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March Madness is officially here, so let's fill out some winning brackets! RotoBaller will be bringing you a full breakdown of each tournament region, including some potential sleepers and busts. Today, we'll be taking a look at the Midwest Region and my bracket picks.
I'm here to tell you some teams I believe in to help you make the right tournament bracket decisions. Below I analyze the top four seeds, a potential bust, and a potential Final Four candidate. Hopefully, my college basketball predictions can help you win your March Madness pools.
Once you're done here, be sure to also check out the rest of our NCAA Tournament articles and analysis including previews, predictions, sleepers, busts, and guides on how to fill out your bracket, including other predictions for the East, South, and West regions.
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Midwest Region Top Four Seeds
Top four seeds: No. 1 Houston | N0. 2 Texas | No. 3 Xavier | No. 4 Indiana
Houston was the most dominant team all season. They are led by upperclassmen with a starting five consisting of a senior, three juniors, and a freshman. Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead played in a Final Four two years ago, and last year went to the Elite Eight, narrowly losing to Villanova. Ken Pom has them as the 11th-ranked offense and 4th-ranked defense. The Cougars allow the second-fewest points per game at 56.5. They only lost to Alabama, Temple, and Memphis in the AAC Tournament finals this past Sunday.
Texas is getting all the love. They won the Big 12 Tournament defeating Kansas by 20. But I get nervous about the team everyone is picking to make the Final Four based on recency bias. During the regular season, they let teams hang around for far too long. You can't do that in this tournament.
Xavier is seeded too high. They kind of hid under the radar in the Big East this year. The Musketeers score a lot, 81, which is 15th in the country, but allow 74 points per game, 295th in the nation.
Indiana has two NBA players including Trayce Jackson-Davis who is electrifying. However, they don't score in spurts and it sometimes seems really difficult for them to score. Hoosier fans are very nervous about their First Round matchup.
Most Intriguing First-Round Matchups
No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 13 Kent State
As mentioned above, Indiana fans are not excited about this game. Kent State beat a very good Toledo team in the MAC Championship in a pretty decisive fashion. This line being at only 4.5 points says it all.
Bust of the Region
Indiana has such potential. They beat Purdue twice but when they play inferior teams, they lose. That happened against Iowa, Penn State, Maryland, and Michigan State. Indiana should have had a better season.
Dark Horse Play
Texas A&M has a tough opening game against Penn State. The Aggies allow teams to shoot a lot of threes and the Nittany Lions shoot the three ball at one of the highest rates in the country. If the long ball does not fall, Penn State will get blown out. Ken Pom ranks A&M 30th on offense and 37th and defense so they are well-rounded.
Final Four Pick
Houston has the easiest path. Auburn does not score enough, so their offense will be stymied while Iowa can't play defense. In the Sweet 16, Indiana and Miami are not good enough to win. And then it would possibly be Texas in the Elite Eight. Houston is just more experienced.
More March Madness Analysis
