Bracketology 2019: Final preseason projected NCAA Tournament field

South Region

(1) Kentucky vs. (16) St. Francis-PA

(8) NC State vs. (9) Providence

(4) Michigan vs. (13) Marshall

(5) Washington vs. (12) Montana

(6) Marquette vs. (11) Texas/Wisconsin

(3) North Carolina vs. (14) New Mexico State

(7) UCF vs. (10) USC

(2) Villanova vs. (15) Vermont

Thanks to a fair amount of returning talent (at least compared to their usual standards) as well as yet another elite recruiting class, Kentucky looks poised for a monster year. In terms of incoming talent, Coach Calipari landed some outstanding freshmen as always but is also bringing in arguably the best transfer in the nation. With Reid Travis (from Stanford) and PJ Washington, among others, roaming the court, the Wildcats will post matchup problems for many.

Speaking of Wildcats, the defending national champions come in as the No. 2 seed here. And while this may seem high for Villanova considering the massive losses they suffered, the team will still start three seniors this year. Most notably, Eric Paschall looks poised for a monster year and head coach Jay Wright also has a tremendous recruiting class joining the program.

To me, the biggest dark horse in this region is actually a mid-major program securing an auto-bids in this situation. Jon Elmore (Marshall) is a name that every college basketball fan absolutely needs to know heading into this year and he is surrounded by plenty of talent. Wisconsin also looks poised for a much bigger year. There will finally be a healthy backcourt around superstar big man Ethan Happ.