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2009 March Madness Bracket Predictions: West Region

Written by Jimmy Boyd

west-region-31709 Two of the best team in the East, Connecticut and Memphis, have been shipped out West by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to battle it our for a Final Four seat. In this article, I break down my West Region bracket picks and tell you who I have moving on to the Final Four.

Round One – Connecticut cruises into round two with a win over Chattanooga. The committee has given us another very good 8 vs. 9 matchup in the West with BYU and Texas A&M facing off and I have the Aggies advancing. Purdue is now completely healthy and playing great basketball. The Boilermakers will take care of Missouri Valley champion Northern Iowa. Mississippi State comes in riding high after taking the SEC Tournament title, but I have an explosive Washington team moving on. Utah State is a dangerous team here because it is so disciplined offensively with all the different sets that it runs, but Marquette’s guards are a nightmare matchup for the Aggies. I’ll take Marquette into round two along with Missouri. I like Maryland over Cal in the 10 vs. 7 game and Memphis over Cal State Northridge to complete the first round.

Round Two – Connecticut continues to cruise as Texas A&M doesn’t match up well with the Huskies. Purdue versus Washington has the look of one of the best matchups in this region. I think this Purdue team is on the rise and is much better defensively than Washington and that will be the difference. Mizzou has had a fantastic season but Marquette proves just how deep the Big East is this year by getting to the Sweet 16. Maryland can most definitely give Memphis a game, but I have the Tigers advancing as this team tries to go out and prove that it is even better than last year’s squad.

Sweet 16 – Other than Pitt’s DeJaun Blair, no one has had their way with Hasheem Thabeet. He has been one of the biggest defensive weapons in college basketball this season and he is the reason why the Connecticut Huskies get past the Purdue Boilermakers. I have Memphis beating Marquette in the other regional semifinal matchup. I really wish the Golden Eagles had Dominic James in the lineup for the tournament as I think they could give Memphis a run for their money with him suited up. Like UConn, Memphis advances because it is better defensively, ranking No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage defense and No. 4 in scoring defense.

Elite Eight – I have No. 1 seed Connecticut battling No. 2 seed Memphis to get to the Final Four. I’m sure there was plenty of debate in the selection committee room about which of these two teams should get the final No. 1 seed and hopefully we will get to see these teams battle it out to prove which one was the most deserving. Louisville is very similar to Memphis with the way it applies full court pressure and the athletes it puts on the floor, but the Huskies were able to handle that pressure pretty well to bury the Cardinals in Louisville. I think Connecticut handles the pressure with star guard A.J. Price to advance to the Final Four.

Don’t leave your basketball betting to chance this month. Try Jimmy Boyd’s expert college basketball picks on for size for the most winners against the NCAA basketball odds.

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