Easy Deposits and Great Customer Service at Bodog!

2009 March Madness Bracket Predictions: South Region

The South Region features plenty of talent but all roads must go through the No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels who made a trip to the Final Four a season ago with basically the same team. Can anyone in this region knock the Heels out of the tournament? Find out in this article as I break down the South Region.

Round One – UNC gets a stroll in the park in round one with Radford to move one step closer to a second straight Final Four. LSU vs. Butler is an intriguing 8 vs. 9 matchup. Butler is a very good team, but it is still young. We saw that on display when a veteran Cleveland State team prevailed in the Horizon League Tourney title game. LSU returns four starters from last year’s team and it will be out to prove that the SEC is better than most think. I like Western Kentucky to prevail in round one for the second straight year as a No. 12 seed against an Illinois team which hasn’t shown much outside Champagne. I have Gonzaga, Arizona State, and Syracuse moving on as well. I like Michigan in a 10 over 7 upset and Oklahoma to take care of Morgan State to finish out the round

Round Two – North Carolina is far better than LSU and should cruise into the Sweet 16. Gonzaga is a very complete team with good size and the ability to knock down the three and will be too much for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Arizona State and Syracuse looks like a good matchup, but Syracuse has too many weapons when it is all said and done and its matchup zone should also give the Sun Devils some problems. Michigan has the look of a dangerous 10 seed because of its ability to knock down three point shots, but Oklahoma has a big edge on the interior with Blake Griffin and he will be the difference.

Sweet 16 – Gonzaga reminds me a little bit of Duke. It has decent size and can shoot the three, but it isn’t quite athletic enough to knock out No. 1 seed North Carolina. We saw how much Memphis’ athleticism bothered the Bulldogs and North Carolina will have the edge in those areas as well. Making championship runs is all about having exceptional balance and few teams, if any, are as balanced offensively as the Heels. UNC moves on to the Elite Eight. Syracuse is a better team than its conference record indicates and we saw evidence of this in the Big East Tournament. The Orange weren’t healthy for a good portion of the season, but now they are and that means trouble for the Sooners. Expect a great game in this matchup with the Big East’s Orange Men moving on.

Elite Eight – I really hope we do get to see Syracuse versus North Carolina as I think it would be one of the best games of the entire tournament. The point guard matchup between Ty Lawson and Jonny Flynn is very intriguing. I was really impressed by the heart and the guts of this team in that six overtime win against Connecticut. But North Carolina is the better team and its opponents have had to play near-perfect to beat the Tar Heels and that is hard to do. I have UNC in the Final Four.

Do your college basketball betting on Jimmy Boyd’s NCAA basketball picks this March for the most winners against the basketball odds.

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

• 2009 March Madness Bracket Predictions: East Region
• 2009 March Madness Bracket Predictions: West Region
• 2009 March Madness Bracket Predictions: Midwest Region
• 2009 March Madness Bracket Predictions
• 2009 Sweet 16 Predictions: South Region

Comments