2010 MIDWEST REGION PREDICTIONS
The predictions below are my own personal analysis and no particular degree of confidence should be placed in any of them. I highly recommend using my friends at Team Rankings' Bracket Brains product instead--those guys are the real experts.
MIDWEST REGION - Saint Louis, MO
1 Kansas
16 Lehigh
8 UNLV
9 Northern Iowa
Kansas
Northern Iowa
5 Michigan State
12 New Mexico State
4 Maryland
13 Houston
Michigan State
Maryland
3 Georgetown
14 Ohio
6 Tennessee
11 San Diego State
Georgetown
San Diego State
7 Oklahoma State
10 Georgia Tech
2 Ohio State
15 UCSB
Oklahoma State
Ohio State
Kansas
Maryland
Georgetown
Ohio State
Kansas
Georgetown
Regional Champ
Kansas
Kansas
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE MIDWEST REGION
- SLEEPER ALERT: In any other region, I might have taken San Diego State to the Sweet 16, or even the Elite Eight. Love that Steve Fisher's team has won in a number of ways this year, and they've done especially well against up-tempo teams like New Mexico and UNLV--very similar to the style that Tennessee employs game-in and game-out.
- Possible James Anderson vs. Evan Turner matchup in round two. Wow. I am salivating already. But don't count out Georgia Tech to pull a first-round upset of the Cowboys. That team has "Final Four talent" according to Jay Williams. Unfortunately, they've had NIT decision-making most of the year.
- Michigan State could have been a stylish 5-12 upset pick against Cornell or Utah State but I give them a pretty fair chance to say the least against New Mexico State.
- I've been on the Jayhawks' bandwagon since before the season started, and I'm not about to get off now. KU will cut down the nets first in Saint Louis, and then Indianapolis.