NCAA Tournament 2012 Bracket: What Experts Are Saying About the South Region

The South Region of the NCAA Tournament 2012 bracket is shaping up to be extremely interesting.

The best team in the country is the Kentucky Wildcats, but they don't have an easy road. Both the Iowa State Cyclones and the Connecticut Huskies could give the Wildcats trouble in the third round.

After that, Duke, Baylor and Indiana make up a very top-heavy region. 

Here's a closer look at what experts are saying about the South. 

Possible Cinderella: UNLV

ESPN's Andy Katz sees No. 6 UNLV as a good bet to get to the Elite 8.

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"It's hard to call a No. 6 UNLV a Cinderella. But the Runnin' Rebels could make the Elite Eight. The matchups are favorable. Colorado may have run out of gas in the Pac-12 tournament. The Buffs may struggle to rebound with the Runnin' Rebels, too. Baylor has tremendous talent and length but UNLV already knocked off a similar team this season in North Carolina. So a UNLV run could occur. And beating Duke isn't out of the question, either, with La Vegas' aggressive nature. I'm not predicting this run, but it's more than plausible."

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It's hard to argue with Katz on this one. I wouldn't be surprised if Duke, who is completely overrated as a two-seed, fails to get past Xavier in the third round.

Throw in a Baylor team that is athletic but has a collective basketball IQ of a fourth grader, and things open up really nicely for the Runnin' Rebels.

In fact, their biggest obstacle—as crazy as it sounds—in a run to the Elite 8 could be Colorado, a team with a lot of momentum and talent. Andre Roberson and Carlon Brown are no joke.

Best round-of-64 matchup: Wichita State-VCU

Yahoo! Sports' Mike Huguenin likes the matchup between these two mid-majors, even in a region dominated by Kentucky and Duke.

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"Wichita State and VCU are two mid-majors who could make some noise in the tourney. Wichita State won the Missouri Valley regular-season title, and the Shockers want an up-tempo game. They are efficient offensively and can hit the 3-pointer, but they don’t always bear down defensively. They also have a good big man in 7-footer Garrett Stutz. VCU comes at you in waves defensively. But the Rams are spotty offensively, which makes it vital that their pressure defense is in good form against Wichita State."

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Again, it's hard to argue with Huguenin's pick as the best early game in this region.

Wichita State is incredibly efficient on the offensive end, but Shaka Smart's VCU are becoming famous for their "havoc" defense in which they put on full-court pressure for 40 minutes.

It will be strength versus strength when the Shockers have the ball, and that's fun to watch.

Best player: Anthony Davis

Pretty much everyone agrees with this pick, and there's no reason not to. Moving on.

Top Seed no one is paying attention to: Indiana

Not ESPN, not Yahoo!, not Jon Rothstein. No one is talking about the Hoosiers, and that could be a mistake.

Indiana sometimes forgets to play defense and is now with Verdell Jones, but if the Hoosiers score like they are capable of, watch out.

Oh, and look, a possible Sweet 16 matchup between Kentucky and Indiana awaits. The last time those two teams met, something special happened. Yet no one is talking about it.