoma State vs. #12 Oregon:
Marcus Smart is one of the best players in the country. But, how will he perform in the tournament? He is just a freshman after all. The Cowboys have some explosive offensive weapons in Smart (15.4 ppg) , Markel Brown (15.6 ppg) and Le’Bryan Nash (14.2 ppg). Are OSU’s big three explosive enough to counter Oregon’s top-20 defensive efficiency rating? Oklahoma State hasn’t suffered a “bad loss” since December, but Oregon could be a tough draw. It’s generally agreed that Oregon got absolutely hosed on their seeding.  A 12-seed is a little too low for the Ducks. They won the Pac-12 tournament and they’re 21-4 with PG Dominic Artis in the lineup.

Prediction:  Marcus Smart shines on the biggest stage and Oklahoma State rolls the Ducks by eight.

2.  First Four Game: Middle Tennessee State vs. St. Mary’s 

What a great first four match-up. These two teams mirror each other in many ways. They each amassed over 27-wins this season playing a handful of mediocre teams. Both teams haven’t won when the pressure was really on. They each sweated it out today waiting for their name to be called. The difference is that St. Mary’s has senior Matthew Dellavedova. He’s been a star all season, averaging 15.8 points and 6.4 assists a game. Will he be able to orchestrate the offense through Middle Tennessee State’s physical defense? Will the Raiders be able to find enough offensively to put the St. Mary’s away?

Prediction:  Middle Tennessee State in a squeaker.

3. #7 Creighton vs. #10 Cincinnati:

This is an interesting match-up in that Creighton can score, but they can’t guard anyone. Cincinnati can defend but they can’t put the ball in the hole. Doug McDermott is one of the most potent offensive threats in the country, but this Creighton team has wobbled against tough competition all year. Led by McDermott’s incredible 63.7% effective FG percentage, the Bluejays shoot the ball better than anyone in the country. Cincinnati defends the jump shot as well as any team, ranking among the top-10 in defensive field goal percentage. If Cincinnati is taking away their shots, it will be interesting to see how Creighton will respond.

Prediction: McDermott scores 30, but Cincinnati’s defense proves too much for Creighton and the Bearcats win by five.

Check back in with CHJ all week for tournament analysis and predictions.

This is Gif City: a place where I round up the day’s top action in .gif form. Some of them are homemade, some are from around the web. Watch them, enjoy them, send them to your friends. This feature is not for those of you using a dial-up modem. Even if you have Google’s new fiber connection give the page a second to load, you patience will be rewarded. Have I been forGIFful and missed your favorite? Tweet me at @Brennan_Keller.

10. Jim Boeheim’s nose seems fun.

9. Jim Larranaga is video bombed by his own player. 

8.Prarie View Senior Jourdan DeMuynck saved the ball and (almost) a spot in the tournament with this heads-up play.

7. Who doesn’t love a Marshall Henderson gif? The kid is crazy. He does the Gator chomp on Florida after hitting a huge three.

6. Nobody has more passion for the game than Dickie V. He gets into it here. 

5. This was such a big play in the Big East Championship game. Siva finds Harrell for the throw down. 

4. Ben Howland expresses his displeasure by disrobing.

3. Carlos Emory collects the ball and sends it back home. 

2. That’s nasty. Sheldon Jeter slams all over Ole Miss. 

1. Elijah Johnson nutmegs his defender like it’s no big deal. 

See Gif City: Championship Week Edition – Part 2
See Gif City: Championship Week Edition – Part 1

This is Gif City: a place where I round up the day’s top action in .gif form. Some of them are homemade, some are from around the web. Watch them, enjoy them, send them to your friends. This feature is not for those of you using a dial-up modem. Even if you have Google’s new fiber connection give the page a second to load, you patience will be rewarded. Have I been forGIFful and missed your favorite? Tweet me at @Brennan_Keller.

7. The Kansas bench eats up their win over Iowa State.

6. Derrick Nix does a little dancing baseline dancing. 

5. Tim Hardaway Jr. finishes the oop and gives us a little salute.

4. Kentucky’s tournament hopes might have been grounded Friday, but Archie Goodwin was not. 

3. C.J. Fair throws it down over Otto Porter in the Big East semi-finals.

2. Keith Appling posterizes Devin Marble.

1. Victor Oladipo throws down the vicious 360 Slam.

See gifs from Champion Week (Part 1)

The Iona Gaels captured the MAAC tournament title with a 60-57 win over Manhattan at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Ma. (Photo courtesy of ICGaels.com)

Springfield, Ma. — People talk of a “plan.” We all need a plan to where we’re going in life, be it in work or just with our relationships with people.

When it comes to team sports, coaches lay a blueprint, a foundation for a program involving recruiting and developing chemistry with their players.

The Iona Gaels have a blueprint under coach Tim Cluess, who’s now in his third season as coach of the program.

In an day and age where games have bore more of a resemblance to an old-fashioned NHL hockey game with hard to watch half-court contests that result in games in the 50s to the 60s; Iona is a throwback to 20 to 25 years ago where teams weren’t afraid to take open shots and push the tempo both offensively and defensively.

And they’ve won with this exciting style of basketball under Cluess.

