Disclaimer: This is about learning the South Region and not so much about Texas Tech. This is what I call research with benefits in the fact that you all get to benefit from my research.

Regional Sleeper: My thought is that anyone 1 through 8 isn’t a sleeper so I’ll go with Virginia Tech. I sort of like grinder head coaches and that’s what Mike Young is, he coached at Wofford for 18 years and took them to the NCAA Tournament 5 times in the last decade of his tenure.

Likeliest Upset: Winthrop over Villanova seems likely and this is a lot of experts’ pick and it’s because they are 23-1, while Villanova is a bit banged up as they’ve lost their point guard Collin Gillespie. Vaudrin for Winthrop does it all, which can be a blessing and a curse, but if he’s on and dishing, which is what he does, then this absolutely can happen.

Best Matchup: North Carolina and Wisconsin makes the most sense to me even though that is the easiest choice with them being an 8 vs. 9 matchup. Wisconsin is really up and down, but they don’t turn the ball over really at all and the defense is fantastic. If you ever have an issue watching Texas Tech’s offense, then don’t watch Wisconsin. North Carolina is one of the blue bloods that actually made the tournament with Kansas, Indiana, and Kentucky failing to make the field of 64. You’ll hear a ton about Caleb Love, the freshman guard, but he’s really not that great. Terrible shooter. Kerwin Walton? Yes. He can shoot, but he’s not shooting enough.

Best Players:

• Duane Washington, Jr. | 6’3″ Jr.| Ohio State: An excellent scorer and off-guard for tOSU, averages 15.3 ppg and 2.9 apg.
• Neemias Queta | 7’0″ Jr. | Utah State: Everyone is talking about the huge center from Logan and he’s the do-everythig for the Aggies, 14.7 ppg and 9.9 rpg.
• Chandler Vaudrin |6’7″ Sr. | Winthrop: Love a guy like this, averages 12.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 6.7 apg while shooting 37% from deep.
• Jared Butler | 6’3″ Jr. |Baylor: The leading scorer from one of the best teams in the nation, 17.1 ppg, 5.0 apg while making 44% from deep.
• Marcus Moody | 6’6″ Fr. | Arkansas: Love this game, 17.4 ppg and 5.9 rpg for the freshman.
• Keve Aluma | 6’9″ Jr. | Virginia Tech: another really good scorer, 15.6 ppg and 8.0 rpg while making nearly 50% of his shots.
• Jordan Burns | 6’0″ Sr. | Colgate: Love seniors and NCAA Tournaments, Burns averages 17.1 ppg, 5.4 apg and makes 42% of his three-pointers.
• Max Abmas | 6’1″ So. | Oral Roberts: The leading scorer of the region I think, 24.3 ppg, 3.5 apg and there really is a golden tower (which is not a euphemism) in Tulsa at Oral Roberts.

Good Enough to Win it All That’s Not Baylor: Arkansas is the pick for me. If I had to pick a coach that does similar things to Chris Beard, in terms of how he recruits and finds players, how absolutely driven he is and he worked his way to the top, it would be Eric Musselman. And Arkansas is hot coming into the tournament with a fantastic freshman in Moody.

Overrated: I’ll go with Ohio State. They were terrific early, but lost 4 in a row to Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Illinois late in the season. Liddell is very good, but I don’t think the Buckeyes are as good as their paper.

Team that Moves On: I think Baylor is pretty darned special, maybe a bit shallow in the frontcourt for my taste, but they are absolutely stacked and their guards are all so good. It’s easy to pick the No. 1 seed and if I had to pick the next best pick, it would be Arkansas for me.

Initial Thoughts on Texas Tech: There’s part of me that thinks that Texas Tech has one of the toughest matchups in the region and Utah State is no joke. Don’t get me wrong, I trust no coach more than Chris Beard in March. Everything up until this point has been to get to *this point right here*. And everything absolutely mattered up until this point. But now we’re here and now we are in this moment. I would add that what’s interesting about Utah State is that they are not a smaller team that’s going to get bullied. They are versatile, they rebound the hell out of the ball and they defend like their life depends on it. Can’t wait until Friday.