2021 NCAA Tournament Midwest Region roundtable, key questions

If there was one word to describe the Midwest Region of this year’s NCAA Tournament, I would say “expectations”. That’s because of the preseason outlook of many of the teams in this year’s bracket.

Especially Illinois, who after bringing back Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, had Final Four aspirations. So far, they’re on the path towards that goal, landing the No. 1 seed in this region. The Houston Cougars got the No. 2 spot after a big year in the AAC, while West Virginia landed at 3.

The biggest surprise is Oklahoma State, led by superstar freshman guard Cade Cunningham. They’re the No. 4 seed and since the NCAA won’t be hearing the program’s appeal for a postseason ban, that means they’re eligible to participate. Good news for us viewers but not for the other teams playing the Cowboys.

Speaking of being able to participate, that’s the case of Rutgers, who was supposed to break its 30-year absence from the NCAA Tournament a year ago before the pandemic. They’re officially back this time, along with Loyola-Chicago, who made a Final Four appearance just a few seasons ago.

With intriguing big names such as Syracuse, Texas Tech, and Tennessee also among the 16 teams in the Midwest Region, things could get very interesting as the games start to get underway. For this piece, we’ll be asking five questions to five Busting Brackets contributors concerning this particular region. Here’s a look at the participants, along with their commentary on the Midwest Region.

Ryan Kay – @KaySportswriter

Ian Mumm – @FiveOnFiveHoops

Holden Walter-Warner – @hwalterwarner

Karl Heiser – @karlheiser17

Nick Diamantis – @ngdiamantis29