In his first year, he led Iona to the 2011 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title game as a No. 2 seed but lost to No. 4 St. Peter’s for the crown. Iona won 25 games that year.

Last year, led by point guard Scott Machado, forward Mike Glover and Arizona transfer Lamont “Momo” Jones, Iona coasted to the MAAC regular season title with a 15-3 mark and were heavy favorites going into the tournament. But an upset loss in the semifinals to Fairfield ended their conference tournament title dreams.

However, they were awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first MAAC school to receive an at-large bid since Manhattan in 1995. They played BYU in the first round, got up 24 points in the first half only to lose 78-72.

For this season, Iona had to replace guys like Machado and Glover off last year’s team. They were welcoming nine newcomers to the team.

But what do you do when you lose a newcomer prior to the season, not to injury, but to a tragic murder? How do you cope? How do you react?

Forward Michael Haynes from Chicago was suppose to replace Glover’s energy and rebounding down low. There were high hopes for the 6-foot-7 forward but his life was cut short a few days before he was to report to New Rochelle. According to reports, Haynes was shot in the wrist, chest and back while trying to break up a fight over a stolen necklace near his apartment on Chicago’s South Side.

“I don’t know how we’re going to cope with his loss,” Jones said with a few tears streaming down his face at Iona’s media day back in late October. “There is nothing we can do but to honor his memory by playing the way he did on the court — with energy and passion.”

Fast forward to a chilly March night, Iona has just defeated New York city rival Manhattan 60-57 to win the MAAC tournament title.

Iona came into the tourney as a No. 4 seed but for anyone that saw this team play in the regular season, it was no surprise they were the ones cutting down the nets at the MassMutual Center for their first MAAC tourney title since 2006.

Despite finishing the conference regular season with an 11-7 mark, look closely at the seven losses and that will tell you the tale of what Iona went through on the court. The losses all came by five points or less, including three in overtime, two of went to double overtime.

“I think all of the close games we were involved in, we spent so much time on end of game preparation,” Cluess said. “Every little detail we could possibly think of for our team to get two to three possession better. Our motto was to get better by one possession each week, so we could eventually turn those one or two point losses to a five or six point win.”

In the MAAC Tournament, Iona defeated fifth seed Canisius, a team that spent the bulk of the regular season in the top two of the standings, 89-85, and defeated regular season champs Niagara, 79-73 in the semifinals to make it to the title game. The first two games were played against teams that play up-and-down like Iona does.

But the title game against No. 6 Manhattan was a backyard brawl between the two schools separated by less than 10 miles. Iona, led by junior guard Tre Bowman’s 20 points and Jones with 14,  were able to withstand a furious Manhattan rally at the end for the victory.

“When the games are close, sad to say, just so many games we lost by one or two points, it’s like something crazy happens,” Iona junior guard Sean Armand said. “With one second left, I felt like someone going to tap the ball back and hit a 3 to go to overtime.”

Laughter broke out at the postgame presser; Cluess then looked at Armand and stated, “now you know how a coach feels like.”

A coach can’t control the final seconds of how a game will turn out despite the planning. Even for a team that dealt with so many close losses as Iona did during the regular season, something else was tougher to deal with, a constant reminder of how fortunate they were to be at that podium Monday night.

“When things were going bad, probably the last loss we had, I sat them down,” Cluess said. “I really put in the mindframe of having them to think ‘where is Mike now’ and in reality of where is and reality of his life cut short compared the lives they have had.

“I think that day, our guys took a step further in understanding of what really went on.”

Cluess touched upon the kinship that some of his players may have felt for Haynes, given the violence that permeates through the neighborhood where he came from.

“Not mentioning the name but it could be them because a lot of guys live in those types of neighborhoods,” Cluess said. “Every day we made sure that we not mentioned it just in passing but made sure we talked about it and so when times are tough, just think of how fortunate the opportunity you have that Mike is never going to have; I think our guys meant that and feels great to have that opportunity for him.”

Armand, the team’s second leading scorer at 16.6 a game (behind Jones’s 23 points), said when times were tough for the team in the season, the reminder was there, stitched upon the top portion of their jerseys.

“Every single day, every single set,” Armand said of Haynes. “In timeouts, we’ll say, ‘Five more seconds left, look at the patch on your shoulder. Three more seconds, look at the patch on your shoulder.’ The last timeout I said, ‘This is it, this is for Mike.’”

Regardless of where their road may end come the NCAA Tournament, Iona has accomplished something much more — they came together as a team for a fallen teammate.

And through the victory of life, they got something out of it — a foundation of friendship and family they will take with them for the rest of their lives.

Scrubbing the Seeds
Remember, we started HERE.  From there, I go down through all of the seed lines, using groups of three lines at a time.  The bottom of the bracket (lines 13-16) are the small one-bid leagues, whose tournaments have been marked by upsets of higher seeds and regular season winners.  The bottom of the bracket will be very diluted this year, which could lead to less parity than we were expecting with the lack of a dominant team all season.

