South Region

Less than one day away until the tip off of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The more I look at it, the more I think that this tournament could be one of the more interesting ones in the last few years, simply because of its uncertainty. No team is a heavy favorite entering this tournament, and anywhere from eight to twelve teams have a real, legitimate shot of cutting down the nets in April.

My last bracket breakdown features the South Region, which many people have been labeling as the weakest region of the four. However, I think this bracket has the potential to get crazy and produce some of the more memorable games of the tournament.



First Round Games to Watch

#4 Purdue vs. #13 Siena (Fri, 2:30 pm)

Many people are wondering whether or not Purdue can put up a fight after losing Robbie Hummel for the season with an injured knee. However, before you pencil in the Siena Saints as your upset special, be warned that this year's Saints team does not have a marquee win on their schedule. In fact, they lost virtually every big game that they scheduled out of conference. They do have experience though, which isn't something to take lightly. This game has generated a good bit of interest already, and is definitely one to keep tabs on Friday afternoon.


#7 Richmond vs. #10 St. Mary's (Thurs, 2:50 pm)

This game is not receiving as much hype as it deserves. Richmond is a very talented team who (like another A-10 conference team....ahem, Temple) has been flying under the radar most of the season. The Spiders are led by Atlantic-10 Player of the Year Kevin Anderson, and feature a very athletic starting lineup. St. Mary's is led by center Omar Samhan, who can play heads up with any big man in the nation. The Gaels play great team basketball, and finding the open man against a tough Richmond defense is a must if they want to have success. Whichever team comes out of this game the winner has a great chance of upsetting Villanova (the likely candidate to be the second round opponent for one of these teams), which makes this game all that more interesting to watch.


Team That Could Make a Run

Louisville

This team has all the tools to be a top seed. The problem is that they don't always seem to bring their A-game to the court. Regardless, Rick Pitino is one of the best in the nation at preparing his team for tournament games, and with the talent that he has at his expense, don't be surprised if Louisville knocks off top seeded Duke and rides that momentum all the way to the Final Four. The Cardinals are an extremely dangerous nine seed.


My Picks

First Round

#1 Duke over #16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
#9 Louisville over #8 California
#12 Utah State over #5 Texas A&M (upset alert)
#4 Purdue over #13 Siena
#11 Old Dominion over #6 Notre Dame (upset alert)
#3 Baylor over #14 Sam Houston State
#7 Richmond over #10 St. Mary's
#2 Villanova over #15 Robert Morris

2nd Round

#1 Duke over #9 Louisville
#12 Utah State over #4 Purdue (upset alert)
#3 Baylor over #11 Old Dominion
#2 Villanova over #7 Richmond

Sweet 16

#1 Duke over #12 Utah State
#2 Villanova over #3 Baylor

Elite 8

#1 Duke over #2 Villanova


Now that I've given you my regional champions, here are my picks for the Final Four games.

Final Four

National Semi-Finals

#1 Kansas over #2 Kansas State
#2 West Virginia over #1 Duke

Championship

#1 Kansas over #2 West Virginia


So, there you have it; my complete bracket for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. If you'd rather not scroll through my last three days of posts to find my picks (I'm with you; I wouldn't want to either), you can view all of my picks right here: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/entry?entryID=4299515.

Also, in an effort to attract more readers to my blog, I have decided to put up an NCAA Tournament widget that allows you to keep up on the tournament happenings right from the blog! I know...I'm going to be spending my entire day on the blog too...

Hopefully we are just hours away from experiencing a great March Madness. Good luck to all the teams participating.



- K. Becks

West and East Regions

Yesterday I covered possibly the most stacked region in the bracket. Today's regions are filled with a lot of talent as well. These two may actually be the more difficult regions to predict, due to various things such as injuries and past performances' of certain teams.


West Region

First Round Games to Watch

#5 Butler vs. #12 UTEP (Thurs, 4:45 pm)

Both of these teams feature players that will be exciting to watch. For Butler, guard Gordon Hayward and forward Matt Howard will try to counter the guard-forward attack of Randy Culpepper and Derrick Caracter. Both teams play pretty good defense, so Butler will need to hold on to the ball (they've had problems with turnovers this season) if they don't want to be one and done.


