West Region (San Francisco)
Seattle
1.) Gonzaga vs. 16.) Little Rock/Grambling
8.) Creighton vs. 9.) UCLA
Seattle
5.) Cincinnati vs. No. 12.) UC- Irvine
4.) Florida vs. 13.) Yale
Denver
6.) Saint John's vs. 11.) Oklahoma/San Diego State
3.) Baylor vs. 14.) Fort Wayne
Cleveland
7.) Oregon vs. 10.) Saint Mary's
2.) Kentucky vs. 15.) South Dakota State
Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed in the West region thanks to a 7-1 record after their 5th place finish in the Battle 4 Atlantis, including wins over Indiana and Davidson. They made a lot of people take notice when they beat Baylor in their season opener by 38. Since then their closest win was an 8-point win over Arizona State. Offensively, the Bulldogs are averaging 94 points per game, with Graham Ike, Khalif Battle, and Braden Huff all averaging over 40.8 points per game and Ryan Nembhard dishing out a staggering 10.8 assists per game. Gonzaga will be tested early on in December with games against Kentucky and the two-time defending champs, UConn.
The West region is full of teams that have been a bit of Jekyll and Hyde this season. After averaging 97 points in the first two games they failed to reach 75 in three consecutive losses before notching 80 in a win over Notre Dame. St. John’s had a good stretch where they beat New Mexico, lost to Baylor by one, and beat Virginia, but then followed that up by losing to Georgia by three. Speaking of those Baylor Bears they have that win over St. Johns and a win over Arkansas, but their two losses to Gonzaga and Tennessee have come by a total of 53 points.
The two teams to watch in the West region are a couple that have exceeded expectations in the first month. The No. 4 seed Florida Gators are 8-0 and none of the wins have been particularly close. Their closest win was a 13-point victory over Florida State. But it’s not just the offense clicking for Todd Golden. Since allowing 83 in the season opener opponents have cracked 70 points just once. Even though their schedule hasn’t been the strongest, No. 5 seed Cincinnati, much like Florida, has won every game by 16 points or more, and Wes Miller’s stingy defense hasn’t allowed anyone to score more than 60 points in the first month.