Previewing the South Region of the NCAA Tournament

Mar 14, 2023 - 8:36 PM

South Region

Alabama earned the top overall seed in the tournament and assuming all of their players are allowed to continue play, they are a strong favorites to come out of the South and make a trip to Houston for the Final Four.

Who wins the South: Alabama

I think it is a Bama and Baylor regional final, but Bama is just too deep and talented. This one might be the easiest bracket for me in terms of who makes it to Houston.

Potential Upset #10 Utah State over #7 Missouri

If the Aggies don’t turn the ball over, they will win this game. Missouri is elite at forcing turnovers, but when they fail to do so, their defense is actually not that great. And neither is their offense.

Don’t be surprised to see Utah State give Arizona a run in the second round to be the dougle-digit seed that makes it to the Sweet 16.

Players to Watch

The obvious player to watch here is Brandon Miller. He will be a top 5 pick in the NBA Draft this summer and the first collegiate player taken. There is clearly a lot of controversy surrounding this young man and his involvment in the death of Jamea Harris that will follow him throughout the tournament and into the draft. But

Baylor has a trio of guars who can all score and will be fun to watch in this tournament. Keyonte George, Adam Flagler and LJ Cryer are all scoring over 14 points per game and should be a difficult backcourt matchup for anybody.

PrizePicks Lock: Taylor Funk over 5.5 rebounds

Missouri is really bad at rebounding. Defensively they rank 362nd in rebounding percentage. Expect the Utah State forward to get 6 boards or more on Thursday.

Intriguing later round matchups

This bracket should be chalk through the Sweet 16 with the four top seeds advancing before we get to watch Baylor go up against Arizona. That game should be fun and high scoring.

Best Mascot

The Furman Paladins are great, not just because of it’s uniqueness but also because they have a beautiful color purple for their colors. The only other Paladin in North America is Royal Military College of Canada. What is a Paladin? Well they were the 12 legendary knights of Charlemagne’s court in the 8th century. Duh.