Monday, March 12, 2012

Sportz Assassin's Midwest Region Preview



TEAM TO BEAT: North Carolina. While the pre-season favorite showed some flaws during the season, this is still a team with five players who will be playing in the NBA very soon. They are one of the highest scoring and top rebounding teams in the nation and are big at every position.

TEAM THAT WILL WIN THE REGION: North Carolina. This looks like a collision course for UNC and Kansas. That will be a great game and the Jayhawks will have a home court advantage of sorts, but the Tar Heels stayed in school for a reason.

TEAM TO WATCH FOR (LESS THAN A NO. 3 SEED): Creighton. The Blue Jays kind of got screwed with getting the 8th seed. Still, they should beat Alabama and can give UNC all they can handle. With Doug McDermott leading them and a team that loves to run like the Heels, Creighton is capable of downing Carolina and then getting far into the tournament. McDermott was a high school teammate of Harrison Barnes.

YOUR CINDERELLA: NC State. The last team announced sat squarely on the bubble. Still, this is a team that can do some damage. They have a lot of talent and and NBAer in waiting in CJ Leslie. They also have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. They can upset SD State and give Georgetown some fits. From there, who knows?

WORST SEEDING ERROR: Creighton. They were a pretty dominant team (28-5) that won the Missouri Valley Conference and has one of the nation's top scorers. Drawing the No. 8 seed and possibly getting Carolina in the second round is a bit of a shame.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Kansas. Both North Carolina and Kansas have great home court advantages in the first weekend ... Greensboro and Omaha, respectively. But if they do indeed meet in the regional final, the Jayhawk faithful will be in full bloom in St Louis.

MUST WATCH GAME: Georgetown vs Belmont. Belmont is tournament experienced and almost beat Duke earlier in the year. You never know what you're going to get with Georgetown.

MUST WATCH (POTENTIAL) THIRD ROUND GAME: North Carolina vs Creighton. Maybe I'm thinking too highly of Creighton, but this could turn into quite a barn burner.

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