2012 NCAA Tournament Midwest Region
Wednesday, March 14-Sunday, March 25, 2012
All odds courtesy of Bovada
Though most of the attention in this bracket will be paid to North Carolina and Kansas, the Midwest Region has plenty of good teams that could challenge those two schools.The regionals are in St. Louis.
Here is a look at the teams in the region and their odds to win courtesy of Bovada. I will also take a look at some of the best games in the region, potential upsets, and my take on how the bracket will unfold.
Teams
North Carolina 7/5, Kansas 21/10, Georgetown 11/1, Belmont 18/1, Michigan 18/1, North Carolina St 20/1, Temple 20/1, San Diego St 30/1, St. Mary’s 30/1, Creighton 35/1, Alabama 40/1, California 50/1, Ohio 100/1, South Florida 100/1, Detroit 150/1, Lamar 200/1, Vermont 225/1
Best Second Round Games
California will take on South Florida in the first round Wednesday night. Both teams were among the last to get into the tournament. However, both have the potential to make a deep run in the tournament much like VCU did last year making it all the way to the Final Four.The winner will play Temple in the second round.
#8 Creighton will face #9 Alabama in a battle of teams with contrasting styles. Creighton loves to run and Alabama wants to play in the half court and slow things down. The winner will be the team that control the tempo.
#6 San Diego St of the Mountain West has a tough draw with #11 North Carolina St. The Aztecs tied with New Mexico St for the MWC regular season title. The Wolfpack are 22-12 this season and had won 4 straight games before a two point loss to North Carolina in the ACC semifinals.
#7 St. Mary’s of the West Coast Conference takes on #10 Purdue in the second round. St. Mary’s won both the WCC regular season and tournament titles.
Upset Alert
#3 Georgetown has a tendency to underachieve in NCAA tournaments and they face a veteran Belmont team that has a lot of seniors that have plenty of experience in the NCAA tournament. The Hoyas had better be careful or the Bruins could pull the upset.
#2 Kansas has a tough draw with #15 Detroit of the Horizon League. The Titans have narrow losses to Notre Dame, Mississippi St, and Alabama this season. The Jayhawks sometimes stumble against very high seeds, and could be in for a scare in the second round.
Predictions
#1 North Carolina will play the winner of Lamar and Vermont in Greensboro. The Tar Heels should win easily, though Lamar is coached by Pat Knight, the son of legendary coach Bob. The younger Knight took a page out of his father’s playbook several weeks ago in a rant against his players that became a viral sensation. Lamar has won six games in a row since then though to win the Southland automatic bid.
A North Carolina Creighton match-up would be interesting because both teams score 80 points a game and defense could be an afterthought in that contest. UNC wins though to go to the sweet 16.
I think #5 Temple could be vulnerable to an upset from the winner of Cal and South Florida. Michigan should be able to get by Ohio of the MAC, and make it to the regional semifinals.
I think both NC State and Belmont will upset San Diego St and Georgetown respectively. The Wolfpack will advance to next round.
After a scare Kansas will put away a pesky Detroit team late. Kansas could have another tough game in the third round with a St. Mary’s team that has been in the top 25 for most of the season. Kansas should have enough to get into the next round.
In the regional semifinals, North Carolina will beat Michigan, and Kansas will beat NC State.
That will set up a tasty regional final between Kansas and North Carolina in St. Louis. North Carolina is coached by former Kansas coach Roy Williams. In what is almost a home game for Kansas, the Jayhawks advance to the Final Four.
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