2008 NCAA TOURNAMENT PREDICTIONS

MIDWEST REGION - Detroit, MI

1 Kansas

16 Portland St

8 UNLV

9 Kent State

Kansas

Kent State

5 Clemson

12 Villanova

4 Vanderbilt

13 Siena

Clemson

Vanderbilt

3 Wisconsin

14 CSU Fullerton

6 USC

11 Kansas St

Wisconsin

USC

7 Gonzaga

10 Davidson

2 Georgetown

15 UMBC

Davidson

Georgetown

Kansas

Clemson

USC

Georgetown

Kansas

USC

Regional Champ
Kansas

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE MIDWEST REGION

SLEEPER ALERT: USC has been my sleeper for about the last month. Having seen the Trojans in person this year, I can tell you that they have all the pieces to reach San Antonio. They're playing their best basketball in the last three weeks of the year, match up well with both Wisconsin AND Georgetown inside, and can play defense with the best teams in the nation.
The Clemson-Villanova game should be one of the best of the first round. Whichever team comes out of this one is my Sweet 16 pick from this pod. Vandy is overseeded, and is a different team away from home.
Davidson in Raleigh should be a no-brainer against Gonzaga...they're more than just Stephen Curry.
Georgetown is a great team, but I can't take them over both my sleeper and my pre-season National Champion pick.
I love Kansas' team depth, their ability to play a number of different styles (see: 59-55 victory over USC, 109-point outburst against Texas Tech), their defense, their talent. Everything except their coaching...but this is the year Bill Self finally proves everyone wrong. He's a great coach, and by sheer odds should cut the nets down this year.