2022 NCAA Tournament: Arizona, Villanova, and Tennessee headline South Region

2022 NCAA Tournament South Region: Teams to Watch

Favorites to Win: Arizona, Villanova, Tennessee

Tommy Lloyd is a strong contender to be the National Coach of the Year for what he has done with this Arizona team in his first year, running through the Pac-12. While he largely inherited the roster from Sean Miller, the Gonzaga influence is clear. The Wildcats play a fast-paced game and can beat opponents in a variety of ways.

When Kerr Kriisa is on, this team is extremely difficult to stop. Kriisa’s status to start the tournament is up in the air given his gruesome-looking ankle injury, but Arizona has a few lineups that can manage without him if necessary. Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko, and Azuolas Tubelis can hold it down and get the No. 2 KenPom team to the Final Four.

Villanova may not have won the Big East regular season, but they made up for it with the Big East Tournament title. While they have proven to be vulnerable at different points in the season, the Wildcats are disciplined and are not a team you can expect to beat themselves.

Villanova runs a slow-yet-efficient offensive system that results in some low scores from time to time, but a lot of games where they feel in control. They are also an excellent free-throw shooting team, which may come in handy in the Big Dance. Jay Wright and Collin Gillespie ran it back for one more year, and they should certainly be considered contenders to take the region.

Tennessee has quietly built an extremely strong resume with a number of high-level wins. They’ve defeated Arizona, Auburn, and Kentucky, all of whom are top-two seeds in the tournament. Even though they may have been underrated as the No. 3 seed, they should still be considered among the favorites to win the region. They have a similar feel to last year’s Baylor team with their three-guard lineup and strong play on defense. Head coach Rick Barnes is iffy in the NCAA Tournament, but this is a very balanced team that has the ability to win plenty of games as the competition heats up.

Sleeper Pick: Colorado State

Colorado State was a very hip mid-major to fall in love with early in the season (shoutout to Heat Check CBB’s Brian Rauf for being on the CSU train before the season had even started). Keep in mind that the resume and analytics were good enough that the Rams received the highest seed of any Mountain West team in the field despite failing to win the regular season or conference tournament. David Roddy will be a problem for any opponent and Isaiah Stevens is a great complement.

The general consensus on Colorado State seems to have cooled towards the back half of the season, but the Rams finished with a 24-5 record and went 13-4 against Quads 1+2. This is still a good team. If things get really chaotic in the South Region, the Rams could rise out of the fray and make a run to the Elite Eight or further.

If the Slipper Fits: UAB

The UAB Blazers have deep sleeper potential in this region. They enter the 2022 NCAA Tournament red-hot on a seven-game winning streak that carried them through the Conference USA Tournament. UAB runs one of the most efficient and productive offenses in the country that features a dominant scorer in Jordan Walker. “Jelly” Walker averages over 20 points and 4 assists per game while shooting 40.6% from three.

Even though UAB will have two tough matchups in the first round against Houston and then likely Illinois, the Cinderella potential is very much there. They have a phenomenal offense and a good enough defense to keep things interesting against top seeds.