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Breaking down March Madness
By Aubrey GibertReporter
On March 25, 2012
It's March, which means college basketball's March Madness tournament tips off Thursday
night in one of the major events of the sports year. Even with multiple dominant teams, don't
look for an easy tournament.
On Sunday, Syracuse, North Carolina, Michigan State and Kentucky were given the four No.
1 seeds while Ohio State, Missouri, Duke and Kansas garnished No. 2 spots. Looking at the
different regions and matchups, there are plenty of intriguing matchups, starting in the opening
round.
In the South Region, Kentucky earned the tournament's top overall seed, followed by Duke,
Baylor and Indiana. Wildcats coach John HHCalipari may have his best chance at a title this year
thanks to SEC Player of the year (and Freshmen of the Year) Anthony Davis.
One intriguing matchup to keep tabs on in the first round of this region is No. 12 Virginia
Commonwealth vs. No. 5 Wichita State. After barely winning their division in the Colonial
Athletic Association, VCU (28-6) is a dark horse team that finds itself back in the tournament
after reaching the Final Four last year, when it defeated the likes of Florida State and Kansas.
A player to look out for in this region will be Baylor's Perry Jones III. At 6-foot-11 and 235
pounds, Jones III has all the talents to be the dominant force to lead Baylor. Look for Jones III to
have a big tournament and potentially lead Baylor to the Elite Eight.
Michigan State, after winning the Big 10 championship, gained the No. 1 seed in the West
Region, followed by Missouri, Marquette and Louisville. Led by head coach Tom Izzo and
senior forward Draymond Green, the Spartans will be looking to get back to the National
Championship, where they lost in 2009 to North Carolina.
Intriguing early matchups include No. 5 New Mexico taking on No. 12 Long Beach State, who
beat Pittsburgh and nearly defeated North Carolina, and No. 7 Florida vs. No. 10 Virginia. It's a
clash of great inside and outside play as Florida likes to shoot the three, while Virginia likes to
get the ball inside to first team All-ACC forward Mike Scott.
A player to look out for will be point guard Isaiah Canaan from Murray State, which ranked as
high as ninth in the country this season while finishing 30-1. Look for Canaan to get Murray
State past the second round where they could possibly face No. 3 Marquette. Still, Izzo's
Spartans still remain the early favorite in the West.
Of the four No. 1 seeds, it looks as though Syracuse will have the toughest road to the Final
Four in an East region that includes Ohio State, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Florida State and
Vanderbilt.
Head coach Jim Boeheim boasts a deep Syracuse team, but took an enormous hit when star
center Fab Melo was declared ineligible to participate in the tournament on Tuesday.
Attractive matchups include No. 3 Florida State taking on local favorite St. Bonaventure, who
made the NCAA tournament for the first time in twelve years after winning the Atlantic 10
conference. While Florida State is heavily favored, look for A-10 Player of the Year Andrew
Nicholson to put on a show and give the Seminoles a run for their money.
A dark horse team to look out in a region full of them will be the Seminoles. Coming off their
first-ever ACC conference title, Florida State is a deep and balanced team that might have the
best defense in the country. They're led by junior guard Michael Snaer, who is the player to
look out for if Florida State makes a run.
Finally, in the Midwest region, North Carolina earned the No. 1 seed followed by Kansas,
Georgetown and Michigan. North Carolina coach Roy Williams is looking for his third
championship in eight years.
One team to watch is North Carolina State. After playing North Carolina tough on a neutral
site, the Wolfpack have a lot of momentum headed into the tournament. Led by forward C.J.
Leslie (14.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg), N.C. State has one of the bigger teams in the tournament and display
a balance with guards Lorenzo Brown and Scott Wood, who can hit the three at any time. Look
for N.C. State to advance to take on Georgetown in what would be a tightly contested matchup.
The biggest player in this region undoubtedly is Harrison Barnes. After bypassing the NBA to
return for his sophomore season, Barnes will be the biggest X-factor for the Tar Heels if they
want to cut down the nets in New Orleans. Look for Barnes to take over for the Tar Heels and
average 20-25 points per game to lead North Carolina past the second round all the way to the
Elite Eight, where they could potentially take on No. 2 seed Kansas in St. Louis with a Final Four
berth on the line.
Overall, though, arguments can be made against all of the powerhouse teams in this year's
tournament, so look for a sleeper to make it to the Final Four.
Aubrey Gibert can be reached by email at gibert.record@live.com.
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