#6 Xavier vs. #11 Minnesota (Fri, 12:25 pm)

After Minnesota held Purdue to 11 first half points on their way to a 27 point drubbing of the Boilermakers, a lot of people jumped on the Gopher bandwagon (or, maybe just jumped off of the Purdue one). There is good reason for this, as Minnesota shoots the ball well and has capable big men in Damian Johnson and Ralph Sampson III. However, the Musketeers have their own playmaker in guard Jordan Crawford, who can single handedly change the outcome of a game. This game could come down to the last shot.


Team That Could Make a Run

BYU

This team has a very difficult path. If they manage to beat Florida in the first round, they would likely face Kansas State in the second round. It doesn't get any easier after that, either. However, BYU has an explosive offense headed by Jimmer Fredette who is a do-it-all talent (he has two 45+ scoring outputs this season). If they can continue to score at will and play decent defense, both things that they are capable of doing, they have a chance to ruin a lot of brackets after the first weekend.


My Picks

1st Round

#1 Syracuse over #16 Vermont
#8 Gonzaga over #9 Florida State
#5 Butler over #12 UTEP
#13 Murray State over #4 Vanderbilt (upset alert)
#6 Xavier over #11 Minnesota
#3 Pittsburgh over #14 Oakland
#7 BYU over #10 Florida
#2 Kansas State over #15 North Texas

2nd Round

#1 Syracuse over #8 Gonzaga
#5 Butler over #13 Murray State
#3 Pittsburgh over #6 Xavier
#2 Kansas State over #7 BYU

Sweet 16

#1 Syracuse over #5 Butler
#2 Kansas State over #3 Pittsburgh

Elite 8

#2 Kansas State over #1 Syracuse



East Region

First Round Games to Watch

#5 Temple vs. #12 Cornell (Fri, 12:30 pm)

This game should definitely be one of the more interesting games to watch on Friday. Cornell has been a popular pick to upset Temple, but Temple has been flying under the radar all season, and is pretty good in its own right. The Owls have wins over Villanova and Xavier, and Cornell played heads up all game long against Kansas earlier this season at the always tough venue Fog Allen Fieldhouse. The question will be, can Cornell shoot the three point ball well, or will Temple's extremely good perimeter pressure force Cornell into a bad shooting day?


#6 Marquette vs. #11 Washington (Thurs, 7:20 pm)

This game is on the "Games to Watch" list primarily because Washington has been playing well as of late and because Marquette has the talent to be a Final Four dark horse if they play to their potential. Washington loves to crank up the tempo on offense, and since Marquette doesn't exactly feature a lockdown defense, this game should produce a lot of points. It is also a real possibility that this game will come down to the final minutes, as Marquette leads the nation in playing in games decided by five or fewer points (with 16).


Team(s) That Could Make a Run

Marquette

As I mentioned above, Marquette has the talent to be a Final Four participant. Lazar Hayward is a stud, and Jimmy Butler helps carry the scoring load as well. The Golden Eagles do not have a very deep bench, but as long as they can stay out of foul trouble, that shouldn't affect them too much. Also, close games are bound to happen in the later rounds, and Marquette is battle tested in those type of games (refer to my statistic I included in the "Games to Watch" section).

New Mexico

A lot of people on the Eastern half of the country have not seen too much of the Lobos, which is why it is understandable that some people may think New Mexico is over-seeded. However, this team is the real deal. They have beaten six NCAA Tournament teams, and boast one of the most talented players in the tournament with guard Darington Hobson. It is unusual to think of a three seed making the Elite 8 as overly surprising, but if the Lobos do it, expect to see some eyebrows raised.


My Picks

1st Round

#1 Kentucky over #16 East Tennessee State
#8 Texas over #9 Wake Forest
#12 Cornell over #5 Temple (upset alert)
#4 Wisconsin over #13 Wofford
#6 Marquette over #11 Washington
#3 New Mexico over #14 Montana
#10 Missouri over #7 Clemson
#2 West Virginia over #15 Morgan State

2nd Round

#1 Kentucky over #8 Texas
#12 Cornell over #4 Wisconsin (upset alert)
#3 New Mexico over #6 Marquette
#2 West Virginia over #10 Missouri

Sweet 16

#1 Kentucky over #12 Cornell
#2 West Virginia over #3 New Mexico

Elite 8

#2 West Virginia over #1 Kentucky


Tomorrow I will break down the final region, the South Region. In related news, congratulations to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, who defeated Winthrop earlier tonight in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and won the right to play Duke in the First Round. Quite a prize, don't you think? Actually, I'm sure they're ecstatic to have extended their season.


- K. Becks