Midwest Region
Michigan’s region is no slouch as there are some teams that are severely underseeded and teams that are hot at the right time.
I’ll talk more about Michigan below, but the Wolverines have been a top 10 team all season. But you also have Alabama, and their highly potent offense. Tennessee as a 6-seed is criminal. And Iowa State is playing great basketball right now, I would fear them very much.
A little further down the seed line, Saint Louis is a dangerous team out of the A10 and Santa Clara is in the tournament
for the first time since 1996, when they upset #2-Arizona. This should be a fun region.
Best Mascot
This one is obvious, right? The Zips of Akron is one of the best mascots in college sports. As per usual, college mascots come from strange places and typically take a weird turn. Originally, Akron was officially the Zippers. The Zippers were the brand name of a pair of rubber overshoes that were made by BF Goodrich at a facility in Akron. Eventually, it was shortened to the Zips and the mascot became a kangaroo.
So a rubber shoe covering to keep your wingtips clean & dry was naturally transitioned to a kangaroo who represents the “zippy” spirit of Akron athletics.
Fun fact…Zippy is one of the few (if not only) NCAA mascots who is exclusively female.
Players to Watch
Robbie Avila from Saint Louis has a unique look and is a unique player. The young man who’s been nicknamed Cream Abdul-Jabar or Larry Nerd, but these affectionate nicknames are really a compliment to how good he has been. Avila was named the A10 player of the year and led his Billikins to the regular-season title.
Nate Ament leads Tennessee and is a likely top-10 draft pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. In a season filled with multiple freshman stars, he may be the one you’ve heard about the least.
Preston Edmead and Cruz Davis from Hofstra combine for 36 points per game. Both shoot over 38% from three and they could make life very difficult for Alabama.
Obviously, Michigan’s starters are all going to get looks in the NBA, Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson is elite and Labaron Philon Jr. from Alabama is capable of carrying his team into the second weekend.
Potential Upsets
#12 Akron Zips over #5 Texas Tech Red Raiders
The Zips were overshadowed in the MAC by Miami-OH, but all along, they were the better team in that conference. They get a tough matchup with Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders lost 2nd team All-American, JT Toppin to injury, which makes this matchup less tough.
Akron is one of the best shooting teams in the tournament. They rank 14th nationally with a 38.5% three point percentage and rank 8th in effective FG% at 58.5%. They are not a very big team, but neither is Texas Tech, especially with Toppin out of the lineup. Christian Anderson is also elite, so it’s not like this team is devoid of talent.
#10 Santa Clara Broncos over #7 Kentucky Wildcats
Hard to believe this is the first NCAA Tournament for the Broncos in 30 years, but they find a way to get past the Wildcats for a much less dramatic upset win than their last dramatic upset win.
#13 Hofstra over #4 Alabama
I briefly mentioned above how The Pride have two guards who can really light it up. I’m looking forward to watching this team play. But they show up here because Bama is facing a bit of a challenge after their starting guard, Aden Holloway was arrested this week and will not be with the team. This makes life a little bit easier for Hofstra on both ends of the floor. Though I think Bama wins this anyway.
PrizePicks Lock
Hofstra’s Preston Edmead over 2.5 threes made.
I’m looking forward to this game. Either Hofstra’s guards are playing free and making threes while the pressure mounts on Bama. Or Bama is locked in, they make life hard on The Pride and Edmead has to shoot more threes in the second half to try and get back into this.
Tamin Lipsey of Iowa State over 18.5 Points+Rebounds
This may be one of the biggest blowouts of the first round, but Lipsey does damage on offense.
Who wins the Midwest: Michigan
I have been thoroughly impressed with Michigan since November. They had one hiccup against Wisconsin, they lost down the stretch to Duke and Purdue beat them this past weekend in Chicago. But for most of the season, they have been dominant.
- beat Auburn by 30
- beat Gonzaga by 40
- beat Villanova by 28
- beat San Diego State by 40
- won AT Michigan State by double-digits
- won AT Purdue by double-digits
- won AT Illinois by double-digits
- won AT Ohio State by 21
- beat UCLA by 30
Those are all top-50 teams!
My money is on Michigan to win this region and eventually they’ll avenge their loss to Duke and bring home the first National Championship for a Big Ten team since Michigan State in 2000.
Intriguing later-round matchups
#6 Tennessee vs #2 Iowa State
I think that the Volunteers will make their way to the Sweet 16 and get a chance to take down the Cyclones.
KenPom Efficiency Plot
To be used as a guide for your bracket decisions.
