Midwest Region (Detroit)
1.) Purdue vs. 16.) Lipscomb
8.) Oklahoma vs. 9.) Mississippi
5.) BYU vs. 12.) Grand Canyon
4.) Auburn vs. 13.) Samford
6.) San Diego State vs. 11.) Washington State/Florida
3.) Wisconsin vs. 14.) High Point
7.) New Mexico vs. 10.) Texas
2.) Marquette vs. 15) South Dakota State
The middle of the bracket has been as tumultuous as a tsunami but at the top of the field, the seas have been much more calming. Purdue is once again the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region heading into their big matchup with Wisconsin on Sunday. The battle for the top overall seed has been hot and heavy and as we get closer to Selection Sunday, the slightest slip could change things. Right now the Boilermakers have the edge thanks to their metrics average of 1.5 and a stronger strength of schedule than the other contenders.
The Boilermakers’ trip to Las Vegas won’t be easy, as their road is littered with potential pitfalls. San Diego State, who made the national title game last season sits there as the No. 6 seed and one of the best offensive teams in the country, the Samford Bulldogs who average 88 points per game, and our 6th in the country in effective field goal percentage. On the flip side, the No. 12 seed Grand Canyon Antelopes are one of the best defensive teams in the nation, ranking in the top-80 in defensive efficiency, defensive effective field goal percentage as well as defending the two and the three.
The team I want to look at in this region is the No. 4 team, the Auburn Tigers. The 18-4 Tigers gained their first quad 1 win of the year when they beat Mississippi yesterday. Auburn is 8th in the NET entering Sunday with predictive metrics that like them much more than the results-based metrics ranking over 16 points higher. We’ll get a better idea of how to gauge Auburn in the next couple of weeks after their games with Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Kentucky.