NCAA Bracket 2011 Predictions: Last-Second Info To Fill Out Your West Bracket
It's time for March Madness, when the diaper dandies roam the court and people across the country ignore any and all responsibilities to watch a little college basketball.
It's the NCAA tournament, when filling out a bracket is never more fun and beating your friends in the Tournament Challenge is even funner.
But in order to do that, you have to be prepared.
You have to look up stats, locations and historical data to see if you're making the right decision by choosing that No. 12 over No. 5 upset or a Final Four featuring all No. 1 seeds.
Well, no worries, because I'm here today to help you out with at least one part of the bracket.
We'll take a look at the West bracket, and I'll give you some info that may or may not take you to the promised land.
Coolest Uniform: Tennessee
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You have one of two reactions to Tennessee's uniforms.
One, you make a face like Tobias Harris and wonder, "What the hell am I wearing?"
Two, you make a face like Bruce Pearl because you absolutely love the orange uniforms that the Volunteers sport.
I never go against a man who wears orange blazers or goes shirtless in the crowd, so I'm a big supporter of Tennessee's (dare I say it?) beautiful unis.
Ugliest Uniform: Penn State
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Really, Penn State? Can your jerseys get any more generic?
I mean, I understand that the Nittany Lions have this tradition of wearing navy and white with no other colors mixed in there.
But come on.
Penn State's football uniforms put me to sleep enough as it is, and now I have to deal with this boring uniform.
I'm less than thrilled about that.
Player We'd Most Love To Hang With: Scotty Hopson (Tennessee)
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A flattop? Yes, please.
I've got a test for you: Look at that picture of Scotty Hopson, then look at this picture of Will Smith from Fresh Prince and try to tell me that they don't at least look somewhat alike.
I bet you can't do it, huh.
And I'm also fairly certain that you can't argue against hanging out with Will, Carlton and Geoffrey.
OK, you don't get to do that, but Hopson wouldn't be a bad fill-in.
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Best Team Nickname: Cincinnati Bearcats
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Is it bear? Is it a cat?
I'm really not sure.
But this is what Cincinnati says it is and this is what Google says it is, while "bearcat" is also another word for "mountain lion."
If you're a Cincinnati fan and can help me out with this, please do.
But either way, the Bearcat is officially an awesome mascot.
Worst Team Nickname: Temple Owls
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Sports has its fair share of Hawks, Falcons, Eagles and other birds that sour through the sky in predatory fashion.
But the Owls? Well, let's just say they don't exactly scream intimidation.
That is, of course, unless you get really freaked out when they hoot.
Best Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)
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With all due respect to Jim Calhoun, this one really isn't even close: Mike Krzyzewski is the best coach, not just in the West bracket, but in all of college basketball.
While at Duke, he's won 12 ACC regular season championships, 13 ACC tournament championships, played in eight NCAA championship games and won four national titles.
Coach K has won six separate National Coach of the Year awards and has the second-most wins (898) in NCAA history, behind only Bob Knight.
Even if you're a Duke hater, you can't even attempt to make a case against Krzyzewski being the No. 1 coach in this bracket.
Best Player: Nolan Smith (Duke)
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A first-team selection on the 2010-11 U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-America Team, Duke guard Nolan Smith has had the kind of senior season that makes Dick Vitale go crazy.
While playing a team-high 34.2 minutes per contest, Smith averaged 21.3 points, 5.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game for the Blue Devils.
As a senior who played on Duke's national championship-winning team of 2010, Smith brings more than just on-court production to the table.
He's one of the most experienced players in the tournament, a guy who can say he knows what it's like to cut down the nets in early April.
Best Team: Connecticut (No. 3 Seed)
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While Duke is the No. 1 seed in the West, Connecticut is entering the NCAA tournament like every team wants to: on a hot streak.
The Huskies won the Big East tournament by defeating four of the conference's top teams—Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Louisville—all of which are ranked in the top 22 and will be playing in the NCAA tournament.
Though UConn may have been a bit up-and-down during the season and finished with nine losses, Jim Calhoun's crew only had one loss to a non-tournament team and had three losses by three points or less.
If the Huskies—and in particular, Kemba Walker—stay rolling, then it'll be hard for any team to topple them come tournament time.
Overrated: Texas
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Though Texas boasts the nation's No. 5 rebounding squad (40.5 per game), the obvious flaws on the Longhorns are there.
The Longhorns really struggle with moving the ball, ranking 129th in the nation with just 13.5 assists per game, and they rank a surprisingly low 84th in the nation with a .454 field goal percentage.
