South Region Bracket

Panthers and Tigers and Wildcats...

At first glance, this bracket seems well-suited to produce a Final Four run by John Calipari's Tigers. But I can't help thinking that Memphis' pedestrian free-throw shooting will eventually do 'em in. So the question becomes, who can knock off the Tigers?

Most Intriguing First Round Matchup

It seems reasonable to suggest that the first-round matchup with the highest combined SAT score is the Stanford/Cornell game. But while the Big Red might match up with the Cardinal in brains, Cornell doesn't have the brawn to hang with the guys from Palo Alto.

From a strictly basketball perspective, the Marquette/Kentucky contest should be fun to watch -- but isn't it odd to see a school with Kentucky's history sitting in the eleven spot?

Upset Potential

I like Pittsburgh as the team to knock Memphis out of the tournament. The Panthers are fresh off a tremendous four-wins-in-four-days run to win the Big East Tournament, and as coach Jamie Dixon pointed out during the post-game celebration, they are 18-1 on the season when point guard Levance Fields is in the lineup.

Temple over Michigan State is somewhat tempting, but I just can't make myself select Tom Izzo as a first-round loser.

The Regional Final

After knocking off the top seed, I'm predicting Pittsburgh will run into the second-seeded Longhorns in the regional final. It seems like too much to ask for the Panthers to eliminate both Derrick Rose and D.J. Augustine -- but I'm asking. Pitt advances.

Round 1	Round 2	Sweet 16	Elite 8
1) Memphis
16) UT Arlington	Memphis
8) Mississippi St.	Oregon
9) Oregon		Memphis
5) Michigan St.		Pitt
12) Temple	Michigan St.
4) Pitt	Pitt
13) Oral Roberts			Pitt
6) Marquette			Texas
11) Kentucky	Marquette
3) Stanford	Stanford
14) Cornell		Marquette
7) Miami		Texas
10) St. Mary's	St. Mary's
2) Texas	Texas
15) Austin Peay