
Now that we’ve broken down the West Region, let’s move on to talk about Kansas and the rest of the Midwest Region.
1-Kansas vs 16-Lehigh - Congrats to Lehigh for winning the Patriot League conference tournament. Their reward: a first round date with the best team in college basketball. Enjoy your short stay, MountainHawks. Rock Chalk Jayhawk will have this one in the bag by halftime. Next…
8-UNLV vs 9-Northern Iowa – These are two of the better defensive teams in this year’s tournament. Led by big man Jordan Eglseder and forward Adam Koch, Northern Iowa’s main objective is to slow the game down and limit its opponent’s possessions. While this isn’t your father’s Runnin’ Rebels (or Jerry Tarkanian’s for that matter), UNLV does have the ability to put up points in bunches, but can also play the slow-it-down half court style that Northern Iowa aspires to play. This is a really hard game to call. Northern Iowa is the better shooting team but UNLV is more athletic. Look for this to be one of the most closely contested games in the first round and I give Tre’Von Willis and UNLV a slight edge due to their overall advantage in athleticism.
5-Michigan State vs 12-New Mexico State – Few teams come into the Big Dance year after year better prepared for a deep run than Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans. Backing into the tournament with a 5-5 record over their last ten games, Michigan State just doesn’t seem to have it in them this season to make another deep run in March. The talent is clearly there, but due to injuries and inconsistencies, Kalin Lucas, Raymar Morgan, Draymond Green and the rest of the Spartans, haven’t been able to live up to the preseason hype that surrounded them. If they can put it together now, they have the talent to make a deep run. The New Mexico State Aggies possess a very high powered offense, but don’t play much defense. They added a new wrinkle to their attack when versatile sophomore forward Troy Gillenwater (14.4ppg, 6.3rpg) returned from academic suspension in late January. Jonathan Gibson (17.5ppg) and Jahmar Young (20.5ppg) make up one of the most explosive back-courts in the tournament. Call me crazy, but I’m picking the Aggies here to pull off the upset and just sneak by Michigan State.
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