Men's NCAA Bracket 2023: Complete Guide to West Region
The West Region of the 2023 men's NCAA tournament is headlined by No. 1 Kansas, who won the Big 12 regular-season title while racking up a staggering 17 Quad 1 victories along the way.
The Jayhawks will have to contend with No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 4 UConn and a host of upset-minded lower seeds if they hope to win their region and advance on to the Final Four.
Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson leads the way for Kansas, while Wooden Award finalists Drew Timme (Gonzaga), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA) and Mike Miles Jr. (TCU) also call the West Region home.
Before the tournament gets underway, here's a full breakdown of the West Region.
Make your picks: Play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge and Tournament Run.
1st-Round Schedule
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Thursday
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Howard, 2 p.m., TBS
No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Illinois, 4:30 p.m., TBS
No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Boise State, 7:35 p.m., truTV
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville, 10:05 p.m., truTV
Friday
No. 5 Saint Mary's vs. No. 12 VCU, 2 p.m., TBS
No. 4 UConn vs. No. 13 Iona, 4:30 p.m., TBS
No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Grand Canyon, 7:35 p.m., truTV
No. 6 TCU vs. No. 11 Arizona State/Nevada, 10:05 p.m. truTV
All times Eastern
Must-See Games
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No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Illinois
There is going to be a ton of future NBA talent on display in this game, with six players who appeared in the latest mock draft from B/R's Jonathan Wasserman at the beginning of March. The Razorbacks have Nick Smith Jr. (No. 6), Anthony Black (No. 10), Ricky Council IV (No. 27), Jordan Walsh (No. 46) all included as part of the full two-round mock, while Terrence Shannon Jr. (No. 47) and Coleman Hawkins (No. 49) were among the 60 selections off the Illinois roster. The winner gets Kansas.
No. 4 UConn vs. No. 13 Iona
Will this be Rick Pitino's final game at Iona? The legendary head coach has been heavily linked to the vacant St. John's job, but first he'll try to pull off an upset of fourth-seeded UConn in the first round on Friday. The Gaels finished 27-7 overall and rank in the top 80 nationally in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency, so it's not going to be a walk in the park for the Huskies.
Top Storylines
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Kansas Snubbed on the 1-Seed Line
The Jayhawks led the nation with an absurd 17 Quad 1 wins this year, 10 more than Houston tallied playing a rather easy conference schedule in the AAC. Despite that disparity, the Cougars were given the second No. 1 seed, which bumped Kansas from the Midwest Region to the West Region. That might not seem significant at first glance, but looking ahead to the second weekend of games, it means the Jayhawks will potentially be playing Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Las Vegas rather than in their own backyard in Kansas City.
Gonzaga and Saint Mary's in the Same Region
There is a not completely far-fetched scenario in which West Coast Conference rivals Gonzaga and Saint Mary's meet up for a trip to the Final Four on the line. The third-seeded Bulldogs will need to upset second-seeded UCLA, while the fifth-seeded Gaels will need to survive fourth-seeded UConn and top-seeded Kansas. They split their regular-season matchups before Gonzaga came away with a 77-51 blowout win in the WCC tournament title game.
Jaylen Clark Sidelined for UCLA
The Bruins saw their national title hopes take a hit when junior guard Jaylen Clark (13.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG) was lost for the season with an Achilles injury in the regular-season finale on March 4. Freshman standout Amari Bailey had a season-high 26 points in the Pac-12 tournament opener and 19 points against Arizona in the title game, so look for him to take on a bigger role offensively.
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Players to Watch
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Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Wilson was a secondary player on the Jayhawks' title team last year, and he returned for his junior season to become the focal point of the offense. The Big 12 Player of the Year averages 20.1 points and 8.4 rebounds, and he has 12 double-doubles on the year, including two in the Big 12 tournament. Freshman phenom Gradey Dick is the better NBA prospect, but it's Wilson who will drive the team's March Madness push.
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
A second-team All-American last year, Timme returned for his senior season and has been one of the nation's most consistent scorers, averaging 20.9 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 62.4 percent from the floor. He scored 82 points in three NCAA tournament games last year and will be asked to shoulder the load once again.
Nick Smith Jr., Arkansas
Smith was the No. 1 player in the 2022 recruiting class, but he missed nearly two months with a knee injury at midseason. He was eased back into action after returning on Feb. 11, playing just 21 combined minutes in his first two games back, but since then he is averaging 18.1 points, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc and logging 33 minutes per game. The future lottery pick will be the X-factor for the Razorbacks.
