2015 NCAA Tournament: West Region Preview

The West Region comes down to two teams, No. 1 seed Wisconsin against No. 2 seed Arizona. Both teams look to demolish the other teams in the region and face off in the Elite Eight for the right to go to the Final Four.

Notable first round matchups include No. 3 seed Baylor vs. No. 14 seed Georgia St, No. 4 seed North Carolina vs. No. 13 seed Harvard, No. 7 seed VCU vs. No. 10 Ohio State, and No. 6 Xavier vs. the winner of the second play in game BYU vs. Ole Miss.

Baylor looks to make another run at the Sweet 16. The Bears have four players averaging double figures. Baylor ranks eighth nationally by grabbing 55.7 percent of all available rebounds. In order to advance, Baylor must rely on their shooting skills but if their shots don’t fall the Bears may be upset in the early rounds.

North Carolina is another team that could make a run to at least the Sweet 16. Tar Heel guard Brice Johnson is on a roll and has scored at least 17 points in four of his last five games. North Carolina made the ACC Tournament Final but came up short against Notre Dame. The Tar Heels did however beat Virginia in the semifinals of that tournament so they have experience beating top notched teams.

One double digit seed to watch in the West is BYU. BYU starts their tournament on Tuesday against Ole Miss. The Cougars are led by Tyler Haw who averages 21.9 points per game. If BYU gets past Ole Miss, look for the Cougars to quite possibly upset No. six Xavier and advance to the second round.

The West Region seems destined for a rematch from last year’s Elite Eight between Wisconsin and Arizona. The Badgers won in overtime last year and look to win another close game this year. Led by Frank Kaminsky’s 18.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, Wisconsin should make another run at the Final Four this year.

Written by Charlie Beuttel

Photo credit: si.com; Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky