2008 Midwest NCAA Tournament Predictions

With Kansas returning all but one player from a team which advanced to the Elite 8 in 2007 and the Georgetown Hoyas returning all but one player from a team which made the Final Four, the national champion just might come out of the Midwest region. Find out if Jimmy has one of these teams advancing to the Final Four in San Antonio in this 2008 NCAA tournament predictions article.

First Round

Kansas is among the deepest, most experienced teams in the tourney and will have no problem with Portland State in round one. UNLV is a squad which can beat anyone on its home floor, but I am not convinced in this team’s ability on the road. Not many people know about Kent State, but I’ll take the Golden Flashes here as they play great defense. Villanova over Clemson is this year’s 12 over a 5 seed upset. Clemson will not be able to match the energy and intensity that is displayed against ACC rivals Duke and North Carolina in the ACC tourney. Siena could certainly give Vandy a scare, but I like the Commodores to win here in game that is probably too close for comfort. Kansas State has two very talented players in Michael Beasley and Bill Walker, but the Trojans have been great on the road all season and Tim Floyd’s defensive game plans are genius. I’ll take the Trojans. Wisconsin will get back to round two with a win over CSU Fullerton. I like a very talented Davidson team to pull off a small upset over Gonzaga and Georgetown to easily get past UMBC.

Second Round

Kansas will advance to the Sweet 16 over Kent State. The Jayhawks have All-American caliber players at every spot and this one shouldn’t be close. Villanova looks like this season’s Cinderella. Vandy has been a great home team this season, but very susceptible on the road. Nova has better wins in a better conference and that will hold up here. USC and Wisconsin both play great defense so I will side with USC here as O.J. Mayo’s ability to create his own shot will be the X-factor. Georgetown is on a mission after making the Final Four a season ago. Davidson has showed that it can play giants tough with near wins over North Carolina and Duke, but the Wildcats ultimately will have no answer for Roy Hibbert.

Regional Semis

This is where Nova’s night at the ball ends as Kansas is just too good with too much depth. USC versus Georgetown will be a great game, but this is where the experience factor weighs largely in the Hoyas’ favor. Georgetown advances.

Regional Finals

We will see number one seed Kansas take on number two seed Georgetown for a trip to San Antonio in the Midwest. The ultimate factor will be that Georgetown lost Jeff Gray, its best all-around player a season ago. He was huge for them in last year’s NCAA tourney. With Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, and the X-factor Sherron Collins, I like Kansas to get to the Final Four.

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If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• 2009 Sweet 16 Predictions: Midwest Region

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