Quick look: analyzing brackets

By David Scott - Mcclatchy Newspapers     Mar 17, 2008

Looking at the four regions of the NCAA Tournament:

SOUTH OVERVIEW

Memphis’s road to the Final Four might be blocked in the Sweet 16 by an athletic Pittsburgh team.

Enticing matchup: Texas’ backcourt is great. So is Stanford’s frontcourt

Upset special: St. Mary’s over Miami. Hurricanes looked tired in the ACC tournament.

Player to watch: Memphis’s Chris Douglas-Roberts is a big, physical guard.

Burning question: Can Kentucky keep a late-season hot streak alive?

EAST OVERVIEW

Remember the talk about whether North Carolina or Tennessee would be in Charlotte? Turns out both might be, with the Vols’ SEC tournament loss dropping them to a No.2 seed.

Enticing matchup: Dan Dakich once was an Indiana player who shut down North Carolina’s Michael Jordan in a tournament game. Now he’s the Hoosiers coach and might get the Tar Heels in the second round.

Upset special: Saint Joseph’s over Oklahoma. Sooners lost by 28 in Big 12 tournament.

Player to watch: Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody makes the most of grit and hard work.

Burning question: Is Tar Heels coach Roy Williams correct when he argues playing in Raleigh and Charlotte probably won’t be much of an advantage for North Carolina?

WEST OVERVIEW

This looks like easily the weakest regional. UCLA should book its flight to San Antonio.

Enticing matchup: Purdue (Robbie Hummel) and Duke (Kyle Singler) can show off their hot-shot freshmen in a Sweet 16 game.

Upset special: Western Kentucky beats Drake in the “12-5” upset.

Player to watch: But the best freshman in this region is UCLA’s Kevin Love, the Pac 10’s player of the year.

Burning question: Can Georgia win, even if it plays just one game per day?

MIDWEST OVERVIEW

No. 1 seed Kansas the class of this region, but Georgetown and 7-footer Roy Hibbert loom.

Enticing matchup: Two of the country’s top freshmen – Kansas State’s Michael Beasley and Southern California’s O.J. Mayo – in the first round.

Upset special: Tenth-seed Davidson knocks off No.7 Gonzaga, another mid-major, in what should be a homecourt atmosphere for the Wildcats in Raleigh’s RBC Center.

Player to watch: Clemson’s K.C. Rivers, who played at Independence High, had one of the best ACC tournaments a Tigers player has ever had.

Burning question: Can coach Bill Self deliver Kansas a Final Four for the first time in his tenure in Lawrence?

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