2021 NCAA Tournament West Region roundtable, key questions

1. Excluding the 1 seed, which team has the best odds of making the Final 4?

Sinodhinos

Once you eliminate the No.1 seed from the conversation, the No. 2 seed becomes the next logical choice, so I am going to go slightly deeper and choose the defending champs. Even though their defense is not as elite as years past and their offense leaves a lot to be desired, and Virginia enters having COVID issues when you do have a defense that surrendered fewer than 60 points in ACC play you have a chance to win.

In addition, they are an extremely efficient shooting team with the No.11 field goal efficiency, while turning the ball over fewer than ten times a game. The Cavaliers; play defense, take care of the ball, and shoot well.

Mauro

Iowa, the Hawkeyes are the only other team in the bracket who can score as Gonzaga can.  Iowa also has the best player in the tournament in Luka Garza.  Garza and Iowa are not immune to an off night shooting the ball however and they don’t play much defense which could lead to their downfall earlier than expected.

Bernstein

The USC Trojans are a tricky No. 6 seed to face in the West region. The Trojans ranked 30th in offense and 19th best defense in the nation. Their true star is in Evan Mobley. The freshman big man led all USC players in scoring this past season. He also averaged 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and will certainly make an impact in big tournament games down the stretch.

Loose

With the COVID issues being faced by both Kansas and Virginia, it makes it much clearer that this region could come down to Iowa as the best shot to knock off Gonzaga. Even if the Jayhawks and Cavaliers were at full strength, this is still a top 5 Hawkeyes team that looks like a Final Four threat.