I’ve done this every year since I’ve been at Barstool and we roll on in 2025.
I’ll be looking at each region the next two days to get everyone ready for the NCAA Tournament.
Not the First Four, the real field of 64.
West Region
Storylines
1.
Florida is the best team in the country -This is where this year gets weird.
Florida just steamrolled the SEC Tournament.
Florida is basically what everyone says is the best team in the country.
They have guard play, they have depth, they have a ton of bigs.
I wish that wasn’t the case, but they are.
Howevah, they are the 4th 1 seed which is how they end up in this brutal region.
It becomes the hot team vs the field basically.
The region of death -I wanted to put this as its own storyline after mentioning it quickly before.
This is the best region.
Yeah, you get the point.
This is the region that everyone will agree is the deepest.
Pitino vs Cal/Self -We gotta bring it up.
It needs to be said a lot, this is a TV show.
We’re looking at potentially Calipari vs Pitino in Providence?
Cal doesn’t win?
Seriously, that’s fine.
Bill Self vs Rick Pitino.
That’s how you sell a second round game right there.
St. John’s Aaron Scott hurt his thumb and was wearing protection in the Big East title game.
The mid-majors are alive -I know Drake tends to be this team every year.
If not Drake, it’s basically the 2nd MVC team most years.
They are going to be a popular pick to beat Missouri because Drake is awesome.
Colorado State is favored.
Grand Canyon isn’t an ideal matchup for Maryland and won a game a year ago.
You have 3 mid-majors who could win the first round game and be live for the 2nd round.
We know PJ Haggerty from Memphis, but it’s Clifford who can match him.
He went for 25, 26 and 24 in the three MWC Tournament games.
He even had 14 and 11 rebounds in two of the games.
The dude can do it all.
He’s the definition of must watch TV.
JT Toppin is the star, I mentioned the injuries, but Anderson has taken a leap lately.
He will launch threes, if he gets hot it completely changes their ceiling.
You get Pitino out there coaching him and it’s the perfect combo.
Will Richard (Florida) -I had no idea what Florida guy to pick.
Walter Clayton is the All-American, Alijah Martin played in a Final Four at FAU.
But we go with the 3rd guard that starts for them.
Richard is a guy who is made to score.
He’s attempted nearly 200 threes on the year.
This is the guy that I assume wins them the close game if Clayton is off.
But I’m not going to take a -125 play here.
I would have went Texas Tech, but the injuries scare me a little bit.
There’s something magical going on with the Johnnies.
Pitino is pushing every button right.
They have 4 losses by a combined 7 points.
They know how to win and it’s basically impossible to kill this team.
Matchup you want to see -Texas Tech vs St. John’s in the Sweet 16.
This feels like the best possible Sweet 16 matchup.