Texas also has an incredibly difficult time penetrating against zone defenses and sinking its shots at the free throw line.
Those are big reasons why the Longhorns have gone just 8-4 in their last 12 games and are only 2-4 against top-25 teams.
Not to mention that Texas has three losses against teams who aren't even in this year's NCAA tournament.
Underrated: Arizona
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Though Arizona's young, inexperienced and occasionally struggles on the defensive side, the Wildcats went 27-7 for a reason.
They rank 25th in the nation in scoring (76.5 points per game) and 28th in field goal percentage (.471), and boast one of college basketball's best players in Derrick Williams.
The sophomore forward averages 18.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks, while also shooting a staggering .603 from the field.
Williams scored 22 or more points 15 times this season and has the ability to dominate the paint over the course of an entire game.
As he goes, so do the Wildcats. The West bracket better be on the lookout for Arizona if Williams goes off.
Best First-Round Matchup: No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 12 Memphis
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This is a matchup of two schools which both have storied histories and very young squads.
It'll be freshmen and sophomores galore, as the Wildcats and Tigers battle in what, at least in terms of name recognition, looks like a Sweet Sixteen matchup.
In actually, though, Arizona and Memphis are pretty evenly matched across the board. Let's take a look.
| Arizona | Memphis | |
| Points per game | 76.5 | 72.0 |
| Opponents PPG | 67.4 | 68.0 |
| Vs. Top 25 | 0-2 | 0-2 |
| Last 12 games | 9-3 | 9-3 |
It'll be interesting to see whether Arizona's Derrick Williams or Memphis's Joe Jackson and Tarik Blak win this battle of college basketball young guns:
Upset Special: No. 11 Missouri over No. 6 Cincinnati
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While Cincinnati has the second-best defensive team in the West bracket, it's going to be damn near impossible to stop Missouri.
The Tigers play at an amazingly fast pace, applying constant pressure on defense and running a lightning quick up-tempo offense.
Sure, they give up 71.4 points per game, but they put up 81.3 per game, more than any other team in the West.
Missouri also has one of the nation's best scorers in Marcus Denmon, who averages just 17.1 points per game but has the potential to go off at any given moment.
First of the Top Four Seeds to Go: UConn
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I really like UConn, especially after the way it performed in the Big East tournament, but the Huskies have a tough road in the NCAA tournament.
Their first-round matchup against Bucknell will be no cakewalk. The Bison have Bryson Johnson, who can knockdown the outside shot, and Mike Muscala as the man in the middle.
Bucknell has won 23 of its past 25 games and is stellar in an underrated aspect of the game that is crucial come tournament time, free throw shooting. The school has the third-highest FT percentage in the nation.
But even if UConn gets past Bucknell (like I expect it to), the Huskies will have a tough matchup in the field of 32 against either Cincinnati or Missouri.
The Bearcats have one of the West bracket's best defenses (59.2 points allowed per game), while the Tigers have the nation's most explosive and highest-scoring offense (81.3 points per game).
Don't be surprised to see either one of those teams knock Connecticut out earlier than most experts predicted.
Who Should Win: Duke
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If you think about it, any and all No. 1 seeds should win their brackets.
But in Duke's case, it's even more true.
The Blue Devils have a gimme first-round matchup against Hampton, which would put them against either 13-loss Michigan or 14-loss Tennessee in the field of 32.
Assuming Duke plays like it's capable of, that's another easy win there.
Then, a potential Sweet Sixteen matchup against someone like Arizona or Texas awaits, which could be tricky matchups.
However, the Wildcats are young and don't play much defense, while the Longhorns fold easily whenever they face a zone.
That leaves Duke right on the path to an Elite Eight matchup with a team such as UConn or San Diego State, and when you're the top seed in your bracket, you're expected to beat trendy teams like the Huskies and the Aztecs.
Who Will Win: San Diego State
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Say what you want about the conference San Diego State plays in, but the Aztecs flat out get it done on both ends of the court.
They average 72.1 points per game on offense and have the top-scoring defense in the West bracket, holding their opponents to just 58.9 points per game.
San Diego State's balanced play has led it to a 32-2 overall record, a 11-1 mark in its last 12 games and a 4-2 record against top 25 teams.
The Aztecs' performance against ranked squads is the best in the West and is leaps and bounds better than those of teams like Michigan (0-8), Tennessee (1-6) and even Duke (2-2).
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