Well its that time of year again. The tourney is finally here, and the field is set and ready to go.

As our Bracketologist here at TSIB, I’m going to break down each region before the first game is played on Thursday. Unlike those other so called “Bracketologists,” I’m going to go against the grain and pick something other than all one seeds, since its never happened before.

This first edition of Breaking Down the Bracket is going to deal with the West Regional.

West Region

#1 UCLA defeats # 16 Mississippi Valley State- UCLA walks in to the arena thinking they can just win because of the name on their jersey, and they are correct.

Everyone- UCLA

#8 BYU defeats #9 Texas A&M- The Cougars have pretty good guard play, and don’t seem to turn over the ball a lot. Their best player, Lee Cummard a 6′7 guard, will be the best player on the court with his ability to shoot the rock from anywhere and play solid defense. On the other hand, The Aggies don’t have very good guards at all, and never had anyone step up to be anywhere close to what Acie Law was last year. Plus, BYU is still pissed about McCain beating out Mitt Romney in the Republican Primary. I like the Fightin’ Mormons.

Tidefanintn- BYU
GhostofNeyland- Texas A&M
Capstone King- Texas A&M

#12 Western Kentucky upsets #5 Drake- Every year you have to pick a 12 seed over a 5, and most years it wouldn’t hurt to pick a couple. I have seen Western in person, and on television this season, and I came away very impressed, especially with the the future high first rounder Courtney Lee. He was a force against Tennessee in Nashville, and I even liked him better than Derrick Rose as a pro prospect and player that night. They also match up very well against Drake. Almost every player on the court for both teams can drain the three, but Drake doesn’t have a player like Lee that can do it all. Lee will take over late in the game, while Drake is distracted with trying to figure what the heck Western Kentucky’s Mascot is supposed to be. SUN BELT DOMINANCE!!!
Capstone King- Western Kentucky
Tidefanintn-Drake
GhostofNeyland- Drake

#4 Connecticut defeats #13 San Diego- Connecticut wins on talent alone. No upset here.

Tidefanintn- UCONN

GhostofNeyland- San Diego

Capstone King- UCONN

#6 Purdue defeats #11 Baylor- Purdue is a pretty solid team that has improved as the year has went along. Their coach Matt Painter won Coach of the year in the Big Ten, and they had some impressive wins over Loisville, Michigan State, and Wisconsin twice. Although they lost eight games five of them were by 3 points. The Baylor Bears on the other hand, finished the season 5-8, losing practically every big game down the stretch. Take the Boilermakers.

Tidefanintn- Purdue

GhostofNeyland- Baylor

Capstone King- Purdue#3 Xavier defeats #14 Georgia- I hate to do this to Georgia, but I think the great story will come to an end. Georgia is on fire right now, but I just don’t think they have the depth to make a run in the tournament. Xavier hung with the Vols earlier this year, and have some good wins over tournament teams. Not to mention their RPI ranking is nearly 100 spots higher than the Dawgs. Xavier is really well rounded and pretty deep. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m going to take Xavier here.

Tidefanintn- Xavier
GhostofNeyland- Xavier
Capstone King- Georgia

#7 West Virginia defeats #10 Arizona- Arizona just barely made into the round of 65 because all of their losses late in the season. They have a lot of talent, but they’re also young and probably lack confidence after playing so bad near the end. On the other hand, the Mountaineers played well down the stretch with wins over Pitt and Connecticut. West Virginia relies heavily on the three point shot, which sounds like a recipe for winning if you ask me. Plus, they got Huggy Bear, and Arizona has an interim coach. Take the Mountaineers.

Tidefanintn- West Virginia
GhostofNeyland- West Virginia
Capstone King- West Virginia

#2 Duke defeats #15 Belmont- Just because Belmont beat Alabama doesn’t mean their good. Just ask Lousiana-Monroe. Duke wins in impressive fashion.

Tidefanintn- Duke
GhostofNeyland- Duke
Capstone King- Duke

Second Round

#1 UCLA defeats #8 BYU- UCLA has possibly the easiest road to the final four, and it starts with BYU. Although BYU was probably seeded a little low, they just don’t have near the talent UCLA does.

Tidefanintn- UCLA
GhostofNeyland- UCLA
Capstone King- UCLA

#4 Connecticut defeats #12 Western Kentucky- This one was a tough one because I really wanted to pick Western, but it just doesn’t make much sense to do so. The Hilltoppers just don’t play good enough defense to beat a team as talented as Uconn. Sorry Sun Belt, your road ends here.

Tidefanintn- Drake
GhostofNeyland- Drake
Capstone King- UCONN

#2 Duke defeats #7 West Virginia- As much as I wanted to pick against the Dukies, I just don’t think West Virginia can get it done. First of all, the Mountaineers don’t have Pittsnoggle and “Air Bear” anymore, and second Duke usually doesn’t get beat by teams that are less athletic than they are. However, watch out for the Mountaineers 6′8 Junior Joe Alexander. He’s white and he’s a potential first rounder, which is always scary. West Virginia could pull the upset, but I got a feeling Duke moves on with a little help from the refs.

Tidefanintn-Duke

GhostofNeyland- West Virginia

Capstone King- Duke

#6 Purdue defeats #3 Xavier- My only upset of the second round goes to Purdue. There are couple of reasons to pick Purdue in this game. The first being the fact that Xavier is likely to be put out in the first round by a hot Georgia team. Another reason is because Xavier was beat twice down the stretch by St. Joes, a team with a talented frontcourt. Purdue is also talented up front, and finished really strong with some of their young players maturing late in the season. Stars usually shine during March, and the best player on the court could be the Boilermakers Robbie Hummel. He played really well at the end of the season, and could take over down low, and he can also score from anywhere on the court. That combined with having a great coach will enable them to pull the upset. Boilermakers roll on to the sweet sixteen with a buzzer beater from the knees.

Tidefanintn- Xavier
GhostofNeyland- Xavier
Capstone King- Purdue

Third Round

#1 UCLA defeats #4 UCONN- UCLA finally runs into a team that can match up with them athletically. However, UCONN doesn’t have the experience the Bruins have from last year. Only one player on the Huskey’s roster has experienced an NCAA tournament run. I think this one will be close, but the Bruins late game heroics will put them in the elite eight.

Tidefanintn-UCLA

GhostofNeyland- UCLA

Capstone King- UCONN#2 Duke defeats #6 Purdue- Duke is probably the worst two seed in the tournament, but their road to the elite eight is fairly easy. As young as UCONN is, Purdue is even younger. Two of their top seven were on the team last season. Duke on the other hand has experience going through the tournament. Blue Devils make the elite eight, again.

Tidefanintn- Xavier

GhostofNeyland- Xavier

Capstone King- Duke

Fourth Round

#1 UCLA defeats #2 Duke- Okay, I said I wasn’t going to do this, but I don’t see anyway of avoiding putting these two teams in the elite eight. Duke rarely underachieves, and UCLA is uber-talented and experienced. This one is a good match up that compares similarly to the Duke-UNC games earlier in the season, and when the Tar Heels had a point guard they prevailed. UCLA has two point guards, to go along with final four experience. Down low, Love can do the same things as Hansbrough, who killed Duke in the regular season. Bruins go to the Final Four for the third straight year.

Tidefanintn- UCLA
GhostofNeyland- UCLA
Capstone King- UCONN

And thats how the West was won. Let me know where I’m wrong. Stay tuned for the rest of the regions.