Skip to content
College Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Midwest Region breakdown

    by Dick Jerardi
    Published 

First-round schedule
Thursday, March 18
At Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, R.I.
Georgetown (23-10) vs. Ohio (21-14)
Tennessee (25-8) vs. San Diego State (25-8)

At The Ford Center, Oklahoma City
Kansas (32-2) vs. Lehigh (22-10)
UNLV (25-8) vs. Northern Iowa (28-4)

Friday, March 19
At The Bradley Center, Milwaukee
Ohio State (27-7) vs. UC Santa Barbara (20-9)
Oklahoma State (22-10) vs. Georgia Tech (22-12)

At Spokane Arena, Spokane, Wash.
Maryland (23-8) vs. Houston (19-15)
Michigan State (24-8) vs. New Mexico State (22-11)

My pick to win it: Kansas was the best team all season. Its defense is good enough to win even when its offense is not. If it is KU against Georgetown or Ohio State in the regional final, that is some game. The KU fans will pack the Dome in Saint Louis for the regionals, giving them a nice homecourt-like edge.

Dark horse: Oklahoma State. Any team with Big 12 Player of the Year James Anderson is dangerous. OSU has a lot of offense.

Obvious rout: Another Kansas team lost to Patriot champion Bucknell. This KU team won't be losing to Patriot champ Lehigh. In fact, the Jayhawks might win by 40.

Upset special: San Diego State over Tennessee. Did not like how the Vols played when eliminated from the SEC Tournament by Kentucky. And the Aztecs are playing best ball of the season.

Looking forward to: Georgetown-Ohio State in the Sweet 16. These are two Final Four-caliber teams. Player of the year Evan Turner vs. all of Hoyas' great players would be something to see.

Questionable seeding: No. 4 Maryland had a great late-season run, but you wonder about it being seeded higher than teams that were good all season, such as Butler and Temple, especially since the Terps lost in the ACC quarterfinals.

Players you'll love to watch: Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich (Kansas), Evan Turner (Ohio State), Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Greivis Vasquez (Maryland), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State), James Anderson (Oklahoma State), Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors (Ga. Tech), Aubrey Coleman (Houston), C.J. McCollum (Lehigh).