NCAA Tournament 2019: Strengths and weaknesses of South Region teams
The South Region is full of NCAA Tournament teams that thrive on defense and grinding on the offensive end. Here is a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the teams in the south.
The brackets have been revealed and everyone is either whimsically filling them out by things like team colors and mascots or doing enough research it looks as though they are writing a dissertation. Looking at the South Region there is a defensive theme within the region with a few high-scoring offenses sprinkled in.
This region features eight teams that finished the season ranked in the top-30 in the sport in points allowed per game, led by No. 1 Virginia and their minuscule 55.1 points per game. The region also features five of the top 25 teams in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com including three or the top five in that category. To say that points will at a premium all through the South Region is an understatement, to say the least.
While important, defense isn’t the only aspect of the game, and the teams in the region have strengths and weaknesses that make them both successful and vulnerable at the same time. If the regular season is an indication, don’t expect scoreboard operators in South Region games to be very busy.
That doesn’t mean that the region will be boring, on the contrary, the region is full of intriguing first-round matchups. From the No. 8/No. 9 game between Ole Miss and Oklahoma to a Purdue team that stumbled in the Big Ten Tournament facing Old Dominion, who can lock down their opponents defensively and has a scoring duo of Ahmad Caver and B.J. Stith that can take over games.
Here is a look at where each of the teams in the region of defense is strong and where there are some chinks in their armor.