BY TRISTAN SASSE<\/p>\n
In a year that featured 18 different teams ranked in the top five throughout the season, we are on board for another unpredictable tournament. From questionable seedings to bracket snubs, this NCAA Tournament has already been an eye-opener. With the Round of 64 right around the corner, here\u2019s what to watch for before all of the madness officially begins. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Midwest Region<\/b><\/p>\n Kansas (27-7), the Big 12 regular season and postseason champion, earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. The Jayhawks may have the easiest path to the Final Four, as the first two rounds of the tournament are in Wichita followed by the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight in Omaha. Additionally, Kansas extended its NCAA record with a 29th consecutive tournament appearance. Considered to be one of the weaker Jayhawk teams in the Bill Self era, Kansas has continued to find ways to win when it mattered most.<\/span><\/p>\n The Midwest also features ACC regular season runner-up, No. 2 Duke (26-7); Big Ten champion, No. 3 Michigan State (29-4); and SEC regular-season champion, No. 4 Auburn (25-7). No. 10 Oklahoma (18-13) may be the most surprising team to make the tournament out of this region. The Sooners failed to win an away game in the 2018 calendar year, and after starting 14-2, have lost 11 of their last 15 games.<\/span><\/p>\n West Region<\/b><\/p>\n Out West, Xavier (28-5) lands as the top seed. The West Region also contains No. 2 North Carolina (25-10); Big Ten postseason champion, No. 3 Michigan (28-7); West Coast champion, No. 4 Gonzaga (30-4), and No. 5 Ohio State (24-8). With Michigan and Gonzaga currently on lengthy win streaks, this region may showcase some of the toughest teams to face in the country. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The No. 12 South Dakota State Jackrabbits (28-6) are also in the region. A season ago, the Jackrabbits gave Gonzaga a run for its money as a 16 seed in the opening round, before stumbling in the second half. Additionally, No. 6 Houston will face No. 11 San Diego State in the opening round. Both teams are 10-2 in their last 12 contests. Many teams in the region are playing at their highest level of the season at the most crucial stage.<\/span><\/p>\n South Region<\/b><\/p>\n Virginia (31-2) is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Cavaliers posted a 17-1 conference record and went on to win the ACC regular season and postseason conference championships. The South Region also includes American Conference champion, No. 2 Cincinnati (30-4); SEC regular season co-champion, No. 3 Tennessee (25-8); Pac-12 champion, No. 4 Arizona (27-7); and SEC postseason champion, No. 5 Kentucky (24-10). <\/span><\/p>\n Arizona may be the most surprising seed in the tournament as many believed the Wildcats had a chance at a one seed. Additionally, after starting 3-3, Arizona has won 24 of its last 27 games. The South is arguably the toughest region in the tournament, including a Cincinnati team who has currently won seven-straight games. At one point in the season, the Bearcats went on to win 16 straight contests. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n East Region<\/b><\/p>\n Villanova (30-4) is the No. 1 seed in the East Region. Top following seeds include the Big Ten regular-season runner-up, No. 2 Purdue (28-6); Big 12 regular season runner-up, No. 3 Texas Tech (24-9); American Conference runner-up, No. 4 Wichita State (25-7); and No. 5 West Virginia (24-10). <\/span><\/p>\n The East also includes No. 12 Murray State (26-5), who is currently on a 13-game win streak (second longest current win streak in the nation, Gonzaga – 14). No. 14 Stephen F. Austin (28-6) is also in the region and made some noise in 2016 tournament. The last time Stephen F. Austin was a 14-seed, they knocked off No. 3 West Virginia. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tournament Snubs<\/b><\/p>\n Saint Mary\u2019s (29-5) – beat Gonzaga in January<\/span><\/p>\n Middle Tennessee State (25-7) – lacks quality wins<\/span><\/p>\n Old Dominion (25-7) – lacks quality wins<\/span><\/p>\n USC (24-11) – lacks quality wins<\/span><\/p>\n Nebraska (22-10) – beat Michigan<\/p>\n Mississippi State (22-11) – beat Arkansas and Missouri<\/p>\n Louisville (20-13) – beat Florida State (x2) and Virginia Tech (x2)<\/span><\/p>\n Notre Dame (20-14) – beat Wichita State, Florida State, Virginia Tech<\/span><\/p>\n Oklahoma State (20-14) – beat Kansas (x2), Oklahoma (x2), Texas Tech, West Virginia<\/span><\/p>\n Biggest Tournament Surprises<\/b><\/p>\n Michigan State as a No. 3 seed – 29-4 record, made a strong argument for 1 or 2 seed<\/span><\/p>\n Arizona as a No. 4 seed – 27-7 record, made a strong argument for 1 or 2 seed<\/span><\/p>\n Alabama (19-15) making the tournament – most losses ever by an at-large tournament team <\/span><\/p>\n Tournament Schedule<\/b><\/p>\n Round of 64 – March 15 and 16<\/span><\/p>\n Round of 32 – March 17 and 18<\/span><\/p>\n Sweet Sixteen – March 22 and 23<\/span><\/p>\n Elite Eight – March 24 and 25<\/span><\/p>\n Final Four – March 31<\/span><\/p>\n Championship – April 2<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BY TRISTAN SASSE In a year that featured 18 different teams ranked in the top five throughout the season, we are on board for another… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":37136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3394,7349],"tags":[69,106,10871,726,103,1495,290],"class_list":["post-37135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-basketball-sports","category-sports","tag-fhsu","tag-fort-hays-state-university","tag-march-madness","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-tiger-media-network","tag-tigermedianet","tag-tmn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Kansas-NCAA-Tournament.jpg?fit=275%2C183&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37135"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37152,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37135\/revisions\/37152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}