2010 WEST REGION PREDICTIONS
The predictions below are my own personal analysis and no particular degree of confidence should be placed in any of them. I highly recommend using my friends at Team Rankings' Bracket Brains product instead--those guys are the real experts.
WEST REGION - Anaheim, CA
1 Duke
16 Hampton
8 Michigan
9 Tennessee
Duke
Tennessee
5 Arizona
12 Memphis
4 Texas
13 Oakland
Memphis
Texas
3 UConn
14 Bucknell
6 Cincinnati
11 Missouri
UConn
Missouri
7 Temple
10 Penn State
2 San Diego State
15 Northern Colorado
Temple
San Diego State
Duke
Texas
UConn
San Diego State
Duke
UConn
Regional Champ
UConn
UConn
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE WEST REGION
- SLEEPER ALERT: The winner of Arizona-Memphis. Either team will pose real problems for Texas, although I think Dogus Balbay's defense at the PG spot (best nickname in Division I: "The Turkish Prison") will lock them down before their interior guys can get started. Texas has been SO inconsistent, though...
- The Huskies won't pull a Syracuse from the GMac era. They just seem to have the deepest drive of anyone in basketball right now...college OR Pro.
- UConn - Duke or SDSU- Duke (in Anaheim) would both be EPIC regional finals. I think both teams are tougher than Duke, though neither is as disciplined.