Bracketology is back and so is the NCAA Basketball Tournament and this year has lots more diversity with plenty of mid majors added into the mix. There has never been a NCAA mens basketball tourney with this much diversity and I am happy that lots of mid majors have been given the chance to shine and that finally Gonzaga is no Cinderalla team. Lets take a look at some of the matchups and who I think will make it to the Final Four and win the whole thing.
East
I don’t see any team beating Tyler Hansborough and the deep and talented Tarheels. The sleeper teams I think can move on are George Mason, Boise State, and Butler definitely can take out Tennessee.
Midwest
This region definitely has some good teams in Kansas, USC, Georgetown, Wisconsin, and even some tough 6-10 teams as well. There are several teams that can win this bracket and make it into the Final Four.
The first matchup I noticed in the Midwest bracket was the USC vs Kansas State game. Whoever setup the games really knew people will love to see two of this years best Rookies, O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley, battle it out. USC has a slight advantage but never count Beasley and the Wildcats out.
Davidson played North Carolina and Duke tough and could beat Gonzaga but Georgetown should beat who ever is on the bottom bracket. Although a Georgetown and Wisconsin defensive matchup would be fun to watch.
There are a lot of teams in the top bracket like Vanderbilt, UNLV, and Clemson being able to knock off number 1 seed Kansas. Vanderbilt has Ogilvy and Foster that can really change the course of any game, Clemson has Mays and Hammond who were close to beating North Carolina twice, and UNLV is a great sleeper team with coach Kruger getting the most out of a talented team.
South
The south bracket has Memphis in the top portion and Texas in the bottom portion. Both teams are super talented but Memphis has an easier task to get to the Regionals. Memphis might have to play Mississippi State which is a very deep and talented group that can take them out as well as a Michigan State team that could be very tough if they get in stride. I like both of these two teams and their chances of making it to the Final Four.
Texas’s biggest challenge will be St. Mary who I think will beat Miami and then Stanford. I think Cornell has a chance to upset them though so Texas might be a solid pick to make it to play Memphis. If Cornell can keep from getting totally dominated inside and can stay hot shooting, then Stanford may get bounced in the first round.
West
No one should beat UCLA in the west bracket except my sleeper team Drake. I love Drake and watched a few of their games. The team has talent and could beat UConn to play UCLA. Drake is definitely a great Cinderella team.
The bottom portion of the west bracket, you have to name Duke but I think West Virginia will beat them in a 3 point shoot out. If Georgia can ride that winning streak with the same passion they had in the SEC tournament, they might be able to take out Xavier and more. They beat Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Arkanas which are all teams in the tournament and to think that they can’t beat Xavier or whoever is next is dumb. This is what the NCAA tournament is all about, surprising teams that make the most unlikely happen.
For people needing to fill out their brackets, ESPN, Yahoo, and CBS Sportsline all have brackets where you can win money and many online sports books do to.