2022 NCAA Tournament: Kansas, Auburn headline Midwest Region

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — time for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Kansas and Auburn are the top two seeds in the Midwest Region, but there are more than enough potential sleepers in this region. Here’s our complete preview.

The 2022 NCAA Tournament field has finally been revealed, which means it’s time to actually start analyzing first-round matchups and speculating about team’s paths to the Final Four.

Last year’s Midwest Region had its fair share of upsets with No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago, No. 11 seed Syracuse, and No. 12 seed Oregon State all reaching the Sweet Sixteen. Oregon State ended up making the Elite Eight before losing to the freight train that was the 2020-21 Houston Cougars. This year’s Midwest Region could be set up for a similar level of madness.

If you want defense, you’ve come to the right place with Auburn, Wisconsin, LSU, San Diego State, Creighton, and Iowa State all ranking in the top 20 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. The region also has several All-American candidates in Iowa’s Keegan Murray, Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji, Auburn’s Jabari Smith, and even LSU’s Tari Eason. The region of defense and star power — not a bad combination to have.

The Midwest Region also features multiple high-major conference champions starting off with top-seeded Kansas, which won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. No. 2 seed Auburn won the SEC regular-season title, No. 3 seed Wisconsin won the Big Ten regular-season title, and No. 4 seed Providence won the Big East regular-season title while No. 5 seed Iowa won the Big Ten Tournament.

Without further ado, here are the top players and teams to keep an eye on as well as a breakdown of each of the first-round games.