WEST REGION
The top four seeds
No. 1 Michigan State (27-7): The Spartans won the Big Ten tournament, which secured a top seed. The Spartans' only bad loss was a one-pointer at Illinois on Jan. 31.
No. 2 Missouri (30-4): The Tigers won the Big 12 tournament in their last season before moving to the SEC next year. Sixth in the nation in scoring (80.3 points per game), the Tigers' only bad loss came at Oklahoma State (79-72) on Jan. 25.
No. 3 Marquette (25-7): The Golden Eagles stumbled into the tournament losing two of their last three games. However, their only bad loss came to LSU (67-59) on Dec. 19.
No. 4 Louisville (26-9): The Cardinals won the Big East tournament. Their only bad loss came at Providence on Jan. 10, a 31-point beatdown.
Four players to watch
Julian Boyd, forward, LIU-Brooklyn: The 6-foot-7 junior is averaging 17.4 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 55.7 percent. This helped the Blackbirds (25-8) to the third-highest scoring average (81.9) in Division I.
Casper Ware, guard, Long Beach State: The 5-10 senior is averaging 17.4 points per game. He converted 36.1 percent of his 255 3-point attempts and has scored 25 points or more six times this season.
Isaiah Canaan, guard, Murray State: The 6-foot junior is averaging 19.2 points and 3.7 assists per game. He shot 47.3 percent from the 3-point line for the Racers (30-1).
Kyle O'Quinn, center, Norfolk State: The 6-10 senior is averaging 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting 58.3 percent for the Spartans (25-9).
Top three story lines
- Can Steve Alford and assistant coach Craig Neal, a former Georgia Tech standout, bust a bracket? The Lobos (27-4) won their first-round game in 2010 before falling in the second. A fifth seed this year, they will open against Long Beach State (25-8).
- Can Michigan State do it again? The Spartans have earned a No. 1 seed four times previously (1990, 1999, 2000, 2001). Three of those times they advanced to the Final Four, with one national championship (2000).
- Can Missouri buck history? The Tigers have never advanced to the Final Four in 24 tournament appearances. Only BYU has a worse record.
Most intriguing first-round matchup
Florida (23-10) vs. Virginia (22-9). The Cavaliers, led by All-ACC performer Mike Scott, will cause the Gators problems because they play a disciplined defense and a deliberate offense. Add in that Florida lost four of its last five games and that Virginia lost three of its last four, fans are left to wonder which team will wilt first.
Best potential second-round matchup
Memphis vs. Michigan State. The Tigers (26-8), led by guard Will Barton (18.1 ppg), are being discussed as a Final Four dark horse because they won 11 of their last 12 games. Their schedule wasn't comparable to the Spartans, who played 13 ranked teams compared to the Tigers’ three.
Bracket buster
Iona (25-7). The Gaels will take on Brigham Young in a play-in game and then would face Marquette. Could they be this year’s VCU? Powered by Mike Glover, Iona led the country in scoring (83.3 ppg), assists (19.3) and were second in field goal percentage (50.4 percent).
Sound bite
“A lot of the [West Region] teams are teams that like to get up and down. They certainly like to push the ball. I like Missouri a lot. I think they are a very good team. All in all, I don’t think it’s the weakest bracket of all if I go from top to bottom looking at the teams. I thought Missouri should have been the No. 1 seed. Louisville had a nice run in the Big East championship but I’m not sold on them. It’s not the most exciting bracket.”
- Drew Barry, ESPNU analyst and former Georgia Tech standout
The numbers game
3 Teams coached by Rick Majerus into the NCAA tournament. St. Louis (25-7) joins his previous teams at Ball State and Utah.
3 Play-in games won by Northeast Conference teamsLIU-Brooklyn is the NC champion.
28 Final Four appearances by this West Region teams: Michigan State (8), Louisville (8), Florida (4), Marquette (3), Memphis (3) and Virginia (2).
Now you know
In 1936, Long Island University had a chance to play in the Olympics as the U.S. representative. However, the school decided to boycott Adolf Hitler’s games in Berlin.
Bound for the Sweet 16
“Memphis, Louisville, Marquette and Missouri.”
- Drew Barry
Bound for the Final Four
“Missouri. They’ve got senior guards, great guard play in Kim English and Marcus Denmon, Ricardo Ratliffe the center. They have only four losses all year and all four are to top-10 teams. In all the years, every Final Four team has great guard play. They have great guards and they are seniors. They are very good. I really like them.”
- Drew Barry
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