Tournament South Region Breakdown

For all tournament related coverage, click here.

Favorite:

Texas A&M might play the best defense in the tournament and that's saying something when UCLA, Florida, and Georgetown are also taking part in it. The Aggies also have one of the easier roads to the Final 4 if they can possibly get by Louisville in an away game atmosphere.

Sleeper:

Louisville, like I mentioned above, will have the great benefit of playing in Lexington for the first two rounds. It doesn't hurt to be as talented as they are either.

Major Sleeper:

Long Beach State won't fear anybody, particularly a Tennessee team that will attempt to run with them. That might be a mistake against one of the best up and down teams in the country. If Long Beach State were to get past the Vols, they would face another guard heavy team the 49ers could take advantage of.

Top Two Games:

#5 Tennessee vs #12 Long Beach State
#7 Nevada vs #10 Creighton

The Games:

#1 Ohio State vs #16 Central Connecticut State

Central Connecticut State has a really nice starting 5 for a 16 seed that they rely heavily on, but Ohio State's size in the paint will be far too much.

Ohio State 79 Central Connecticut State 59

#2 Memphis vs #15 North Texas

North Texas is a lot like Memphis in that they start a very big and athletic lineup, play at a fast tempo, and can't shoot free throws. Oh, but Memphis plays defense.

Memphis 83 North Texas 62

#3 Texas A&M vs #14 Pennsylvania

The Quakers have enough offense to make this a closer game for a half, but Texas A&M has far too many big men for Penn to handle. It doesn't help when you're 236th in the country in rebounding.

Texas A&M 71 Pennsylvania 55

#4 Virginia vs #13 Albany

I really think there's a good possibility for an upset here. Virginia is probably overseeded and doesn't have the inside game to make Albany pay for their smallish lineup. Albany comes close for a second straight year.

Virginia 73 Albany 69

#5 Tennessee vs #12 Long Beach State

The best thing Tennessee does - press to create turnovers and quicken the tempo - is the exact wrong thing to do against the 49ers. Not only will Long Beach State break that press, but they'll probably drain a three on the other end. Tennessee might not be able to exploit LBSU's small frontcourt either because they lack size of their own. In a guard heavy game, I'll take Long Beach State - Chris Lofton or not on the other side.

Long Beach State 84 Tennessee 82

#6 Louisville vs #11 Stanford

No matter what Pitino says, the home crowd in Lexington will be a factor. Stanford is getting a bad rep for barely sliding into the tournament, but they're actually playing pretty well recently - dropping a few really close games. Louisville has David Padgett they can match on to one of Stanford's 7 foot Lopez twins, but what happens if he gets in early foul trouble? I really can't wait to see how the Cardinals handle Stanford's huge frontcourt.

Louisville 75 Stanford 73

#7 Nevada vs #10 Creighton

Creighton doesn't have a lot of depth or scoring options, other than G Nate Funk or C Anthony Tolliver. The Blue Jays won't be able to defend Nick Fazekas as they don't have a big man athletic enough or used to covering so much area on the court. Nate Funk must have a big game for Creighton to win, but he's going to face a really good defensive guard from Nevada no matter who rotates on him.

Nevada 73 Creighton 66

#8 BYU vs #9 Xavier

Like their MWC partner UNLV, BYU got badly underseeded at 8. What more could they have done to pass teams like 7 seeds Indiana and Boston College? Well, their early season loss to Lamar was pretty bad. Still though, this Cougars team is really good and can cause trouble in the second round for Ohio State.

BYU 76 Xavier 71