The Times Dispatch Blogs

My second favorite sporting event of the year, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, gets underway Thursday. Actually, that’s not correct. The tournament technically starts Tuesday when Coppin State and Mount St. Mary’s play in the ‘play-in’ game for the right to get blown out by North Carolina in the first round.
Random thoughts on each of the regions:

East Region
This region has more potential upsets than any other region.
If the “good” Arkansas team shows up, they will beat Indiana. Heck, if the Razorbacks play like they did Saturday against Tennessee, they could give North Carolina a run for the money in the second round.
George Mason, Winthrop, St. Joseph’s and South Alabama are all lower-seeded teams that have a chance to pull upsets.

Midwest Region
Three first-round games stand out in this region.
The Kansas State-USC game may have the most marquee value of any first-round game. The game will feature two of the country’s top freshmen, in K-State’s Michael Beasley and USC’s O.J. Mayo.
Clemson-Villanova could be another outstanding matchup.
Tenth-seeded Davidson, playing close to home in Raleigh, N.C., should upset 7th-seeded Gonzaga.

South Region
None of the first-round games really stand out to me.
For an upset, I’ll pick 12th-seeded Temple to beat 5th-seeded Michigan State.
Looking ahead, Memphis versus Mississippi State could make for an interesting second-round contest, but the Bulldogs will have their hands full with Oregon in the first round.

West Region
Again, none of the first-round games jump out at me.
Fourteenth-seeded Georgia will try to continue its Cinderella post-season run against 3rd-seeded Xavier.
Purdue-Baylor and Arizona-West Virginia could also be interesting.
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