I do this every year and we roll on in 2024.
Not the First Four, the real Tournament.
Midwest Region
Storylines
1.Kansas is screwed, announced Kevin McCullar is out -This is it.
Kansas with McCullar has one of the best starting 5s in the country.
They don’t have any depth and now needs Timberlake or Jackson to take on a bigger role.
Oh and why does this matter even more?
You lose your second best ballhandler in McCullar.
It still is for some.
Purdue has the chokers label.
That’s all what people care about.
You got Lance Jones out of the portal.
Smith has taken a massive jump.
The bracket now opens up for them a little bit with Kansas being hurt.
Speaking of chokers -Rick Barnes!
This isn’t your standard Tennessee team.
They play fast, they have a guy in Knecht that can go get you 40.
He’s the best scorer Tennessee has had since, I don’t know, Chris Lofton?
This was the team that Barnes has been looking for.
Then you get to the SEC Tournament and barely score 20 in a half.
You could have a rematch of his old school in the 2nd round.
Can you trust any team?
-This is the region I struggle with the most.
I mentioned Purdue and Tennessee, but Creighton hasn’t made a Final Four either.
Not like they are a great Tournament team year-in and year-out.
Gonzaga, Kansas, South Carolina - you trust any of them?
We know the mid-majors in McNeese State and Samford, so are we going to see mayhem?
Guess who is back?
-They can’t keep getting away with it!
St. Peter’s is back as a 15 seed.
They can’t do it again right?
They can’t beat an SEC team in the 2/15 game.
They can’t have another miracle with a completely different team.
Kinda bullshit the committee didn’t have them play Purdue though.
I’ll give a shot to avoid obvious ones like Zach Edey.
He’s viewed as a potential NBA guy.
Plus his last name is Furphy.
Lance Jones (Purdue) -You could list basically any non Zach Edey guy here for Purdue.
But Lance Jones is the guy who they brought in from the portal to help the guards out.
He has to be the guy who can defend and break down opposing defenses.
Jones shot 35% from three, he adds to someone that you could’t leave and let Edey attack.
He’s the key in of guy who can quietly dominate a game.
They want to play through Ike, but Nembhard is the key to a run.
Trey Alexander (Creighton) -We know about Baylor Schierman but Alexander is the most important player to Creighton.
He’s the one guy you’ve got the option to’t attack on the defensive end.
He can create his own shot.
He’s the playmaker when teams have a go at take Schierman away.
Great Osobor (Utah State) -Arguably the best name in college basketball.
He’s also just fucking awesome.
Put up 18 and 9 this season, gives Utah State a guy to play through.
It’s what he’s the best at, elite even in the country.
I don’t trust any team here, Gonzaga included so we’ll take a possible payout at least.
I don’t want to touch Purdue for under 2/1 odds.
I don’t want to touch Tennessee at all.
Gonzaga was playing well too until they lost to St. Mary’s in the WCC title game.
They have decent wins this year.
I don’t have any faith that this bracket is going to hold serve in terms of seeds either.
Sure, Gonzaga could lose to McNeese State, but I see so many people picking McNeese.
I’ll swerve there.
McNeese’s best win in the nonconference was Michigan.
Everyone is down on Gonzaga and I get it.
But this bracket sucks.
It might be dumb, but I need to see Kansas without McCullar look the part.
Plus, how healthy is Dickinson?
We saw how bad Kansas looked without Hunter and McCullar, so I’ll take the 7.
