NCAA Bracket 2011: In Southwest Region, Kansas Jayhawks Seek Redemption

Best Team: Top-seed, Kansas Jayhawks

I said Kansas was the team to beat back in mid-January, which doesn’t sound all that impressive until you remember that those were the days when everyone was drooling over Duke and about three other teams, while entirely ignoring Bill Self’s squad.

Kansas finished 32-2 and followed up its Big 12 regular season title by destroying Texas in the finals of the conference tournament to seal the double dip. The Jayhawks are great offensively, solid defensively, and as deep as any team in the country, with 10 players averaging 11 minutes or more.

They can beat you from the outside (shooting 39 percent from 3-point land), or inside (51 percent overall), and the Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus, are quite a load.

Kansas was everyone’s favorite to win it all last year, and they’re my favorite again. The only question I have about this team is if it can write a better ending than last year’s powerhouse that was shockingly eliminated by Northern Iowa in the second round. We’ll soon find out.

Bracketbuster (6-16 seed that could wreak havoc): 11-seed, USC Trojans

Southern Cal was one of the last four at-large selections, so it has to play a “first round” game against VCU on Wednesday night for the right to play Georgetown, the region’s No. 6 seed.

The Hoyas can be had. They come in as losers of four straight and five of six, with the only win coming against South Florida. In that stretch, they were blown out twice by Cincinnati and once by UConn. Point guard Chris Wright is said to be returning from a wrist injury for the tournament, but, and this is just a hunch, I doubt he’ll be anywhere close to 100 percent.

Why the love for USC? The Trojans have five players who average 9.9 points or more, with interior sensation Nicola Vucevic leading the way with 17.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. Vucevic hits a respectable 35 percent from downtown, and 75 percent from the foul line. He’s the type of big man that can change the entire complexion of a game, and teams with a great center are usually the one’s that score an upset or two.

Think back to last year’s Saint Mary’s team that was carried by Omar Samhan. He single-handedly led the Gaels to upsets over Richmond and Villanova. With a little support, Vucevic can replicate that, and USC will be on its way.

Most Likely to be Upset (1-5 seed sent home in first weekend): 4-seed, Louisville Cardinals

If forced to bet, I would say the top four seeds in this region advance to the Sweet 16, but since I have to pick one to lose, I’ll go with Louisville.

Notre Dame and Purdue, the two and three-seeds, each had a good case to be a top seed and both should sail through to next weekend. Louisville has a tough road, starting with Morehead State. The Eagles are led by Kenneth Faried, who may be the best kept secret in college basketball.

He averages 17.6 points, 14.5 rebounds, two steals, 2.5 blocks, and shoots 64 percent from the floor. Faried has the game and the body of an NBA player, and could put a hurting on the Cardinals.

If they are able to get past Faried’s Eagles, Louisville will likely play Vanderbilt, which has a versatile threesome of John Jenkins, Jeffrey Taylor, and Festus Ezeli that can pose various matchup problems.

Louisville is average from the perimeter (36 percent), bad from the foul line (67 percent), and turns the ball over too much (13 per game). Teams that are weak in those three areas don’t last long in March, and that’s why Louisville is ripe to be upset.

Best Player: JaJuan Johnson, Purdue Boilermakers

Johnson is putting together one heck of a senior season. He was named Big 10 Player of the Year, Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year, was selected as a first team All-American, and is a part of the small handful of players under consideration for the Naismith Award.

Purdue’s senior center led the team in points (20.5), rebounds (8.2), and blocks (2.3), and helped carry the Boilermakers through the loss of Robbie Hummel in the preseason, and through E’Twaun Moore’s atrocious midseason slump.

All things considered, it’s amazing Purdue finished 25-7, falling just short of a conference championship. Head Coach Matt Painter knows who to thank for that.

Best Coach: Rick Pitino, Louisville

Overall record: 597-228 (242-93 at Louisville)

NCAA Tournament record: 38-14

Final Fours: 5

National Championships: 1 (1996- Kentucky)

The Pick: Kansas over Purdue

Poor Purdue. If Hummel didn’t tear up his knee late last season, the Boilermakers probably go to the Final Four. If he didn’t do it again on the first day of practice last fall, they would be the odds on favorite to claim the national title. Without Hummel, they fall just short.

Kansas is too talented, too athletic and too deep for Purdue, and it has a score of its own to settle. Everyone on the planet thought the Jayhawks would coast the championship last April, only to see the dream dashed far too early.

The fact that they haven’t missed a beat despite losing Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry is a credit to Self and his staff. Somehow, this group seems better equipped to finish the deal.

At the very least, they’ll get to Houston.

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