By: Mike Rifkin
The NCAA tournament begins today here is a preview for the Mid West region
Top Seeds
- Kansas
- Auburn
- Wisconsin
- Providence
- Iowa
Key first round matchup (8) San Diego St. Vs (9) Creighton: 8 vs 9 always brings a lot of intrigue. SDSU allows the fewest points per game at 57.7 points per game. Creighton averages 69.0 points per game. Expect a defensive battle. Matt Bradley for the Aztecs averages 17.0 points per game and shoots 41.6 percent from three.
Best 1st rd upset (11) Iowa St. over (6) LSU. LSU fired coach Will Wade due to NCAA violations. Iowa St. has not played well either down the stretch but I do expect them to upset the Tigers.
Surprise team to make a run: (14) Colgate: Last year Colgate gave Arkansas all they could handle in the first round. This year they play a Wisconsin team that lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. Colgate has won 19 of their last 20 games.
Player to watch: There are a lot to choose from Keegan Murray from Iowa, Johnny Davis from Wisconsin, Ochai Agbaji from Kansas. But I will go with Jabari Smith from Auburn. Smith averaged 17.1 points per game this season including averaging almost 24 points per game in the team’s final seven games. Smith also averages seven rebounds per game and shoots 42.8 percent from three. Smith is likely to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft.
Region Winner : (2) Auburn Tigers : They struggled down the stretch a little, but I don’t mind that this team has a lot of talent. With Smith and Walker Kessler who is a block machine Auburn has a good front court and they shoot 32.3 percent from three as a team. I like Bruce Pearl’s team to come out of this region.
The Sports Insanity Network 