The South Region of the NCAA Tournament is the one that feels like it is already decided. The #1 overall seed, the Alabama Crimson Tide, hasn’t had the simplest road to this slot of any team ever, but they are playing the best ball of any team in the country right now.
This team has lost a rotation player to a murder charge and their Naismith Player of the Year Candidate Brandon Miller has been caught in some of that situation.
The second seed in the South is the Arizona Wildcats. They are the PAC-12 tournament Champions and have some of the best bigs in the country. They took down the UCLA Bruins in the PAC-12 title game in a nail-biter.
After those two teams, there are some serious questions. The #3 Seeded Baylor Bears, have turned into a perennial powerhouse with experience and athleticism. They also have a potential lottery pick in Keyonta George. However, they have been wildly inconsistent. The recent stretch for the Bears has been mediocre.
NCAA Tournament South Region schedule |
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Tuesday, March 14 | -No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-10) vs. No. 16 Southeast Missouri State (19-16), 6:40 p.m , truTV. |
Thursday, March 16 | -No. 8 Maryland (21-12) vs. No. 9 West Virginia (19-14), 12:15 p.m, CBS. -No. 1 Alabama (29-5) vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi-Southeast Missouri State, 2:45 p.m, CBS. -No. 4 Virginia (25-7) vs. No. 13 Furman (27-7), 12:40 p.m., truTV. -No. 5 San Diego State (27-6) vs. No. 12 College of Charleston (31-3), 3:10 p.m., truTV. -No. 7 Missouri (24-9) vs. No. 10 Utah State (26-8), 1:40 p.m., TNT. -No. 2 Arizona (28-6) vs. No. 15 Princeton (21-8), 4:10 p.m.,TNT. |
Friday, March 17 | -No. 3 Baylor (22-10) vs. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara (27-7), 1:30 p.m., TNT -No. 6 Creighton (21-12) vs. No. 11 North Carolina State (23-10), 4 p.m., TNT |
So what to expect out of this region? To me, it looks like a walk for the top 4 seeds to the sweet 16. Alabama will take on either Maryland or West Virginia. Maryland is dependent on Jahmir Young, and has been terrible away from home this year.
West Virginia is not the same team that you would expect, and neither has a player to match with Brandon Miller. After that, it looks like either Virginia or San Diego State. Virginia cannot score, and San Diego State doesn’t have the horses.
Alabama vs the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Arizona has the best set of bigs in the country. Azuolas Tubelis is a legit All-American, and they shouldn’t have any issue with a potential Missouri or Creighton second-round match-up.
If you’re looking for an upset team in the bracket, the Charleston Cougars have won 31 games. They do so with shooting. They are playing San Diego State, who has a great defense but struggles to score at times.
If they get hot they can beat SDSU. Virginia would be their next match-up, and they can’t score as stated above. Another team to look at would be UC Santa Barbara.
Baylor shouldn’t have any issue with them based exclusively on talent, but this Baylor team has been so inconsistent the last few weeks, that anything could happen.
The South Region! 🔥 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/u1F25hb5Lq
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 12, 2023
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| Title: South Region Outlook
| Author: Matt Catton
| Date: Mar 16, 2023