Writing the Pine

Now let’s look at the West Region.

1. #1 Syracuse Orange v. #16 Vermont Catamounts – Vermont lost to Binghamton this year.

2. #8 Gonzaga Bulldogs v. #9 Florida State Seminoles – Interestingly enough, the Zags are the underdogs despite being the higher seed.  I suppose that’s what happens when you sell out big time in the conference championship game.  I will be going with Seminoles on this one, even though they also sold out in their conference tournament.  I just think FSU has too much inside and too much depth on the perimeter.

3. #5 Butler Bulldogs v. #12 UTEP Miners - Going with the #12 seed on this one.  UTEP is legit.  They choked in the Conference USA title game but they got some players.  Randy Culpepper can light up the scoreboard as evidenced by his 45 point outburst against Eastern Carolina earlier in the year.  The Miners have Derrick Caracter, a former five-star recruit and Louisville transfer, on the inside along with double-digit scorers Jeremy Williams and Arnett Moultrie to help Caracter out.  The spread is only 3 but I would go heavy on the Miners.

4. #4 Vanderbilt Commodores v. #13 Murray St. Racers – Expect a big game from Australian AJ Ogilvy.  Vanderbilt advances.

5. #6 Xavier Musketeers v. #11 Minnesota Golden Gophers – I’m not too enamored with Minnesota.  They had a nice season but I’m not sure they deserved to get in, especially over fellow Big Ten-er, Illinois.  Jordan Crawford will own and dunk on Ralph Sampson III in the process.

6. #3 Pittsburgh Panthers v. #14 Oakland Golden Grizzlies - Pittsburgh can easily find themselves in the Elite Eight facing rival Syracuse, who they beat in their only meeting this year.  Could they possibly crash the party in Indianapolis?  We’ll see.

7. #7 BYU Cougars v. #10 Florida Gators – BYU has never won an NCAA Tournament game.  They’ll win their first this year.

8. #2 Kansas State Wildcats v. #15 North Texas Mean Green – Kansas State can beat anybody in the country…except Kansas.  A showdown versus Pitt in the Sweet 16 would be an extremely fun game to watch.