2016 NCAA Tournament: Breaking down the West Region

The West Regional for the 2016 NCAA Tournament has shaped up as follows.

Oregon certainly received a favorable geographical route as they will play the potential first two games in Spokane, Washington and have the chance to follow that up with a regional in Anaheim.

The first round game will take place against the winner of the play-in game between Southern and Holy Cross. The two teams were slotted into the play-in game after not winning their conference regular season play but winning their conference tournament.

First Round:

	Southern	Holy Cross
Overall record	22-12	14-19
Conference record	11-7, SWAC	5-12, Patriot League
Leading scorer	Adrian Rodgers 16.6 PPG	Malachai Alexander 12.0 PPG
Points per game	73	65
Key win(s)	Mississippi State	Lehigh

Both of the teams are relatively low scoring squads without many key wins to their resume. One would expect that Southern pulls out the play-in game to face the Ducks but the way that Holy Cross is streaking after the conference tournament it might not be a foregone conclusion.

Second Round:

A potential second round matchup for the Ducks would be up against the winner of the Saint Joseph’s and Cincinnati matchup. The matchup should be a good one as the Bearcats are coming off of the heartbreaking quadruple overtime loss to UCONN and the Hawks are coming off of winning the A-10 tournament crown. Both teams are led through balanced scoring, but Saint Joseph’s big man Isaiah Miles is perhaps the best of the bunch between the squads. Miles averaged 18.2 points per game this season to go along with eight rebounds per game.

	Saint Joseph’s	Cincinnati
Overall record	27-7	22-10
Conference record	13-5, A 10	12-6, AAC
Leading scorer	Isaiah Miles 18.2 PPG	Troy Caupain 12.6 PPG
Points per game	77	73
Key Win(s)	Temple, Dayton	SMU
Kenpom ranking	37	31

Contenders:

Once you move past the second round, it’s anyone’s guess as to who the next opponent may be. Now I take a look at some of the key stats for the other contenders for the West regional crown alongside the Oregon Ducks.

Of course the most dangerous contender the Ducks might have to face are the number #2 seeded Oklahoma Sooners. Led by the offensive machine that is Buddy Hield, the Sooners are a matchup nightmare for many teams.

	#2 seed Oklahoma Sooners
Overall record	25-7
Conference record	12-6, Big-12
Leading scorer	Buddy Hield, 25 PPG
Points per game	80
Key win(s)	Villanova, Iowa State, West Virginia, Baylor
Kenpom rankings	7

Other contenders:

After grabbing a split of the SEC regular season title, the Aggies a chic pick for many to advance to the Elite Eight and even the Final Four. However, there are those on the other side who are quick to point out the weakness of the SEC this year to discount the Aggies as a contender.

	#3 seed Texas A&M Aggies
Overall record	26-8
Conference record	13-5, SEC
Leading scorer	Jalen Jones, 15.6 PPG
Points per game	76
Key win(s)	Texas, Gonzaga, Baylor, Iowa State, Kentucky
Kenpom rankings	17

The defending National Champions are slotted into the West regional and face a potential matchup with the Ducks in the Sweet Sixteen. This Blue Devils team is led by guard Grayson Allen who averages over 20 points per game to lead Duke.

	#4 seed Duke Blue Devils
Overall record	23-10
Conference record	11-7, ACC
Leading scorer	Grayson Allen, 21.6 PPG
Points per game	81
Key win(s)	Louisville, Virginia, North Carolina
Kenpom rankings	22

The familiar foe of the Baylor Bears were also slotted into the West Regional. Of course earlier this year Oregon knocked off Baylor 74-67 in Eugene.

	#5 seed Baylor Bears
Overall record	22-11
Conference record	10-8, Big-12
Leading scorer	Taurean Prince 15.5 PPG
Points per game	77
Key win(s)	Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Texas
Kenpom rankings	24

West Region Cinderella’s

Of course it wouldn’t be March Madness without a few Cinderella’s. I picked out two teams that caught my eye for having the potential to surprise a few in the West.

	#10 seed VCU Rams
Overall record	24-10
Conference record	14-4, A 10
Leading scorer	Melvin Johnson, 17.8 PPG
Points per game	77
Key win(s)	Saint Joseph’s, Davidson
Kenpom rankings	35

	#12 seed Yale Bulldogs
Overall record	22-6
Conference record	13-1, Ivy League
Leading scorer	Makai Mason, 15.8 PPG
Points per game	75
Key win(s)	Lehigh
Kenpom rankings	38

Overall I think Ducks fans have quite a bit to be happy for with the bracket announcement.

· The closest locations to home with games in Spokane to open the tournament and a potential regional in Anaheim.

· A first round matchup involving teams who have to play an extra game earlier in the week.

· A potential matchup in the region against a Baylor team the Ducks already beat.

· Having the potential to avoid the offensive powerhouse Buddy Hield until the Elite Eight

All things considered, this is how I see the West region shaping up (winners in bold).

Sweet Sixteen:

1 Oregon vs 5 Baylor

2 Oklahoma vs 3 Texas A&M

Elite Eight:

1 Oregon over 2 Oklahoma in one of the games of the 2016 NCAA tournament.

What are your thoughts?