NCAA Tournament preview: Midwest

The Midwest is a very, very deep region, as demonstrated by Arizona being the 12-seed. Louisville is number one, with Michigan State and Kansas rounding out the top three. Also landing in the Midwest is Wake Forest (#4) and West Virginia (#6), two teams that many feel can make nice runs in the NCAA Tournament.

Most intriguing first-round matchup: 10 USC vs. 7 Boston College. This game could really go either way. USC enters the Big Dance as one of the hottest teams in the country, as it reeled off four straight to win the Pac-10 Tournament to receive an automatic bid. Boston College can lay claim to wins over North Carolina and Duke, the royalty of the ACC. Don't be fooled by the Trojans' regular-season struggles; they are a very talented team. Freshman DeMar DeRozan was phenomenal in the conference tourney, and Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett, and Dwight Lewis round out a very impressive foursome for Southern California. The Eagles are led by senior point guard Tyrese Rice, a player who has been known to come up big in big game situations. All things considered, I like USC to carry its momentum into the NCAA Tournament and win this game.

Biggest surprise: Utah earning a five-seed. Don't get me wrong; Utah is a very solid basketball team, but are the Utes worthy of a number five-seed? Their best win of the season was a 30-point drubbing of LSU, who is an eight-seed over in the South. Utah also has a one-point win over Gonzaga, two wins over San Diego State, and lone wins over BYU, UNLV, and New Mexico, but is that enough to warrant them that high of a seed? Actually, the Utes may have been better off getting a lower seed, as they will draw Arizona in the first round.

Biggest sleeper: #12 Arizona. Many are debating whether or not the Wildcats belong in the tournament, and I don't see why. Arizona has non-conference wins over Kansas, Gonzaga, and San Diego State, plus victories inside the Pac-10 over Washington, UCLA, and USC. Not too bad, huh? With a trio of Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and Nic Wise, the Wildcats can accomplish great things in the Dance.

Cinderella: #13 Cleveland State. The Horizon League champs enter the NCAA Tournament as a very dangerous 13-seed. The Vikings are very athletic and can certainly cause matchup problems for many teams in the Dance. They obviously have a very tough first-round draw against an extremely talented Wake Forest squad, but I have them pulling off the upset and reaching the Sweet 16.

Region winner: #1 Louisville. As I stated before, there is a ton of talent in the Midwest region, but I think Louisville is clearly the best of the bunch. Terrence Williams and Earl Clark make for one of the most deadly inside-out combinations in the country, and Samardo Samuels appears to be coming into his own at the right time.

Issues with seeding: I already mentioned Utah being seeded too high. I also think Ohio State may have been seeded a tad too low and you could make an argument for Wake Forest being a three, but other than that everything looks good.