All of the debate going into Selection Sunday was about whether or not Wisconsin or Arizona would be the 1-seed in the West Region.
But when it boils down to it, there's not a huge difference. Technically one is the fourth best team in the bracket, while one is the fifth.
The Wisconsin Badgers ended up receiving that 1-seed, with the Arizona Wildcats sitting on the two-line.
Wisconsin opens up the tournament in Omaha, Nebraska against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Sitting next to them is fellow Pac-12 team Oregon and Oklahoma State. Kind of nice for the Cowboys to not have to travel very far given that they are a 9-seed.
Moving down to Wisconsin's potential Sweet Sixteen matchup gives us 4-seed North Carolina and 5-seed Arkansas. UNC probably poses the biggest threat to the Badgers returning to the Elite Eight this season, but I like the Badgers to get there without really having too much drama.
The bottom half of the bracket finds the biggest double-digit seed threat in the Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU freshman D'Angelo Russell is one of the most talked about NBA Draft prospects in the college game this year, averaging 19.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 5.1 APG. Ohio State's first game against the VCU Rams is interesting. VCU seems to be over-seeded, finishing fifth in the regular season A-10 standings before winning the conference tournament over 2-seed Dayton, who got shipped to the First Four.
I don't see Ohio State getting past Arizona though, as the Wildcats will be able to defend the Buckeyes with relative ease.
The biggest threat to Arizona reaching the Elite Eight and another meeting with Wisconsin is 3-seed Baylor, although the Bears have a tough 14-seed to deal with in Georgia State. GSU has Kevin Ware, who you might remember from the time his leg shattered into a million pieces on national TV when he was at Louisville. You'll also know Georgia State because their head coach is going to be on crutches after tearing his Achilles when they won their conference tournament.
But Baylor should be fine there, and then get by either Xavier or the winner of BYU/Ole Miss to reach the Sweet Sixteen. The Bears have four guys that average double-digit points. Rico Gathers will be the guy to keep an eye on, as he averages 11.7 points per game and 11.6 rebounds per game. At 6-8, 280 pounds, his size might give Brandon Ashley and Kaleb Tarczewski a tough time down in the post, and force the Arizona big men to be in foul trouble. Gathers is averaging 8.6 free throws attempted per game this season, nearly double from each of his first two years.
Let's put Arizona through to the Elite Eight, because that is the expectation at this point. Of course Wisconsin is in the way of the school's fifth Final Four appearance, but I think this year is going to be a different story.
The obvious difference between last year's Arizona team and this year's is the fact that Brandon Ashley is healthy this year, and that he is currently playing the best basketball of his collegiate career. Coming off of being named the Pac-12 Tournament MOP, Ashley has a chance to not only leave his mark on Arizona, but improve his NBA Draft stock significantly, and a great game against Wisconsin and Frank Kaminsky would certainly do that.
Do you think Arizona gets through to the Final Four as well? What will the crazy upset be in the region? Let us know!