March Madness: Ranking the teams remaining in the West Region

After a crazy Sunday night, the top teams in the West Region have been eliminated. Who’s the favorite to come out of this group to advance to the Final Four?

When the brackets were released on Selection Sunday, the West Region looked to be the one that was most up for grabs. Partly due to that No. 1 seed Xavier looked to be the weakest of the four top seeds, but that there also wasn’t any team considered a true favorite to win it all.

Instead, it was compiled of very good teams that included the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels and the runner-up Gonzaga Bulldogs. Joining them was Michigan, considered the “hot” team after winning the Big Ten Tournament a couple of weeks ago, as well as Ohio State, one of the biggest surprises of the season.

But the true threats were in the middle, with talented yet inconsistent teams like Florida State and Texas A&M. They both put up 40 great minutes of basketball to take out the top teams, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan continued their winning streak with a buzzer-beater over Houston, while Gonzaga took a pair of potential blowouts and made them much closer than it should’ve been.

Now we’re down to four teams in the West, and each of them has a chance to make it out of this weekend. But all of them have weaknesses, as well as strengths that could give them the edge going forward.

Here’s a list ranking the team’s Final Four chances from this group.