No one played a tougher preseason schedule than the Michigan St. Spartans.
Their season began on a naval carrier with a showdown with North Carolina and then quickly went toe-toe with the ACC’s second-best team, the Duke Blue Devils. They also faced Florida State and Gonzaga before Big 10 conference play began.
The Big 10 was widely considered to be the best conference around and the Spartans claimed a share of the regular season title before winning the post-season crown.
This is a typical Tom Izzo schedule. He always tests his team early so they are ready to rumble by the time the tourney rolls around and they are clearly favoured in this bracket.
That said, there will be plenty of tough tests along the way as a host of teams in this bracket may have been underseeded by the selection committee.
Let’s have a look around the West Region:
No. 1 seed – Michigan State Spartans
Under Izzo, the Spartans have been to six Final Fours so it doesn’t seem like a longshot to take them to reach their seventh, especially considering they are the first seed in the west. Keith Appling was the only Spartan to start every game this season and the sophomore point guard has teamed with Draymond Green to give the team an effective one-two offensive punch.
No. 2 seed – Missouri Tigers
The Tigers said good-bye to the Big 12 by claiming the conference tournament title. Between the Pressey brothers, Phil and Matt, Marcues Denmon and Kim English, this team is loaded in the backcourt. They are one of the fastest teams in the tourney and if a team can somehow control the tempo against the hard-charging Tigers, they will be in trouble.
No. 3 seed – Marquette Golden Eagles
For once, I get to say that a team is overseeded. It’s not that Buzz Williams’ team is bad, it just seems a little odd that they are the No. 3 seed and Louisville who won the conference tournament title are a notch below. That being said, Big East player of the year, Jae Crowder will be tough for anyone to cover. He and his teammates play tenacious defence and have proven to be able to hang with anyone.
No. 4 seed – Louisville Cardinals
As Peyton Siva goes, so go the Cardinals but this team is far from a one-man show. If not for early-season injuries, this team may have been much stronger. They appear to have gotten healthy and are gelling at just the right time of the year as they now have the depth to play a Rick Pitino style of basketball — pressure defence and run-and-gun offence.
No. 5 seed – New Mexico Lobos
Former Indiana star Steve Alford has the Lobos playing some of the stingiest defence in the nation as they have transformed into one of the NCAA’s hottest teams en route to the tournament. The Mountain West co-regular season and tourney champions will get a stiff test in their opener against an undervalued Long Beach State squad. New Mexico is led by UCLA transfer Drew Gordon who averages a double-double (13.4 ppg, 10.9 rpg) per game.
No. 6 seed – Murray St. Racers
The Racers finished 30-1 this season and managed wins over tourney teams such as Memphis and Western Kentucky but it still remains to be seen how good this team actually is as their conference leaves something to be desired. Isaiah Canaan (19.2 ppg) and F Donte Poole (14.2 ppg) give Murray St. a nice inside-outside combo to lead the charge.
No. 7 seed – Florida Gators
Missouri cannot be happy to be looking ahead in the bracket at a potential second-round match-up with Florida. The backcourt is loaded with Erving Walker, Bradley Beal and Mike Rosario firing from all different angles beyond the arc. But the Gators also have some talent on the inside with powerful Patric Young, they just need to be more willing to get him the ball. He is a beast.
No. 8 seed – Memphis Tigers
Much like the Gators, this team has more talent than their seeding allows dictates. Star sophomore guard Will Barton has helped the Memphis win their last seven games by an average of 22.7 points per game. Joe Jackson and Adonis Thomas may also find their way into the big league one day.
More from around the region:
No. 11 seed Colorado State doesn’t have a player in their rotation that is taller than 6-foot-6… It will be fun to see rotund Rick Majerus back in the tournament with his No. 9 seeded St. Louis Billikens — their first round match-up with Memphis promises to be entertaining… BYU pulled off a stunning 25-point comeback on Tuesday night to advance into the second round of the tournament — they will give Marquette a run for their money… There are nine conference champions in this region but there are also only six teams from BCS schools in this region as well…