Sportz Assassin's West Region Preview

TEAM TO BEAT: Kansas. The Jayhawks are the defending champs and many feel they are truly the best team in the nation. If not for their loss (and a big loss at that) in the Big 12 title game, they'd be the overall No. 1 seed. 

TEAM THAT WILL WIN THE REGION: Gonzaga. I want to say Kansas and I believe they will get to the Final Four. However, there are so many trends that say Kansas won't do that, so I'm going elsewhere. UCLA has injury isssues so I'm going with a very, very talented Gonzaga that is laying in the weeds. 

TEAM TO WATCH FOR (LESS THAN A NO. 3 SEED): TCU. The Horned Frogs can score the ball and they have a 23-point win at Kansas on their resume.  I'm well aware that they could face my "team that will win the region" in the second round, but TCU is that kind of team that can connect on a big swing. 

YOUR CINDERELLA: VCU. There are a lot of tantalizing options in the West, but VCU is my choice. They love the press and pressure the ballhandlers and will go against a Saint Mary's team that wants to play slow. That's an interesting game. The can use the same formula to get by UConn the next round.   

WORST SEEDING ERROR: VCU. I wouldn't call this an error as much as an unfortunate issue that comes with how the tournament is structured. Since VCU is an automatic qualifier, they cannot be placed in the First Four ... which took one of the 11 seeds from them. Because of that, the Rams were knocked down to a 12 seed.     

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: UCLA. The Bruins start in Sacramento and then on to Las Vegas. No doubt they've got a great home court advantage. 

MUST WATCH GAME: Saint Mary's vs VCU. Like I mentioned earlier, this VCU-Saint Mary's game should be so interesting to break down.  

MUST WATCH (POTENTIAL) SECOND ROUND GAME: Kansas vs Arkansas.  Arkansas has two lottery picks on its team and while the Razorbacks are wildly inconsistent, they also have the talent to take down a No. 1 seed. This should be a great one if it happens.