With the tourney starting on Thursday, I would like to take the time to throw my picks out into the world before things got going.

The first region that I will discuss is the Midwest Region.  So, let's get it on!

Let me first say this, the whole field of 64 is crazy.  Teams like USC, Butler, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Texas are seeded sixth or lower and could cause a whole lot of damage to the brackets.  Then, you have teams like Florida State, Arizona State, Marquette, and West Virginia that are either fifth or sixth seeds and they could also mess up your brackets, depending on which team shows up to play.

Best First Round Games:  Boston College/USC and West Virginia/Dayton.  I really like the Trojans and Flyers to keep their games close and I actually have both pulling off the upsets.

 Final Four pick:  Wake Forest

Louisville is the one seed, with Michigan State the two seed, both capable of making Final Four runs.  Next up is Kansas and Wake Forest with the three and four seeds respectively.  I like what Bill Self has done this year in Kansas, but I don't see them pushing past the Elite Eight.  However, Wake has the kind of team that is athletic enough to hang with anyone in this tournament.  Jeff Teague (Indianapolis representative) is a very good team leader and with very good three point range (44.6% on the season).  They will need to keep their turnovers to a minimum and rely on their bigs, Al-Farouq Aminu and James Johnson, to continue to bang the boards and get to the free throw line. 

Sleepers:  I wouldn't feel right if I don't mention Arizona as a sleeper here.  They are a 12 seed this time around and have Utah in the first round.  This is a very good draw for the Wildcats and I wouldn't be surprised if they made it into the second round, where they would most likely (barring a major first round catastrophy) take on Wake Forest. If Arizona's big three can stay out of foul trouble and keep their heads in the game, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wildcats marching into the Sweet 16!  Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if they lost by 25+ in their first round game either, so take this sleeper with a grain of salt...I'll be having a few Captain and Cokes with this one!

Another sleeper in this bracket could be USC.  The Trojans have plenty of athleticism to go around and their big men know how to score on the blocks.  With a first round matchup against Boston College, I am taking USC to make it through to the second round where they will upset the Michigan State Spartans!

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