Midwest Region Bracket Predictions

2009 NCAA Tournament

As one of very few top teams that took care of business during Championship Week, the Louisville Cardinals were rewarded with the top overall seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament -- and a reasonably clear path to the Final Four. But Tom Izzo and his always-tough Michigan State Spartans are lurking in the bottom half of the bracket...

Most Intriguing First-Round Matchup

The Boston College/USC game will feature two really excellent guards -- BC's Tyrese Rice and USC freshman Demar DeRozan. DeRozan hasn't really lived up to the hype -- he was supposed to step in and become the next O.J. Mayo -- but his play has been very strong down the stretch, and was a key to USC's run through the Pac 10 Tournament.

Upset Potential

Congratulations to interim coach Russ Pennell, took over the Arizona Wildcats just days before the season was to begin and managed to squeak into the field of 65, keeping alive Division I's longest streak of tournament appearances -- now 25 and counting. The Wildcats have several NBA-quality players, including likely lottery pick Jordan Hill.

The 'cats are one of the lowest-seeded at-large teams, which generally indicates that they were one of the last teams added to the field, but don't be surprised if they advance past the Mountain West champs.

The Regional Final

I have nothing but respect for Rick Pitino and the Cardinals... but can't help feeling that their position atop the seedings has a bit to do with luck. They only had to play the other Big East superpowers -- Connecticut and Pitt -- once each. (They beat Pitt and lost to UConn.) And in the Big East Final, they played a Syracuse team that had played three games -- and seven overtimes -- the previous three days. The Cardinals feel more like a two -- or a three -- seed to me.

I simply can't believe that we're going to have another year where all four number ones make the Final Four -- something has to give. So I'm picking Michigan State to knock the Cardinals out in the Regional Final round.

More NCAA Tournament Predictions

• Midwest Region
• West Region
• East Region
• South Region
• Final Four

	Round 1	Round 2	Sweet 16	Elite Eight
1	Louisville
16	Morehead State	Louisville
8	Ohio State	Siena
9	Siena		Louisville
5	Utah		Wake Forest
12	Arizona	Arizona
4	Wake Forest	Wake Forest
13	Cleveland State			Louisville
6	West Virginia			Michigan State
11	Dayton	West Virginia
3	Kansas	Kansas
14	North Dakota State		West Virginia
7	Boston College		Michigan State
10	USC	USC
2	Michigan State	Michigan State
15	Robert Morris