The decisions have been made, the brackets our set, that’s right the NCAA Tournament kicks
off this week!  The regular season is over, the new season starts Tuesday and everyone’s got
a chance to cut down the nets this April. This year the tournament should provide a lot of
entertainment for even the casual fan.  In my humble opinion there are probably 8-10 teams
with a legitimate chance to be crowned National Champion this year.

In the South Region, you have the #1 seed Florida Gators looking at a possible Sweet-16
match-up against the resurgent UCLA Bruins, if the Bruins can get by Shaka Smart’s
VCU Rams.  The bottom half of the bracket features another household name when it comes
to March Madness, theKansas Jayhawks, who will more than likely have to get through the
Syracuse Orange or Ohio St. Buckeyes, if they want a chance to take down the Gators for a
shot at the Final Four.

My pick from the South Region – Florida Gators.

In the East Region, you have the ACC champion and #1 seed Virginia Cavaliers, who have
a pretty easy road to the Sweet 16, but from there on it gets tricky.  If the Cavs are lucky
enough to make it through the first two rounds, they will be met by Tom Izzo, who brought
the Michigan State Spartans back to the tournament again for the 17th straight season.  Another
interesting 2nd round match-up would be the Villanova Wildcats and possible second round
match up with the Connecticut Huskies.  Villanova will be looking to redeem itself after an
early 1st round exit from the Big East Tournament.

My pick from East Region – Michigan St. Spartans.

The West region is led by #1 seeded Arizona Wildcats, who could face tough second and
third round match-ups against Oklahoma St. Cowboys or Oklahoma Sooners respectively.
In the bottom half of the bracket, Bo Ryan, has got the #2 seeded Wisconsin Badgers
dancing again, but it will not be a walk in the park.  They face a possible second round
match-up with the Oregon Ducks and Sweet 16 match up with the Creighton Blue jays,
led by Doug McDermott the nation’s leading scorer.

My Pick from the West Region – Arizona Wildcats.

Last and certainly not least the Midwest Region led by the #1 seed and only undefeated team
in the tournament Wichita St. Shockers, who face a difficult 2nd round match-up against the
Kentucky Wildcats.  Not a lot of love given to the only undefeated team, this region is full of
great teams including the defending champion Louisville Cardinals who would meet the
Shockers in the Sweet 16.  If the Shockers can get by these two they will more than likely
meet either the Duke Blue Devils or Michigan Wolverines. It’s not an easy road for the
Shockers to get back the Final Four, but they do, they will be battle tested.

My Pick for the Midwest Region – Duke Blue Devils.

By Pat Gavin