March Madness: My Picks for the Midwest Region, Louisville Cardinals Advance to Final Four

By Gregory John "G.J." Vitale on March 17, 2014

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Yesterday was Selection Sunday, the day the NCAA announced the brackets for the Div. I championship tournament–aka “March Madness.”

So, now that we have the full picture, let’s take a look at those match-ups in the 68-team field playing for college basketball immortality.

Among the teams, the Big 12 conference has sent the most teams, with seven. The ACC, Atlantic 10, Big Ten and Pac-10 are all sending six.

For the East write-up, click here. For the South, click here. For the West, click here. In this article, we’ll look at the Midwest region.

MIDWEST

“ROUND 2″

1 Wichita State (34-0) vs. 16 Cal Poly (13-19)/Texas Southern (19-14): Projected winner – Wichita State

No surprises here. No matter who wins between Cal Poly and Texas Southern, they are going to lose to Wichita State. Sorry for the terseness here, but the Shockers are just too good.

2 Michigan (25-8) vs. 15 Wofford (20-12): Projected winner – Michigan

Again, sorry to disappoint the fans of the underdog story, but this is a cut and dry game in my opinion. Michigan is just better … in every asset.

3 Duke (26-8) vs. 14 Mercer (26-8): Projected winner – Mercer

I’m taking the underdog here. Why? Partially because anytime I have a good friend who goes to a school (Hi, Lindsey!), I have an inkling to root for that team, and I make it a mission of mine never to choose a team I am rooting against. Other than that, Duke is coming off a heartbreaking loss to Virginia in the ACC title game and may be down in the dumps. Coming out flat is a real possibility, even though Duke has Coach K and a better line-up overall. The Bears will come out hungry and, after winning the Atlantic Sun conference, are on the up.

The Bears are led by senior Langston Hall and his 14.7 points-per-game. The key for them will be slowing down the Blue Devils’ Jabari Parker … I emphasize slow down because you’re never going to stop him. Virginia is a much better team than Mercer, so we cannot exactly say that their victory over Duke is a weak spot, necessarily, but I am a firm believer in momentum and passion, both of which Mercer has.

4 Louisville (29-5) vs. 13 Manhattan (25-7): Projected winner – Louisville

I like Louisville’s size and their ability to score (they ranked 8th nationally in points-per-game). Manhattan is a good team and it’s unfortunate that they have to face such an able team in the first round, but that’s the way the system works. Plus, it is really hard to pick against Rick Pitino. Also, I picked them last year (rightfully) as the national champion, and I’d hate to pick against them as defending champs in the first round. Louisville only lost five times this year, all against Top-25 ranked opponents. Manhattan won the MAAC title game … eons from the level of play that Louisville is at.

5 Saint Louis (26-6) vs. 12 NC State (21-13)/Xavier (21-12): Projected winner – NC State or Xavier

This game is interesting. The Billikens are a very able team, no doubt, but I wouldn’t be overwhelmingly surprised if either NC State or Xavier pulled off the statistical upset. They are each capable of playing competitively and have competed in arguably better conferences. This one, for me, is up in the air, but I’ll go with the underdog, whichever it ends up being.

6 UMass (24-8) vs. 11 Iowa (20-12)/Tennessee (21-12): Projected winner – UMass

Call it unprofessional, I don’t care, but if I’ve never heard of you, I’m not inclined to pick you in the tournament. Yes, I do research like any good March Madness bracket filler-outer, but I haven’t heard anything about Iowa or Tennessee this year. Obviously, I’ve heard of Iowa and Tennessee (and not just because they are states), but living here just outside of Boston, I’ve been all about UMass and their run this year. Now, with a 6 seed, it looks like the team is legit. I’m going for the local squad, for better or worse.

7 Texas (23-10) vs. 10 Arizona State (21-11): Projected winner – Texas

The 7-10 match-ups are very interesting because they are just one seeding match-up away from the statistically equivalent 8-9 games. Here, however, I believe Texas has the edge because of their rebounding game and their momentum. They are fourth in the league in rebounds (41.8 per game) and while they lost against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament, Arizona State lost five of their last seven, so momentum is with the Longhorns.

8 Kentucky (24-10) vs. 9 Kansas State (20-12): Projected winner – Kentucky

Kentucky has been pretty up and down this year, but I expect them to show up for this game. Kentucky coach John Calipari won’t let them.

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“ROUND 3″

1 Wichita State vs. 8 Kentucky: Projected winner – Wichita State

I’m doing something here I don’t ever like to do: disagree with Dick Vitale. He thinks that the Kentucky Wildcats will beat the Wichita State Shockers, but I don’t buy it. The Shockers have yet to lose a game and the Wildcats are an up and down team right now. I’ll take consistency over … whatever it is that Kentucky has.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

2 Michigan vs. 7 Texas: Projected winner – Michigan

Seeing as I’m not 100% confident that Texas will beat Arizona State in the previous game, I’ve got to go with Michigan, a team I’m fairly confident will win their first game. Michigan will easily outscore Texas.

14 Mercer vs. 6 UMass: Projected winner – UMass

Hmm … for the same reason as above, I’ve got to go with UMass. There’s no guarantee Mercer makes it past Duke. I’d lose two picks if I sent Mercer to the Sweet 16 and they lost in the first round. Plus I saw UMass play FSU, a game which they lost, but I liked what I saw in the team. FSU’s defense was pretty good all year, and they narrowly missed the tournament themselves, so I would bet they could do more against a lower ranked defense that has played in a subordinate conference.

4 Louisville vs. 12 NC State/Xavier: Projected winner – Louisville

Louisville was 8th in points-per-game and, even if Saint Louis doesn’t get upset in their game against whoever the 12th seed is, the Cardinals will take them down with their potent offense. Their defense is also solid, stealing the nation’s second most and allowing the 15th fewest points per game. The analysts on CBS were shocked when Louisville was awarded such a low seed, and I would agree.

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“ROUND 4″

1 Wichita State vs. 4 Louisville: Projected winner- Louisville

Pitino and the Cardinals will show the Shockers what big conference play is all about. Wichita State will suffer their first loss of the year.

2 Michigan vs. 6 UMass: Projected winner – Michigan

UMass won’t be able to handle the Michigan offense led by Stauskas, LaVert and Robinson III, all of whom average over 10 points-per-game.

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