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Bracketology 2020 Projected Field: Ohio State on top, Gonzaga proving

By Lukas Harkins

SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 08: Joel Ayayi #11 and Filip Petrusev #3 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs celebrate after Ayayi hit a 3-point shot to put Gonzaga up by 6 pois in the 2nd half at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on December 8, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mike Tedesco/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 08: Joel Ayayi #11 and Filip Petrusev #3 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs celebrate after Ayayi hit a 3-point shot to put Gonzaga up by 6 pois in the 2nd half at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on December 8, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mike Tedesco/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Indiana Hoosiers talk. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Indiana Hoosiers talk. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

South Region

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Stephen F. Austin/Prairie View A&M

(8) VCU vs. (9) Indiana

(4) Virginia vs. (13) Northern Iowa

(5) Kentucky vs. (12) Vermont

(6) Florida State vs. (11) Stanford

(3) Michigan vs. (14) UC Irvine

(7) Texas Tech vs. (10) Wichita State

(2) Auburn vs. (15) Radford

Kansas has somehow flown a bit under-the-radar with regard to national attention since its season-opening loss to Duke. Since then, though, the Jayhawks have rattled off eight consecutive wins, five of them against teams ranked within the KenPom top-100. As a result, the Jayhawks have earned this No. 1 seed and will be looking to hold onto it over the course of the season. Difficult non-conference tests against Villanova and Stanford, both on the road, still await and those games could show just how good Kansas will be this season. Their defense is allowing teams to shoot a ton of threes, but opponents are struggling to connect. Will that continue against two of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country?

Speaking of Stanford, it has also started this season exceptionally well. Behind the stellar play of freshmen Tyrell Terry and Spencer Jones, the Cardinal are absolutely lighting it up from beyond the arc and that has led to a stellar 8-1 start to the season. Their lone loss to date came at the hands of Butler in the Hall of Fame Classic final – nothing to complain about there. While Stanford’s strength of schedule ranks just 330rd in the nation, the team has exceeded metric expectations throughout the year. The Cardinal came into the season ranked at No. 92 in KenPom but they have already soared to the No. 52 spot.

Rounding out this region, I’d like to talk about Indiana at the No. 9 seed. I did not have high expectations for the Hoosiers coming into this season after the departures of Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan. Yet, it appears as though head coach Archie Miller is once again working his “Year 3” magic (just look at his third season while at Dayton). The Hoosiers’ offense is operating a high level, particularly inside the arc as they are finishing well and drawing a ton of fouls. Indiana has not played an exceptionally difficult schedule, but can boast a dominating home win over Florida State. And even though their disastrous loss to Wisconsin wasn’t pretty, the team responded by taking down UConn at a neutral-site in the following contest.

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