The Midwest Region (March 15-16)

#1 Florida (28-5) vs. #16 Jackson St. (21-13)

I think this game is a no-brainer since this a #1 v #16 match up and in the last 60 NCAA tournament games, no #16 seed has beaten a #1 seed. Florida is the reigning NCAA champion from last year and although they are not as good as last year in my opinion, they will win this one easily..I'm guessing by 20 points or so. Joakim Noah for the Gators is the guy who needs to show up in this tournament if they expect to go far. If he doesn't show up for a game they could see an early exit from the tournament but no in the first round. Jackson State is from the SWAC and in playing against top 25 teams this year...they were 0-3.

#8 Arizona (20-10) vs. #9 Purdue (21-11)

This should be a really good game with two fairly evenly matched teams. Arizona finished 3rd in the PAC-10 while Purdue was 4th in the Big-10. I don't see either of these teams making a serious run in the tournament and whoever wins this game...I think it will be their only win this tournament. Purdue has a tough conference with Ohio State and Wisconsin present and they did have a strong conference tournament win against Iowa. Carl Landry has to have a monster game here for the Boilermakers. Arizona has really struggled lately and made an early exit in their conference tournament losing to the Oregon Ducks who really thumped them. Look for the Boilermakers to pull off a minor upset with a #9 beating #8 here. I think the game will be close until the beginning of the second half when Purdue will pull away to win by about 10 points.

#5 Butler (27-6) vs. #12 Old Dominion (24-8)

Butler is ranked #17 in the AP Poll but they certainly didn't play very well in the Horizon Conference final losing to Wright St. They did however win the regular season in a sub par conference but did not really impress me in their games. Old Dominion on the other hand is a team that could surprise in this match up. Every year it seems a 12 beats a 5 and I think this could be it. Valdas Vasylius and Drew Williamson haves led this ODU squad but they are pretty balanced. A good team effort will equal a narrow victory in this one. I think it will go down to the wire but I'll give the edge to Old Dominion.

#4 Maryland (24-8) vs. #13 Davidson (29-4)

Despite Davidson's impressive 4 loss season...they are in a very weak Southern Conference and in their only game against a ranked opponent..they were blown out by a Duke team that was not playing that well and they were blown out 75-47. In addition to this loss, Maryland in the ACC was 4-1 against top 25 opponents. They beat Duke twice and beat #1 tournament seed UNC in the regular season. This game probably won't be close and I expect to see at least 5 Terrapin players in double figures at the final whistle. Maryland should lead wire to wire in this one.

# 6 Notre Dame (24-7) vs. #11 Winthrop (28-4)

So many pundits have been saying that the Winthrop Eagles are the team to make a big run this year. Granted they were undefeated in their conference and did finish 28-4 but those four losses all came at the hands of top 25 teams..in fact they didn't beat a top 25 team this year. Notre Dame went 4-1 against top 25 teams and avg over 80 pts a game. I don't know that the Eagles can run with that. Notre Dame is also playing well recently and came up just short against an impressive Georgetown team in the Big East tournament losing 84-82. The problem with Winthrop is that every year they are in the tourney they play incredible and just come up short. I'm going out on a limb this year and predicting a Winthrop victory but it will be close.

#3 Oregon (26-7) vs. #13 Miami OH (18-14)

This game seems to be a huge mismatch to me. I am surprised that Miami-OH was even given a #13 seed. They finished 3rd in the MAC and got the automatic invite because they won the conference tournament. Add to that the fact that they average under 60 pts a game (59.56) and allow just over 57 points a game. Compare this to a red-hot Oregon team demolished USC in the PAC-10 final by 24 points! Aaron Brooks and Bryce Taylor should be able to easily lead their team into the next round and I think the game will be over before the first half ends.

# 7 UNLV (28-6) vs #10 Georgia Tech (20-11)

I think this game may be a pretty good one. Not that Georgia Tech is a great team...they certainly aren't amazing finishing 6th in the ACC and bowing out early against Wake Forest in the opener of the conference tournament but I don't how confident I am in UNLV this year either. GT did beat Memphis and Duke this year but did not play well consistently. I think I'll give the nod to the Runnin' Rebels from the Mountain West Conference who showed they could really pull it together scoring 5d points in the 2nd half of the conference tournament final to come back and beat BYU. Should be a close one I think with plenty of runs and droughts throughout the game.

#2 Wisconsin (29-4) vs. #15 Texas A&M C.C. (25-6)

Wisconsin is coming off a tough loss against Ohio State where they seemed to be outplayed throughout the game. But Ohio St. is the #1 team in the country. My issue was that the Badgers seemed to be stationary on offense and I found that brutal to watch. I know that playing against a tough opponent can cause an offense to break down and I don't think Texas AMCC will mount much resistance. This Texas team has been untested this year not facing a top 25 team once. Should see Alando Tucker break out for 25-30 pts in this one in a comfortable win for the Badgers who will be looking to regain some momentum and send a message to future opponents.