2022 NCAA Tournament: Key storylines and questions for Midwest Region
When it comes to individual players in the NCAA Tournament, no bracket has as much starpower as the Midwest Region. They have several National Player of the Year candidates, including Keegan Murray (Iowa), Johnny Davis (Wisconsin), Jabari Smith (Auburn), and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas). But the other teams have good players as well which should make this a fairly competitive region overall.
To help dissect the Midwest Region, several writers from Busting Brackets have agreed to participate in this roundtable, answering a few select questions and giving their overall thoughts on this part of the bracket. Here are the contributors and how to find them.
Jonathan Lurensky – @goknicks123
Jason Burgess – @Collegehoopsguy
Trevor Sinodhinos – @sinodhinos
Joey Loose – @jloose128
1. Which first-round game has your attention the most?
Lurensky
Creighton-San Diego State. Most notable I wanna see how the Creighton Bluejays respond to the loss in the Big East championship. That was a game where they couldn’t score at all. If Creighton wants to beat San Diego, this team will need to score regularly unlike the game in the Big East Championship.
Burgess
The game I am looking forward to the most is No. 4 Providence against No. 13 South Dakota State. I think the Friars are ripe for an upset here and the big reason is the Jackrabbits can shoot. Not only are they the best 3-point shooting team in the country, but they are also elite at shooting the ball all over the floor. They should be able to get points against Providence.
Sinodhinos
No. 7 USC versus No. 10 Miami strictly because the attention should be on the most competitive game. The Miami Hurricanes finished 14-6 in a down season for the ACC, but the Hurricanes are still comprised of six one-time top-100 recruits.
Their three-guard front of Kameron McGusty, Isaiah Wong, and Charlie Moore will create as many match-up problems for Head Coach Andy Enfield as the bigger USC Trojans will create for Head Coach Jim Larranaga.
Loose
There are some really interesting games in this region, perhaps more so than in any other region’s first-round slate, but the one I’m focusing most on is that 8 vs 9 matchup featuring San Diego State and Creighton. If the Aztecs’ defense is on point, even Creighton’s hot offense is going to struggle, and this could turn into a low-scoring and exciting battle. A date with Kansas seems like a rough present for the winner.