2013 March Madness Bracketology: West Region

Gonzaga: Cinderella no more. Is 2013 the year of the Bulldogs? (Connormah)

If Gonzaga’s going to make history, now’s the time. The West Region’s #1 seed presides over a bracket full of streaky teams, teams that defend and can’t score, teams that score and can’t defend, and one stern test. That test? The Ohio State Buckeyes. Trouble is, with teams like New Mexico and Wisconsin lurking out there, one can’t be sure that #1 and #2 will meet in the Elite Eight.

First things first – the seeding is reasonable in this bracket. No one can really complain about getting screwed by the committee here; sure, Ole Miss won the SEC Tournament, but they didn’t do much else of note this year (and were a bubble team before the SEC finals). Kansas State and Wisconsin had nice regular seasons (K-State shared the Big 12 regular season title), but both faltered in key moments.

The wild card of this bracket is New Mexico. The Lobos played an astounding TEN tournament teams during the regular season, and won’t be intimidated by anyone. Potential future matchups against Arizona, Ohio State and Gonzaga will all be interesting. How far can the 3-seed go in this bracket? That’s really up to Kendall Williams and the Lobos.

Round of 64 Matchups

(1) Gonzaga vs (16) Southern U

(8) Pittsburgh vs (9) Wichita State

(5) Wisconsin vs (12) Mississippi

(4) Kansas State vs (13) Boise State/La Salle

(6) Arizona vs (11) Belmont

(3) New Mexico vs (14) Harvard

(7) Notre Dame vs (10) Iowa State

(2) Ohio State vs (15) Iona

2 Teams on Upset Alert

The Lobos’ unselfish star Kendall Williams leads the team in scoring. (David Benyak)

1. Kansas State. Again, this is entirely about which team wins the play-in game for the 13-seed in this region. La Salle would pose an intriguing test for the Wildcats. The Explorers stumbled a bit down the stretch, but do hold wins this year over Butler, VCU and Villanova. If La Salle gets their dangerous perimeter game going – watch out, Kansas State.

2. Ohio State. Why the hell not? I don’t think this will actually happen, but nobody saw Lehigh or Norfolk State coming last year either. Iona is the 3rd highest scoring team in the nation, and Ohio State regularly plays games in the 50s and 60s. If Iona turns this game into a catch-as-catch-can, run-and-shoot affair, the Buckeyes may not know what hit them. (I doubt this one is going down, but if it does - you heard it here first!)

The Upset that WON’T Happen

I don’t care about Arizona’s struggles down the stretch, and I don’t care that Belmont’s made the NCAA Tournament three years running. They haven’t won a game yet, have they? Arizona’s too talented to lose this game. They may go out in the Round of 32, but not here.

Who’s making the West Regional Final?

I’m dubbing the West Region the “Mid-Major Bracket”, because I think it comes down to two such teams: Gonzaga and New Mexico. The Lobos are as dangerous as they come and are capable of beating anyone in the bottom half of the West draw. Likewise, if Gonzaga can survive a Round of 32 game against the stingy defense of the Pitt Panthers, they should move into the Elite Eight and a showdown with New Mexico.