West Region

The West Region will play in Salt Lake City and two of those teams are mid-major's. This is how I see the matchups playing out.


No. 5 seed Butler vs No.1 seed Syracuse: Syracuse comes in to this game looking regenerized and primed for a final four run. Wesley Johnson is shooting the ball well again after injuring his hand during the last part of the regular season and the 2-3 zone of Jim Boeheim's can be a pest to teams who haven't seen a lot of zone play. Butler will have trouble with it and will be hard for speedy guard Shelvin Mack to penetrate the zone and find open looks for Gordon Heyward, who is only 1-10 shooting 3-pointers in the tourney so far. If he isn't hitting it could be a long night for the Bears. Matt Howard will also need to rebound well against a much bigger and athletic Syracuse ball club.

If Andy Rautins can keep it "raining threes" and Syracuse can continue to shoot at a 50 percent clip, this game could get ugly for the Bears. On the other hand, if Butler can get Mack and Heyward shooting, not let the Orange score easy in transition, hold Rautins and Johnson in check, this ball club might have a chance. I just believe Syracuse is too athletic for the Bears.

Predicited Winner: Syracuse

No. 6 seed Xavier vs No. 2 seed Kansas State: Kansas State guards Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen have combined for 85 points in the their first two tourney games; it is easy to see, you have to control tempo and slow these two down. There is another x-factor however, the Wildcats have a big front line who love to rebound. Xavier will need to limit K State's second chances and hold them to one shot a possession to pull off the upset.

Jordan Crawford will try to continue his performance in the tourney, scoring 55 points in the first two games, but I believe that the quickness of K State will prove to be too much for Crawford and Xavier to overcome. Look for the Wildcats to get out in transition early and give Xavier fits on the defensive end with their length and big bodies inside.

Predicted Winner: Kansas State

Until Next Time, Adios!