NCAA Bracket 2018: Complete Guide to South Region
The South Region of the 2018 NCAA tournament features the No. 1 team in the country, the Virginia Cavaliers, who posted a sterling 31-2 record during the regular season and a 17-1 record in ACC play.
It won't be an easy road to the Final Four, though.
High-profile schools in Cincinnati, Tennessee, Arizona and Kentucky also call the South Region home, as well as two teams who will be popular Cinderella picks in Loyola-Chicago and Davidson.
When the dust settles, the team that emerges from this region may well be the odds-on favorite to win the national title.
Before the tournament gets underway, here's a full breakdown of the South Region.
Round-of-64 Schedule and TV Info
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Thursday
(Games in Dallas)
Tennessee (3) vs. Wright State (14), 12:40 p.m. ET, truTV
Miami (6) vs. Loyola-Chicago (11), following first game, truTV
(Games in Boise)
Kentucky (5) vs. Davidson (12), 7:10 p.m. ET, CBS
Arizona (4) vs. Buffalo (13), following first game, CBS
Friday
(Games in Nashville)
Cincinnati (2) vs. Georgia State (15), 2 p.m. ET, TBS
Nevada (7) vs. Texas (10), following first game, TBS
(Games in Charlotte)
Creighton (8) vs. Kansas State (9), 6:50 p.m. ET, TNT
Virginia (1) vs. UMBC (16), following first game, TNT
Must-See Games
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No. 7 Nevada vs. No. 10 Texas
While Nevada will be making just the eighth NCAA tournament appearance in school history, it will come with legitimate expectations.
The Wolf Pack finished with an RPI of 19, ahead of a pair of No. 4 seed Gonzaga and No. 5 seed Ohio State, among other teams.
Led by Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Caleb Martin (19.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG), fellow junior Jordan Caroline (17.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG) and sharp-shooter Kendall Stephens (13.2 PPG, 44.4 3PT%), the lineup has no shortage of offensive firepower.
Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns are in the tournament for the 34th time in school history, and they've come a long way in the past year after going 11-22 last season.
Shaka Smart's team was on the bubble and will have something to prove after an up-and-down season.
The health of freshman star Mohamed Bamba will be important in this one as he was battling a toe injury toward the end of the conference slate.
No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Davidson
We all know about freshman-led Kentucky, who turned in an impressive showing in the SEC tournament that was capped off by a win over No. 3-seeded Tennessee in the title game.
The Wildcats are as talented as any team in the country when it plays to its potential, but with such a young team, you just never know.
That makes 12-seed Davidson an interesting first-round draw.
It took wins against seven-seed Rhode Island and 11-seed St. Bonaventure to claim the A-10 title, so momentum is on their side heading into the tournament.
Led by the one-two punch of senior Peyton Aldridge (21.8 PPG, 7.8 RPG) and Kellan Grady (18.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG), Davidson is capable of putting a serious scare into Kentucky, and this one should be a battle from the opening tip.
The other popular upset pick in this bracket will be 11-seed Loyola-Chicago, and we'll have more on them in a bit.
Top Storylines
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Is the South the Strongest Region?
With the No. 1 overall seed in Virginia and a star-studded supporting cast of Cincinnati, Tennessee, Arizona and Kentucky, the South Region looks like the toughest at first blush.
Then there are teams such as Texas and Davidson, who have double-digit seeds but also have multiple wins against RPI top-25 teams on their resumes.
If Virginia plays the dominant defense we've seen all season, this could prove to be a moot point.
Still, there will be no shortage of star power taking the court in the South Region, and all it takes is one future pro getting hot and shouldering the load for his team in March.
Who Will Emerge from the Top Half of the Bracket?
Three of the nation's more high-profile programs—Virginia, Arizona and Kentucky—are on a collision course in the upper half of the South Region.
Assuming Virginia takes care of business in its first two games, a team that's capable of winning the national title will likely be waiting in the Sweet 16.
Arizona is one of the nation's most dangerous offensive teams with DeAndre Ayton, Allonzo Trier and Rawle Alkins all capable of going off for 20-plus points on any given night.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kentucky used an impressive defensive effort in the SEC tournament to claim the title.
"It's really hard to stop us because we're so talented on the offensive end," freshman star Kevin Knox told reporters. "Anyone can really score the basketball. If we can just get stops on the defensive end, it would be pretty much unstoppable."
Both teams present a tough test for the Cavaliers, and whoever advances to the Elite Eight from that trio could emerge as the title favorite heading into the final days of the tournament.
Did Cincinnati Really Deserve a No. 2 Seed?
The 30-4 record is impressive, there's no question.
Still, a strong case can be made for the Bearcats being the weakest No. 2 seed by a wide margin.
All four of its losses came against tournament teams, but with a non-conference strength of schedule of 104, Cincinnati has not been tested as much as the nation's other elite sides.
Meanwhile, teams such as Michigan State, Wichita State—and even Tennessee and Arizona—in their own regional look far bigger threats to make a deep tournament run.
Again, it's hard to argue with the 30-4 record and an RPI of nine, but an early exit from the Bearcats wouldn't be overly surprising.
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Stars to Watch
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DeAndre Ayton, C, Arizona
The No. 2 player on Jonathan Wasserman's NBA Draft Big Board here at Bleacher Report, Ayton has a chance to be a bona fide superstar at the next level.
The 7'1" freshman averaged 20.3 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 61.6 percent from the floor en route to Pac-12 Player of the Year honors.
That included back-to-back 32-point games to close out the Pac-12 tournament—his two highest-scoring games of the season. He's playing his best basketball of the season heading into the NCAA tournament.
Mohamed Bamba, C, Texas
Not far behind at No. 7 in Wasserman's rankings is fellow big man Mohamed Bamba.
