Tournament Midwest Region Breakdown

For all tournament related coverage, click here.

Favorite:

Florida in a land slide.

Sleeper:

UNLV. Even though they are terribly underseeded at 7, they lucked out by facing the worst two seed in the tournament..or Texas A&M Corpus Christi, if they can get by Tech.

Major Sleeper:

Despite being very inconsistent in the regular season, Arizona has one of the best starting fives in the country. If they get past Purdue, depth could become an issue against the Gators, but there's no question they have the scoring punch to hang with Florida.

Top Two Games:

#6 Notre Dame vs #11 Winthrop
#7 UNLV vs #10 Georgia Tech

The Games:

#1 Florida vs #16 Jackson State

Jackson State is glad they finally have their best post player Jeremy Caldwell somewhat healthy after missing him on and off for the past month and some. That way he doesn't have to watch from the bench as Jackson State gets smoked by 20. For all the talk of Trey Johnson, he really didn't play that well down the stretch for the Tigers other than the SWAC tournament.

Florida 88 Jackson State 63

#2 Wisconsin vs #15 Texas A&M Corpus Christi

I so badly want to pick the Islanders here because I think Wisconsin's going out early in this tournament anyways. Texas A&M CC has the size to match the Badgers, particularly without Butch, and have the backcourt to complement it. This is going down to the buzzer.

Wisconsin 69 Texas A&M Corpus Christi 68

#3 Oregon vs #14 Miami ( OH )

Well, I'd certainly call this one a clash of styles. Miami wants to slow, slow, slow it down and Oregon wants to get out in transition. Like a few others, I have a funny feeling about this game. I don't think Oregon will necessarily control all of the game tempo which could mean this one goes down to the wire.

Oregon 72 Miami ( OH ) 65

#4 Maryland vs #13 Davidson

Davidson is about as talented as any mid major you can find this season. They've got depth, size, a good frontcourt and backcourt. In fact, to nobody's surprise, I think Davidson can certainly get to the Sweet 16. However, Maryland's experienced and athletic frontcourt could cause some problems for Davidson. The Wildcats can't let point guard Greivis Vasquez get going.

Maryland 76 Davidson 73

#5 Butler vs #12 Old Dominion

Old Dominion's stout defense and quality backcourt will give Butler fits. Butler has suffered cold shooting woes for over a month now and they're not facing a team that's likely to give them many open looks. They're going to have a wail of a time trying to guard ODU's PF Valdas Vasylius.

Old Dominion 66 Butler 61

#6 Notre Dame vs #11 Winthrop

Most everybody's darkhouse candidate, Winthrop, is going to have a really tough time trying to stop Notre Dame inside. Craig Bradshaw is their best interior player, but he's still far more of a face up shooter than a post up player. Winthrop has the most quality depth of any mid major this season, but it's going to be a challenge for them to matchup defensively with the Irish's Rob Kurz, Luke Harangody, and Zach Hillesland. If you zone to stop the entry passes, Notre Dame can shoot you to death from the perimeter. If Winthrop plays man to man, Notre Dame could feast on the inside. Even so, Winthrop has plenty of scoring options themselves on the other end and will keep this very close until the finish.

Notre Dame 79 Winthrop 75

#7 UNLV vs #10 Georgia Tech

UNLV's senior-laden team is ready to prove the committee wrong after being underseeded. I'll take UNLV's experience over Georgia Tech's freshmen led team. Whoever wins this is going to the Sweet 16 in my opinion. Wisconsin certainly wasn't done any favors as the 2 seed in this bracket.

UNLV 81 Georgia Tech 77

#8 Arizona vs #9 Purdue

It's amazing Purdue got a 9 seed. I guess their reward was playing one of the most talented teams in the country right off the bat and possibly getting a chance at THE most talented team in the country in the second round. They won't get that opportunity.

Arizona 79 Purdue 64