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2015 NCAA Tournament Midwest Region Preview: Kentucky Vs. Everyone

By Hashim R. Hathaway

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As the clock ticks down to tonight’s opening of the relatively insignificant part of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, let’s take a look at the First Round (not the First Four), otherwise known as Kentucky vs. All of Indiana.

Kentucky begins its campaign towards undefeated immortality Thursday night in Louisville in a virtual home game. In the infinite wisdom of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, the decision was made to place all five Indiana schools (Purdue, Valparaiso, Butler, Notre Dame, Indiana) in the same Midwest Regional with the Wildcats.

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What this means is that up to three Indiana schools have a shot at taking down the Blue Behemoth before the Final Four. Of course that only matters if you’re familiar with the decades-long rivalry between the two basketball-mad states. For everyone else, it’s a hunt to see if anyone can take down the white whale.

Thursday, March 19

Pittsburgh

12:15 p.m.: No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Northeastern, CBS

Thursday opens up with a no-brainer. Anyone willing to put money on Northeastern, you take it and you take it fast. Notre Dame might win this one by 20 and start the bench in the second half. Safe to call this one Upset Proof.

2:45 p.m.: No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Texas, CBS

Good games start in the Midwest right here. While head coach Rick Barnes has been on the hot seat all season, Isaiah Taylor has been holding up the Longhorns, and will be one to watch as they face off against a better than expected Butler squad. While it will be a hard scrap, the edge goes to Butler and playmakers Kellen Dunham and assist machine Kameron Woods.

Louisville

7:10 p.m.: No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Purdue, CBS

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    • Depending on who you ask, the Boilermakers might be a bit overranked. The people who say that likely haven’t watched Matt Painter will his team into this year’s tournament. That said, the Bearcats are no slouch behind all-around player Octavius Ellis. This game will be close, it may even go into overtime, but the hungrier team is Purdue, and that’ll be enough to win.

    9:40 p.m.: No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Hampton/Manhattan winner, CBS

    Kentucky, duh.

    Friday, March 20

    Omaha

    12:15 p.m.: No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 15 New Mexico State, CBS

    Despite the high seed, Kansas’ performance as of late has been suspect, with a 6-4 performance in their final 10 games of the season, however, don’t expect the bottom to fall out against the Aggies. Kansas’ Waterloo is on the way, sooner than even they think, but it won’t be in this game.

    2:45 p.m.: No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 10 Indiana, CBS

    Here’s a game where you have a Hoosier squad that’s overbid and a Shockers team that’s underbid. However, this is an Indiana team that when freshman James Blackmon, Jr. is hot, can beat just about any team, however, Blackmon has been cool as of late, and as a collective, the Hoosiers aren’t a big fan of playing defense, of which the Shockers are top 20 in defensive efficiency behind Darius Carter and Fred Vanvleet. This could possibly also be the last game for Tom Crean as Indiana head coach, adding to the Hoosiers’ motivation.

    Columbus

    2:10 p.m.: No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Buffalo, TNT

    This match-up will be interesting. While many analysts and prognosticators are going mostly chalk in the Midwest Bracket, our head goes with the Mountaineers, but our hearts are secretly pulling for a Buffalo upset. With 17 ppg leader Justin Moss, the MAC champs are the second-best looking potential upset in the Midwest.

    4:40 p.m.: No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Valparaiso, TNT

    More than any other first round game in the Midwest, this is the one giving the most fits in picking a winner. Maryland stormed into the Big Ten and came out a regular-season second place behind the duo of Dez Wells and Melo Trimble. That said, Valpo has the type of heart that can’t be measured by stats, and when it comes to surprises, the Crusaders have Alec Peters. No matter what happens, the winner of this game will see the Sweet Sixteen.

    We’ll be back to take a look at Second Round match-ups Saturday morning, so stay tuned…

    Next: 2015 NCAA Tournament: First Four Preview

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