At 6'11" and 225 pounds he's not quite as NBA-ready as Ayton, but with a 7'9" wingspan and the ability to stretch the floor offensively, the sky is the limit.
A member of the All-Big 12 Second Team, All-Defensive Team and All-Freshman Team, Bamba averaged 12.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game in his freshman season for the Longhorns.
He'll take some time to reach his ceiling, but the payoff could be huge for whoever rolls the dice on him in this year's lottery.
Kevin Knox, SF, Kentucky
The star of a freshman-led Wildcats team, Knox checks in at No. 9 in Wasserman's draft rankings.
The 6'9" freshman leads the team in scoring (15.6 PPG) and is one of two players on the team who averages more than 30 minutes per contest.
After going through some growing pains early in the season, he's found more consistency of late with double-digit points in each of his last 11 games.
Fellow Kentucky freshmen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Hamidou Diallo are also likely first-round picks in this year's draft, and the former went off for 29 points in the SEC title game.
Favorites Most Likely to Fall
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Cincinnati
As we touched on earlier, the Bearcats didn't have the most impressive nonconference schedule.
Here's a look Cincinnati's best wins before AAC play began:
- Buffalo (RPI: 26)
- UCLA (RPI: 36)
- Mississippi State (RPI: 73)
- Wyoming (RPI: 98)
That's an 11-seed, a 13-seed and two teams likely headed for the National Invitation Tournament.
A road win against Wichita State is the headliner on the Bearcats' resume, but they also lost at home against that same Shockers team.
Cincinnati is a talented team, but there's no question that the winner of Nevada/Texas in the second round will be one of its toughest tests of the year.
Miami
The Hurricanes have one excellent win—a 91-88 road victory over North Carolina at the end of February.
Their resume takes a major hit after that, with Middle Tennesse and Louisville both ending up on the wrong side of the bubble.
Miami doesn't have a go-to scorer, with seven players averaging at least eight points per game and star freshman Lonnie Walker tops among that group at 11.5 points per game.
A balanced attack can be a double-edged sword. You're not relying on any one player to shoulder the load, but you also don't have that dominant presence to lean on in a close game.
The committee didn't do them any favorites with a first-round matchup against a team that will be one of the popular upset picks in Loyola-Chicago.
Most Likely Cinderella
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Loyola-Chicago
The Ramblers are in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1985 and just the sixth time in school history.
While it might not add another national championship banner to the one already hanging from rafters for the 1963 season, this team could make some serious noise in the South Region.
Wichita State leaving the Missouri Valley Conference certainly made their path to a conference championship easier, but Loyola-Chicago has put together an impressive resume regardless.
A win against a Florida team that was ranked No. 5 in the AP poll at the time gave them some national recognition, and a dominant 15-3 record in MVC play made them a potential at-large team before they clinched the automatic bid.
Say what you will about the level of competition, but the Ramblers enter the NCAA tournament as winners of 10 in a row and 17 of the last 18.
With a defense that ranked 24th in the KenPom.com's Adjusted Defensive Efficiency Rating, they're a tough draw for anyone.
It will take wins over Miami and Tennessee to get to the Sweet 16.
Crazier things have happened.
Who Will Make the Sweet 16?
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(1) Virginia
It's chalk for the Cavaliers, who steamroll UMBC in the opening game and make short work of whoever wins the 8/9 game between Creighton and Kansas State.
The Sweet 16 is where things get interesting for the nation's top team.
(5) Kentucky
Riding the emotional high of a dramatic overtime victory against upset-minded Davidson in the first round, Kentucky turns in one of its most impressive performances of the season with a double-digit throttling of Arizona to reach the Sweet 16.
These guys are freshmen in name only at this point.
(3) Tennessee
Wright State makes things interesting for a half in the opening round before the Volunteers pull away for a relatively painless opening win.
Tennessee then snuffs the Cinderella hopes of Loyola-Chicago, although the Ramblers go down swinging and leave its first tournament in 33 years with their heads held high.
(7) Nevada
After a tight game with Texas to kick off the tournament, the Wolf Pack answer the question we posed earlier: "Did Cincinnati Really Deserve a No. 2 Seed?"
It's a resounding no.
The Elite 8 Matchup Will Be...
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(1) Virginia vs. (7) Nevada
Sometimes, all it takes is a good three-point shooting team hitting a hot streak for things to get weird in March.
The Wolf Pack ranked 20th in the nation with 330 made threes during the season, and there a few teams who boast a more dangerous duo than Kendall Stephens (118 3PM, 44.4%) and Caleb Martin (89 3PM, 40.8%).
Tennessee will be a tough test after holding opponents to 31.6 percent from beyond the arc on the year.
Still, we'll say Nevada has the hot hand coming in and they punch their ticket to the Elite Eight with a dominant showing from downtown.
On the other side, the Virginia and Kentucky matchup could be a race to 60 points after the Wildcats flashed their defensive prowess during the SEC tournament.
In the end, the experience of Virginia—who starts three upperclassmen and has no freshmen playing significant minutes—proves to be too much for the young Wildcats.
And the Final Four Team Is...
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(1) Virginia
There's no question the South Region is stacked.
But in the end, the Cavaliers' dominant defense proves to be too much for the rest of the field, and they swarm the Wolf Pack to reach the Final Four.
Virginia held opponents to just 53.4 points per game this season and was the clear No. 1 defensive team in the country, according to KenPom's Defensive Efficiency Rating.
They're not the sexiest pick to win it all this season, and the roster isn't overflowing with future NBA talent.
The absolute dominance of the rest of the ACC speaks for itself, though, and after facing the Dukes and the North Carolinas of the world, this team will be ready for anything.
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