March Madness: West Region Preview...

I don't 100% think that Kansas is going to come out of the Midwest Region. But I definitely have more confidence in that happening than picking any team in this region. Don't get me wrong, this blog loves the Orangemen of Syracuse, but the Onuaku injury makes me feel a bit uneasy about picking them to roll off four straight wins. Not to mention that they got shipped way out West to Salt Lake City, which I'm sure is not a place where there is a plethora of Cuse fans. But the list of challengers in this region isn't exactly inspiring. Kansas State (aka "Oh I'm sorry, did you mean Kansas?"') has a talented backcourt in guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, but has no significant tournament experience. Pitt's Jamie Dixon is one of the best coaches in the country, but he lost a lot of talent from last year's team. Is this group of relatively new faces ready to shine on the biggest stage? They lost their opening-round Big East tournament game, and many analysts don't even think they will make it of of their Milwaukee early round games.

Other observations on this region:
-The lack of a clear-cut pick in this region makes for some exciting early round games. Gonzaga vs. Florida St., Butler vs. UTEP, Xavier vs. Minnesota, and even Vanderbilt vs. Murray St. are all games that could definitely go either way. Be sure to pick some upsets, but good luck figuring out which ones.
-A sleeper team could be BYU. They get to play a Florida team that might have payed off the selection committee to receive a ten seed. If they can get by Kansas State, they will also be playing the rest of the way in front of a BYU crowd in Salt Lake City. It's extremely tough to win on BYU's home turf (even if this isn't technically it). They also have a stud guard whose name is Jimmer Fredette. Props to his parents on that one.

Like I've said, no easy choice here, but I'll go with K-State (sorry Rockstar). In the event that they play Syracuse, they have the size and athleticism to match up with Cuse. And neither team has much depth, so that matchup is practically a wash. Plus, fear the beard!!!