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March Madness is officially here, so let's fill out some winning brackets! RotoBaller will be bringing you a full breakdown on each tournament region, including some potential sleepers and busts. Today we'll be taking a look at the Midwest Region and my bracket picks.
I'm here to tell you some teams that I believe in to help you make the right tournament bracket decisions. Below I analyze the top four seeds, a potential bust, and a potential final four candidate. Hopefully, my college basketball predictions can help you win your March Madness pools. I really like to use Ken Pomeroy's advanced analytics to help determine a champion. Since 2002, each team to win the title except for one, was ranked top-20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. I'll be putting those numbers in parentheses after each breakdown of the top-four seeds. Now let's get to it.
Once you're done here, be sure to also check out the rest of our NCAA Tournament articles and analysis including previews, predictions, sleepers, busts and guides on how to fill out your including other predictions for the East, South, and West regions.
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Midwest Region Top Four Seeds
Top four seeds: No. 1 Illinois | N0. 2 Houston | No. 3 West Virginia | No. 4 Oklahoma State
Illinois is the hottest team in the country. They've won seven in a row, including wins over Michigan and Ohio State twice, the second coming in the Big 10 championship. Ayo Donsunmu is a star. They'll make a deep run. (Ken Pom: #7 offense, #5 defense)
Houston will not be a popular play. People don't know much about them but they can score a lot and play really good defense. (Ken Pom: #8 offense, #16 defense)
West Virginia is seeded too high. You'd think a Bob Huggins coached team would play good defense, but they don't. They won't make it out of the first weekend. (Ken Pom: #11 offense, #65 defense)
Oklahoma State will be a very popular pick because of likely number one overall pick Cade Cunningham. But they have a very difficult first-round matchup against Liberty. The Flames have a good cast of upper and lower classmen. They beat Mississippi State as the No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament two years ago. Last year they won their conference tournament and were going to do damage. Now, no one is giving them a chance. (Ken Pom: #54 offense, #22 defense)
Most Intriguing First Round Matchup
No. 6 San Diego State vs. No. 11 Syracuse
Of course, Syracuse makes the tournament and isn't even a last four in. They're always given the benefit of the doubt by the committee. The Aztecs are favored by two so this will go down to the wire. San Diego State has won 14 in a row. They play a slow methodical physical game. First to 60 wins. And the winner will likely be headed to the Sweet 16.
Bust of the Region
Oklahoma State. They'll go as far as Cade Cunningham takes them. If he has a bad game, they'll be out in the First Round. I'm going to take Liberty over the Cowboys in that game.
Final Four Pick
Houston. If you want to win your pool, you'll need to take a shot and not go with the popular chalk. Everyone will have Illinois out of this region. Illinois vs. Houston has the potential to be an epic Elite Eight game.
