East Region
This region comes down to precisely one thing – do you buy into the hype about John Wall and Demarcus Cousins? Kentucky comes into this region as the best team, and they are in a good position to make the Final Four and beyond, but only if their fab freshmen are as good as people say they are. Personally, I buy the hype. We’ve seen some impressive accomplishments from freshmen in the tournament in recent years – especially one frosh point guard from Memphis – and Wall is in the same ballpark as those that have risen to the occasion before him. Wall also has the benefit of a coach who is very used to hitting the tournament with a freshman running the point, and he has a fairly easy pod to star the tournament and get his feet wet. The first round will be a joke, and the second round will put the Wildcats up against one of two chronically flawed, horrifically underachieving teams. There’s no drama en route to the Sweet Sixteen.
The game I am most excited about in the first round in this region, and perhaps in the whole tournament, is Temple and Cornell. Temple is coming off a very good year, and is battle tested in a tough, deep A10 conference. They are also one of the hotter teams around. They have run into a very tough force in Cornell, though. The Big Red have won the Ivy League three years running, they have a pair of extremely talented seniors leading the way, and they have multiple ways to make teams hurt. They almost upset Kansas, and they are poised to pull off an upset here. There’s added intrigue in this game as well – when Penn coach Fran Dunphy was coaching at Penn, Cornell coach Steve Donahue was his assistant. That means that there will be few secrets between the teams, and more than just the second round on the line.
That’s the game I know I will enjoy. The game I hope I get to enjoy is New Mexico and West Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen. West Virginia is just a whole lot of fun to watch, especially now with Da’Sean Butler playing like Superman. Darington Hobson and New Mexico are even more fun to watch, and they play a great, great game. This would be one fantastic game. I’m not convinced that either team can beat Kentucky, but I’d sure like to see them try.
South Region
I don’t generally buy into conspiracy theories, but I could easily be convinced that something hinky is going on with the NCAA selection committee. How else do you explain that Duke, the fourth No. 1 seed, and a controversial one at that, somehow got not just the easiest region this year, but the easiest region we have seen in years? If Duke doesn’t make the Final Four then they have failed. Pure and simple. There isn’t a potential game they face that they won’t be significantly and deservedly favored in. Their biggest challenge probably looms in the second round when they face the winner of the Cal – Louisville team. Both of those squads are very well coached and can be dangerous, but they have both underachieved this year. If they get their act together then both – and especially Louisville – could make things uncomfortable for the Blue Devils.
Beyond Duke, the story in this group is dramatic flaws. Villanova is the most head-scratching No.2 in history after having lost five of their last seven. Scottie Reynolds is a proven tournament stud, but betting on him to pull this team out of a tailspin is something I sure won’t be doing. Baylor is an unknown, and could be playing in their hometown if they make the Elite Eight, but they have to overcome a lack of experience to do so. I like their chances of making that trip to Houston, but mainly because they play such a rough group of teams on the way there.
Purdue just makes me sad. With Robbie Hummel they were a Final Four team – a three headed monster that was almost impossible to contain over the long term. Without Hummel they are in real danger of losing in the first weekend. Purdue has never gotten the breaks they need to maximize the talent they have had over the last three or four years. A shame.
The best part of this region is the potential for a Cinderella to emerge into the second weekend. Utah State, Siena, Old Dominion and St Mary’s are all very nice double digit seeds that have a couple wins in them if all goes well. That possibility is the only thing that really makes this group watchable in the early stages.
