2013 March Madness - Midwest Region (First Weekend)

The Midwest region is home to the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Louisville Cardinals. Headlining the region with them are legendary programs with legendary coaches, #2 seed Duke and Mike Kryzyzewski and #3 Michigan State and Tom Izzo. Otherwise, at least on paper, this region is pretty devoid of star power. On paper it looks like this region will go mostly chalk, but often times in the NCAA Tournament looks can be deceiving.


Best Game: #5 Oklahoma State vs. #12 Oregon

Many were surprised when the Ducks were given a 12th seed after winning the Pac-12 Tournament and finishing 12-6 in the league. The committee admitted that for bracketing purposes, the Ducks had to slide to a 12 instead of an 11, but that is still a pretty low seed. Oregon doesn't have any single dominant scorer, instead they receive most of their scoring from six different players. Forwards E.J. Singler and Carlos Emory lead the team in scoring, but the Ducks best overall player is arguably forward Arsalan Kazemi who nearly averaged a double double in scoring and rebounding. The Ducks are a strong rebounding and defensive team, which could give the Cowboys trouble and their run and gun style. While the Ducks rely more on their big men, the Cowboys are guard heavy, led by Marcus Smart and Markel Brown. Forward Michael Cobbins is the Cowboys best hope of matching Kazemi on the boards, but its likely Oklahoma State will just have to accept that Kazemi might have a big game. Both these teams average over 70 points a game, so it should be a relatively high scoring, entertaining game.


Player to Watch: Duke forward Ryan Kelly

No player seemed to make more of a difference to his team's fortunes than Kelly. Duke was 18-1 with him and just 9-4 without him. His presence completely opened things up for Mason Plumlee and without him Plumlee's stats plummeted at times. People are jumping off the Duke bandwagon quickly after their surprising loss to Maryland in the ACC Tournament, but with Kelly back healthy, Duke might be primed to make a long run in the Tournament.


Best Potential Game: #2 Duke vs. #7 Creighton

This game would be fun to watch to see how Doug McDermott would fare against Duke, especially Plumlee and Kelly. Creighton is one of the best shooting teams in the country, and if they caught fire, along with Seth Curry for Duke, this game would be a constant heat check.

Lowest Seed to Make It Through Weekend: #4 Saint Louis

The Billikens are one of the hottest teams in the country and play absolutely suffocating defense. They have won fifteen of their last sixteen games and continuously hold their opponents under 60 points. Some people might like Oregon to make it out of the first weekend but I think they will fall to Oklahoma State. Memphis is the only other higher seed with a real chance, but they have feasted on nobodies all season, and I believe they will be overmatched by Michigan State in the Third Round.


Predictions

First Round

#16 Liberty over #16 North Carolina A&T

#11 Middle Tennessee State over #11 St. Mary's


Second Round

#1 Louisville over #16 Liberty


#9 Missouri over #8 Colorado State

#5 Oklahoma State over #12 Oregon

#4 Saint Louis over #13 New Mexico State

#6 Memphis over #11 Middle Tennessee State

#3 Michigan State over #14 Valparaiso

#7 Creighton over #10 Cincinnati

#2 Duke over #15 Albany


Third Round

#1 Louisville over #9 Missouri

#4 Saint Louis over #5 Oklahoma State

#3 Michigan State over #6 Memphis

#2 Duke over #7 Creighton