2022 NCAA Tournament: Kansas, Auburn headline Midwest Region
Midwest Pod D – Greenville, South Carolina
(7) USC vs. (10) Miami
This is easily the most intriguing and perplexing round of 64 matchups in the Midwest Region.
USC is enormous, athletic, physical, and elite defensively.
Miami plays four guards, a 5-out motion offense, and is elite offensively.
The seeds suggest otherwise but Miami actually has more quality wins this season with road wins over Duke and Virginia Tech, a home win over North Carolina, and a sweep of Wake Forest. USC does have wins over UCLA and San Diego State but their resume is exceptionally average after that.
Miami has proven they can beat tall, athletic teams as shown in their wins over Duke and Wake Forest. They also have more reliable shot makers in Kam McGusty and Isaiah Wong which is always enviable in March.
Prediction: Miami
Auburn vs. (15) Jacksonville State
First of all, just let me say that Jacksonville State is an excellent team that is well-coached by Ray Harper and does as good a job as any team in the country at defending without fouling.
Next. Takeaways from NCAA Tournament bracket reveal. dark
That said, Auburn is pretty much the textbook example of a team that doesn’t get upset in the round of 64. Jabari Smith could be the first overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and Walker Kessler is the best interior defender in the country. The Gamecocks are a solid defensive team, but Smith could go for 30 points even in potentially limited minutes if this game gets out of hand.
Prediction: Auburn