BY: SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
I’m not going to waste your guys time!
Yesterday I gave an overview of the West and South regions and today were running it back with the East and Midwest!
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East Region
Every year there’s always one region that becomes chaotic. In my opinion, the East Region is that region this season. The East Region is balanced from top to bottom, and seeds 1 through 9 are all great teams capable of making a run to the final four. Michigan, the No. 1 seed in this region, is one of the best teams in college basketball, but the recent injury to its second-highest scoring, Isaiah Livers, has made this region-wide open!
My favorite team in the East Region is the Alabama Crimson Tide, who recently won the SEC Championship. Former Buffalo basketball head coach, Nate Oats, has turned Alabama into a national powerhouse that plays an uptempo style of offense without sacrificing intensity on the defensive side. Alabama is one of those rare teams that can beat teams in a shootout or completely shut teams down on defense. Alabama has the second-best defensive efficiency in basketball while still playing at the 7th fastest pace and scoring the 18th most points in the country at 79.6 points per game.
Many people are scared off by Alabama because they claim the Crimson Tide “live and die by the three,” but that’s part of the reason I love Alabama. The Crimson Tide shoot a ridiculous 30.4 threes a game (1st in NCAA) and make 10.7 percent of them (2nd in NCAA). Combine that with a defense that forces 15.8 turnovers a game (27th in NCAA) and an effective shooting percentage of just 45.8% (10th in NCAA), and you have yourself a team with the potential to win the entire tournament!
The road for Alabama will not be the easiest, though, as it could match-up with No. 7 seed Connecticut in the round of 32 and No. 3 seed Texas in the Sweet Sixteen. These are also two teams that I think could make their own runs to the final four. Connecticut is, without question, the most dangerous No. 7 seed in this tournament. Led by potential NBA lottery pick James Bouknight, the Huskies are top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency and are among the more dangerous higher-seeded teams.
Texas is another team in this region that I love. The Longhorns have three very good guards (Andrew Jones, Matt Coleman, Courtney Ramey) and one of the more physically dominant big men, Jericho Sims, a walking double-double. Texas is another team that has a great balance of offense and defense, and its dominance on the glass (38.7 rebounds a game) could be a deciding factor in close tournament games.
The 4 and 5 seeds in this region, Florida State and Colorado, are two other teams that I can really see in the final four. Both teams are built very similarly with great size, athleticism and can shoot the ball very well from the perimeter. The 8 and 9 seeds in this region are also not to be slept on as LSU has the explosive offense, and St. Bonaventure has the efficiency and balance to give Michigan a big challenge in the second round.
First Round Predictions: (subject to change)
No. 1 Michigan over No. 16 Mt. St. Mary’s/Texas Southern
No. 8 LSU over No. 9 St. Bonaventure
No. 5 Colorado over No. 12 Georgetown
No. 4 Florida State over No. 13 UNC Greensboro
No. 11 Michigan St (if they beat UCLA) over No. 6 BYU
No. 3 Texas over No. 14 Abilene Christian
No. 7 Connecticut over No. 10 Maryland
No. 2 Alabama over No. 15 Iona
Midwest Region
The Midwest region has the potential to be a lot of fun. The one seed Illinois is arguably the hottest basketball team currently, and many people have pegged the Fighting Illini as their pick to win the championship. The potential first pick in the NBA draft, Cade Cunningham, is also in this region, and he and the No. 4 seed Oklahoma State will look to make a championship run of their own.
It’s impossible to talk about this region without mentioning Illinois. Illinois has two of the best basketball players in Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, who can take over the game at any time. What makes Illinois so scary is that many teams don’t have the combination of the dominant big man and elite guard to match-up with Dosunmu and Cockburn. As a team, Illinois is ranked 7th in offensive efficiency and 5th in defensive efficiency, aka its elite in both areas. Illinois has the most quadrant 1 wins in the entire country and is coming into the tournament winners of seven straight with 6 of those wins over teams in the tournament. It’s tough for me to imagine a final four without Illinois in it.
If there was one team in this region that could knock Illinois off, look no further than the No. 4 seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys. Oklahoma State is lead by the future number one draft pick Cade Cunningham who has gotten pro comparisons to Luka Doncic and a smaller but better shooting Ben Simmons. Cunningham is averaging 20.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game on the year and has been the Cowboys’ driving force. Oklahoma State has the second most quadrant 1 victories proving it can beat anybody and will be no pushover if it were to face Illinois.
The bottom half of the East Region is a bit more difficult to decipher, starting with the No. 2 seed Houston Cougars, who are elite when looking at statistics. Houston is ranked 8th in offensive efficiency and 16 in defensive efficiency. Houston shoots very efficiently, rarely turns the ball over, and plays elite defense holding its opponents to just 37.6% shooting (1st in NCAA). The only thing that scares me about Houston is its schedule. The Cougars are in the American conference that had a down year and only got two tournament teams. Despite having a 24-3 record, Houston has only 2 wins over tournament teams (Texas Tech, Wichita State).
One team that could match-up well vs. Houston and can be a sleeper team this tournament is the No. 6 seed San Diego State Aztecs. San Diego State has everything I love in a tournament team. Winners of 14 straight, the Aztecs are elite on both defense and offense, shoot the ball very well from three-point range, and force their opponents into many mistakes.
The No. 3 seed West Virginia is another team that can get to a final four. Led by the do it all guard Miles McBride, West Virginia can play with anyone. The Mountaineers have the perfect balance of dominant big men and elite guards and gave Gonzaga its toughest test all season. West Virginia also took Baylor to overtime and although the Mountaineers lost both of these games, they showed they were capable of beating the best of the best.
First Round Predictions: (subject to change)
No. 1 Illinois over No. 16 Drexel
No. 9 Georgia Tech over No. 8 Loyola Chicago
No. 5 Tennessee over No. 12 Oregon St
No. 4 Oklahoma St. over No. 13 Liberty
No. 6 San Diego St. over No. 11 Syracuse
No. 3 West Virginia over No. 14 Morehead St.
No. 10 Rutgers over No. 7 Clemson
No. 2 Houston over No. 15 Cleveland St.
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