Favorite Most Likely to Fall
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No. 3 Gonzaga
After earning a No. 1 seed in each of the past three NCAA tournaments, the Gonzaga Bulldogs took a slight step backward this year while losing multiple conference games for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
A quick snapshot of the team's KenPom adjusted efficiency rankings the past two years better illustrates what has changed in the past year.
All-American candidate Drew Timme (20.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG) and NBA prospect Julian Strawther (15.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG) lead the way offensively, and the Bulldogs lead the nation with 52.9 percent shooting from the floor.
However, the defense has allowed more than 80 points nine different times this year, including in blowout losses against Texas (93-74) and Purdue (84-66). That could be their undoing this year, and a tough TCU team awaits in the second round that could bring their tournament to an early end.
Most Likely Cinderella
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No. 12 VCU
The VCU Rams are no stranger to March Madness, having punched their ticket to 10 of the past 12 NCAA tournaments going back to their surprise run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed in 2011.
This year's team finished 27-7 on the strength of one of the most disruptive defenses in the country, limiting the opposition to 41.5 percent shooting while forcing 16.5 turnovers per game to rank 17th in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency.
Offense can come and go on a game-to-game basis, but a dominant defense tends to show up every game, and it helped the Rams pick up quality wins over Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt and Kennesaw State in nonconference play.
They face a good Saint Mary's team in the first round, but their defense should help keep things close and give them the potential to pull off an upset.
Who Will Make the Sweet 16?
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No. 1 Kansas
The winner of the No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Illinois game will be capable of beating anyone on any given night, but consistency has not been either squad's calling card this season. The Jayhawks survive the opening weekend and advance on to the Sweet 16 for the 33rd time in team history.
No. 2 UCLA
A sneaky-good Northwestern team and whoever comes out of the likely Gonzaga vs. TCU matchup will be two major hurdles for UCLA to overcome to reach the Sweet 16, but there's more than enough talent on the roster even without Jaylen Clark to put together another deep NCAA tournament run. The best defense in the country should be able to slow down any of those offenses.
No. 4 UConn
The Huskies are playing their best basketball of the season right now with a 9-2 record in their last 11 games, and their losses during that stretch were on the road to Creighton (56-53) and in the Big East tournament against Marquette (70-68). The one-two punch of Adama Sanogo (17.0 PPG, 7.2 RPG) and Jordan Hawkins (15.9 PPG, 37.3 3PT%) is going to be tough to slow down, and a well-rounded group that ranks in the top 20 in KenPom's adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency survives the opening weekend.
No. 6 TCU
The Horned Frogs' resume includes eight Quad 1 wins, including an 83-60 victory on the road against Kansas in January. They went 13-11 overall in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games, with a road win over Baylor and neutral-site victories over Kansas State and Iowa also helping to raise their profile. An upset victory over Gonzaga sends the Horned Frogs to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
The Elite Eight Matchup Will Be...
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No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 2 UCLA
It's chalk in the Elite Eight.
The UCLA Bruins can lean on the experienced tandem of Jaime Jaquez Jr. (17.3 PPG, 8.1 RPG) and Tyger Campbell (13.6 PPG, 4.7 APG), as both seniors played a key role on the upstart team that reached the Final Four in 2021.
They had a pair of double-digit wins in the Pac-12 tournament before narrowly losing 61-59 to Arizona in the title game. They have now had more than a week to prepare for life without Jaylen Clark, and freshman Amari Bailey could be one of the breakout stars of the 2023 tournament.
They square off against a Kansas Jayhawks team that didn't lose a game all season to a team ranked outside the top 30 in the NET rankings, so teams hoping to upset the top seed in the West Region have their work cut out for them.
Jalen Wilson is averaging 23.0 points and 8.4 rebounds over his last five games, and he is well-equipped to lead the Jayhawks on another title push.
And the Final Four Team Is...
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No. 1 Kansas
Can anyone stop Kansas?
We've already mentioned it here, but it's impossible to ignore the 17-7 record in Quad 1 games, and even with a lopsided loss in the Big 12 tournament final, the Jayhawks still rank No. 7 in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency.
That defense clashes with a UCLA team that ranks No. 1 in defensive efficiency in this projected bracket, and that could make this one of the lower-scoring games of the second weekend.
Both teams basically only go six players deep in the rotation, so the risk of a deeper opponent wearing the Jayhawks down is not in play here, especially with Jaylen Clark no longer playing his 30.5 minutes per game.
This has the potential to be one of the best games of the tournament, and the Jayhawks come out on top behind a big game from Wilson to add another high-level victory to their resume.
All stats courtesy of Sports Reference. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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