Bracketing 101
If you’ve read my Bracketology updates here or at my personal blog, footballandbrackets.com, you’ll know that I adhere to the Bracketing Principles document that the Selection Committee uses. This makes bracketing the teams a little more difficult than you’d think.  First, let’s start with the “pods” – the sites of the Rounds of 64 and 32.  There are eight sites and two “foursomes” of teams at each pod.  Geographic preference is given to higher seeds.

Because I do this process each time I update the bracket, I have assigned pod sites for most of the teams (especially those in the top 10-12 overall seeds).  This time around, there were three new teams on the 4th line.

Arizona, Oklahoma State, and Marquette left spots open in San Jose, Austin, and Dayton.  It was very easy to slide UCLA into San Jose and Syracuse into Dayton.  The only problem was that Wisconsin is 1,221 miles from Austin.  Since Kansas State was slotted in Salt Lake City (1,001 miles), I moved them to Austin (only 675 miles) and shipped the Badgers to Salt Lake (1,355 miles).

Slotting the Field
Here are many of the nuances that went into building the bracket.  I’ll list each team and their region.  If no explanation is given, it’s because that place was chosen with geographic preference in mind or that the remaining region(s) were already used for that line.

• 1-line: Indiana – Midwest; Louisville – East; Gonzaga – West; Kansas – South
• 2-line: Miami – East; Duke – South; Michigan State – West (could not be with Indiana); Georgetown – Midwest (could not be with Louisville)
• 3-line: New Mexico – West; Michigan – East (must be in different region than Indiana and Michigan State); Ohio State – South (could not be with any Big Ten team above); Florida – Midwest
• 4-line: Wisconsin – East (could not be Midwest with Indiana also in top half of region); Kansas State – Midwest (could not be with Kansas); UCLA – West; Syracuse – South (could not be with Louisville or Georgetown)
• 5-line: Notre Dame – West (could not be in South or East with Syracuse and Louisville in top of regions); Saint Louis – Midwest (given preference over Notre Dame); Oklahoma State – East (could not be with Kansas or Kansas State); Arizona – South (could not be with UCLA)
• 6-line: Marquette – East (could not be in Midwest with Georgetown also in bottom half); UNLV – South (could not be with New Mexico); Colorado State – Midwest (could not be with New Mexico or UNLV); Butler – West (last remaining region; could not be with Saint Louis)
• 7-line: VCU – South (could not be with Saint Louis or Butler); NC State – Midwest (could not be with Miami or Duke); Oregon – East (could not be with UCLA or Arizona); Creighton – West (last remaining region)
• 8-line: Pittsburgh – Midwest (could not be in any other region with Big East teams in the top halves of each); Illinois – South (could not be in Each with Wisconsin in top half); North Carolina – East; Memphis – West
• 9-line: San Diego State – West; Oklahoma – Midwest (could not be in South or East with Kansas and Oklahoma State in top halves of those regions); Wichita State – East (could not be with Creighton); Missouri – South (could not be with Florida)
• 10-line: Minnesota - Midwest (only region without another Big Ten team in bottom half); Cincinnati – West (could not be in Midwest or East with Big East teams in the top halves of each); Iowa State – South (East also available but no A-10 teams in East yet); Temple – East
• 11-line: Villanova – South (only region with no Big East team already in the bottom); Boise State – East (only region with no Mountain West team already in the bottom); Colorado – West; Belmont – Midwest

Things got interesting at the 12-line.  Because three of the four pods with 12-seeds are far away from Dayton (San Jose, Salt Lake, and Austin), I’ve moved one of the First Four games to an 11-seed matchup.

I left my last two teams in – Middle Tennessee and Ole Miss – as 12-seeds in the South Region, playing in Philadelphia.  That created a problem, though, as Missouri was in the top half of that region.  Therefore, I switched Missouri and Wichita State, moving Mizzou to the East and Wichita to the South (a move that did not violate any bracketing principles).  The First Four game that will lead to an 11-seed is La Salle vs Cal. They easily fit in the Midwest Region, with the winner then playing in the Lexington pod in the Round of 64.

There you have it.  Hopefully, you enjoyed this “behind the scenes” look at building the bracket.  Check out the final product!  The bracket in pictures is also below. Click either half to enlarge.

This is Gif City; a place where I round up the day’s top action in .Gif form. Some of them are homemade, some are from around the web. Watch them, enjoy them, send them to your friends. This feature is not for those of you using a dial-up modem. Even if you have Google’s new fiber connection give the page a second to load, you patience will be rewarded. Have I been forGIFful and missed your favorite? Tweet me at @Brennan_Keller.

 9. The meltdown to end all meltdowns. The story behind this gif is incredible.

 8. With the season on the line, Xavier almost pulled off the shocker. It would have been the play of the year.

 7. With their win over Oklahoma Iowa State is going dancing. Looks like they got a little head start.

 6. Shabazz posterizes ASU defender.

5. Rodney Purvis fly’s through the lane

 4.  Brandon Paul kicks off the Big Ten Tournament with a game winner at the buzzer.

 3. All 6-8 of Ryan Anderson pulls the nasty behind the back move.

 2. Where should I even begin with this play by the Terrapins? There are literally five nice plays here.

1. Jordan McRae throws down the 360 slam, thing of beauty.