2021 NCAA Tournament Midwest Region roundtable, key questions
1. Excluding the 1 seed, which team has the best odds of making the Final 4?
Kay
Houston for many reasons. The first being that they are in the second easiest and less difficult region the bottom half of the Midwest Region doesn’t have a lot of strong teams in it.
Second, they are well-coached and have been playing well of late. They match up well with teams on their path to the Sweet Sixteen and they could easily win their Elite Eight match up on their way to the Final Four.
Mumm
#4 Oklahoma State Cowboys – This pick could amount to a coin-flip with several other teams in this region, such as West Virginia and Houston, but the Cowboys have something brewing right now. Collectively playing at a very high level, Mike Boynton’s team has been a pesky out in Big 12 play.
Oklahoma State managed to knock off a ranked-conference opponent in 9 out of 14 tries this season, despite being the underdog in essentially every contest. The Cowboys will carry a ton of attention with them throughout the tournament with star freshman Cade Cunningham, but this team has a very tough backcourt around him that will create issues in their own right.
Of their eight losses on the season, Oklahoma State has managed to lose five of them by five points or less. They hang tough, regardless of what happens in the first half of games, and this team is playing their best basketball at the perfect time to stir the pot.
Their draw to the Final Four is not exactly easy, with a likely path of Liberty, Tennessee, Illinois, and Houston or West Virginia, however, this group have proven time and again they are battle-tested and can rise to the occasion.
Walter-Warner
Oklahoma State. The Cowboys came on strong towards the end of the season and have a winnable draw in the Second Round as long as they can survive Liberty in the First Round. The winner of the Illinois-Oklahoma State Sweet Sixteen game (heretofore referred to as “The Brad Underwood Derby”) should be able to advance to the Final Four.
Heiser
I would probably say West Virginia. The Mountaineers proved against Baylor that they are a real Final Four contender. I don’t think Houston is as good as most people think they are and West Virginia is capable of beating anyone in the country, not just their region. I wouldn’t be shocked if Bob Huggins gets this team to the Final Four behind Derek Culver and Deuce McBride.
Diamantis
Call me crazy, but I believe the winner of the Illinois-Loyola-Chicago game will have the best route to represent the Midwest Region in the Final Four. That being said, I believe Loyola-Chicago has the skillset, the right head coach for this roster, and the motivation to achieve even more success to follow its miraculous run to the Final Four in 2018. Who can forget about Sister Jean?!
I think that the No. 8 seed that was given to the Ramblers was criminally low. Porter Moser’s squad ranked inside the Top 25 rankings for six straight weeks and rose all the way up to No. 17 on Monday. They are by far one of the hottest teams heading into Indianapolis and I believe they give Illinois its toughest challenge in the Midwest Region.