Busting Brackets
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Bracketology 2023 projected field: UConn and Purdue land No. 1 seeds

By Jason Burgess

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 8: Led by committee chairman Mark Hollis (3rd from L), the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee meets on Wednesday afternoon, March 8, 2017 in New York City. The committee is gathered in New York to begin the five-day process of selecting and seeding the field of 68 teams for the NCAA MenÕs Basketball Tournament. The final bracket will be released on Sunday evening following the completion of conference tournaments. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 8: Led by committee chairman Mark Hollis (3rd from L), the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee meets on Wednesday afternoon, March 8, 2017 in New York City. The committee is gathered in New York to begin the five-day process of selecting and seeding the field of 68 teams for the NCAA MenÕs Basketball Tournament. The final bracket will be released on Sunday evening following the completion of conference tournaments. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) /
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Gonzaga Bulldogs (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Gonzaga Bulldogs (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /

Midwest Region (Kansas City)

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Youngstown State
(8) Saint Mary’s vs. (9) Michigan State
(5) Missouri vs. (12) Yale
(4) Wisconsin vs. (13) Sam Houston State
(6) Virginia Tech vs. (11) Utah State
(3) Gonzaga vs. (14) Bradley
(7) Illinois vs. (10) Arizona State
(2) Alabama vs. (15) SIU-Edwardsville

The defending national champs Kansas find themselves on the top line in the Midwest Region with an eye towards Kansas City. The 12-1 Jayhawks haven’t lost since Black Friday when they fell to Tennessee, but since then they have strong wins over Indiana and Missouri by an average of 25 points.  They are in the top 15 in both offensive and defensive efficiencies and the top 55 in two and three-point percentages. The metrics love Kansas with four of the five ranking them in the top five and playing in the best conference in the country should boost those numbers pretty quickly.

A team I find dangerous further down in this region comes from the Mountain West, the Utah State Aggies. They are ranked 23rd in the NET as of Jan. 2 and are 4-0 in quad 2 games and averaging nearly 84 points per game the Aggies are one of the best offensive teams in the country. They rank in the top 70 in every offensive statistical category except offensive rebounding, but on the defensive boards, they are 24th in the country pulling down over 28 per game. The strength of the Mountain West should help enhance the look of Utah State’s resume which currently has no quad 1 games on it.

Alabama is another team in this region that is extremely dangerous and by the time the bracket comes out could very well be pushing for a No. 1 seed. If you want a resume with name recognition the Crimson Tide certainly has it, with a 3-2 quad 1 record and the only team to knock off two No. 1 teams (Houston and North Carolina) this season, and their only losses coming at the hands of UConn and Gonzaga. Two of their three quad 1 wins against Houston and Mississippi State have come on the road and they also have a neutral-site win over Michigan State. They love to get up and down and play at a blistering pace, but that doesn’t mean they sacrifice defensively, ranking 15th in defensive efficiency and in the top 50 in three-point, two-point and effective field goal defense.

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