Paul Bearer's 2010 March Madness Preview

Well, people here we are. The best sporting time of the year, no disrespect to Super Bowl Weekend, the World Series, NBA Finals, World Cup, Stanley Cup, etc.But the NCAA Men's Basketball Tourney is always the crème de la crème of sporting events.

The conference tournaments are over and a great two weeks they were, the automatic bids were handed out with the SEC, Big Ten, A-10, and ACC crowning their champions. After the tournaments ended today on Selection Sunday the brackets and the field of 65 were announced. Everybody all over the country, get your brackets ready and prepare for three great weeks of basketball.

Kansas was the number 1 overall seed and will be in the Midwest Region, with Kentucky in the East, Syracuse out in the West Region and Duke in the South region. The play-in game starts the tourney off on Sunday and it gets into full swing on Thursday.

Region Breakdown
Midwest:
Kansas is the number 1 overall seed, led by their great Senior point guard Sherron Collins. Kansas finished the season 32-2, with a Big 12 title and was the number 1 team for most of the year. Kansas won the title two years ago, and Bill Self has another great squad with freshman phenom Xavier Henry, big man Cole Aldrich, Tyshawn Taylor, Brady Morningstar, Markeef and Marcus Morris. Kansas is a tourney favorite and rightfully so, this is a great team that knows how to win and has the talent to go all the way

But they should not expect a cakewalk in a strong Midwest region. This region is stacked with individual talent all around.

Ohio State grabbed a number 2 seed and is led by the likely player of the year in Evan Turner, Turner who suffered a devastating back injury early on has came back strong with a great all-around season to match his great game. He led his team to the Big 10 title, which included his halfcourt game winner against Michigan in the Big 10 semis, watch out for Turner and the Buckeyes.

After Turner, there is the 3rd seed Georgetown Hoyas, led by a great threesome in Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. The Hoyas fell short in the Big East final to West Virginia but a tough team, they combine great perimeter play from Freeman and Wright with a talented big man on the inside in Monroe. The Hoyas will give a tough battle to any one in the tournament, it's all a matter of consistency.

For my money outside of Turner the other individual to watch in this region is Greivis Vasquez, the fiery, emotional and talented leader of the 4th seed Maryland Terrapins. Vasquez who averaged 19 ppg, 6 assists, and 4 boards has the talent to single handedly win a game by himself. We've seen tournaments in the past where one guy goes on a roll and cant be stopped and carries his team (2003 Dwyane Wade, 1989 Glen Rice). Vazquez has the tools to do it, watch out for him and the Terps.

Then you have the consistent as night and day, Tom Izzo led Michigan State Spartans who grabbed the 5th seed. MSU is one of the more experienced teams, coming off a national title game appearance last year, led by point guard Kalin Lucas and forward Raymar Morgan. Sparty will be a force to be reckoned with, do not expect this team to go down easy.

Then you have the 6th seed Tennessee Volunteers from the SEC, this is a resilient and talented team. They bounced back after the suspension of Tyler Smith to finish 24-8 on the year, this team will come to play. They are one of only two teams to have beaten Kentucky on the season. They have talent with Wayne Chism, J.P. Prince and Scotty Hopson. Bruce Pearl will have this bunch ready.

The rest of the top 10 seeds round out with 7th seed Oklahoma State who has a dynamic player in James Anderson, watch out for that guy. The 8th seed UNLV Runnin Rebels, 9th Seed Northern Iowa, 10th seed Georgia Tech who lost to Duke in the ACC final today, they have a great, talented freshman in Derrick Favors, who could easily have a breakout tourney performance.

PB's Region Champ: Kansas
PB's Region's Best Player: Evan Turner

East
In the East, the SEC champ Kentucky Wildcats locked down the number 1 seed today due to their SEC title win and a 32-2 season record. Coached by John Calipari, this ridiculously talented squad is my personal favorite for the 'chip. They run three freshman in their starting five, led by freshman superstar John Wall, big man Demarcus Cousins, and Wall's first-year backcourt mate Eric Bledsoe. Combine those three with the forgotten man of the bunch talented junior forward Patrick Patterson, UK has the horses to get their first championship since Jeff Sheppard and the '97 'Cats.

But in what is a solid East region, Kentucky who is still a young team will have some good teams to deal with.

Big East champ West Virginia grabbed the 2 seed led by their star forward Da'Sean Butler. Butler really stepped onto the national stage during the Big East tourney, hitting two game-winners in 3 nights. Led by legendary coach Bob Huggins, WVU possesses a great and tough squad including players like Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones. They will pose a great matchup to Kentucky if they meet up.

The 3rd seeded New Mexico Lobos, quietly had a great season finishing 29-4 coming from the Mountain West. A talented all-around team when they get on the floor, knows how to win and is coached well. They are inexperienced in the tourney, but won 15 in a row late in the season.

Then the East has talented teams like Texas who is the 8th seed, 4th seeded Wisconsin, 5th seeded Temple, 6th seeded Marquette, and 7th seeded Clemson. However all of those teams are very inconsistent and you never really know what you are going to get. A team like Clemson and Texas can pull off a big win in this region but then have a disappointing and bad loss. Which is why to me Kentucky's only obstacle in this region is West Virginia

PB's Region Champ: Kentucky
PB's Region's Best Player: John Wall

West
In the West region, Syracuse is the number 1 seed and rightfully so finishing up with a 28-4 record. But they come into the tournament with two straight losses and an injury issue with big man Arinze Onuaku. But I think if he's ok, 'Cuse will be ok this is a great team. Jim Boeheim will have his guys ready to go, led by Wesley Johnson and supported by guys like Andy Rautins, Scoop Jardine, Rick Jackson and Onuaku. Syracuse has a legit shot to win it all, this is an athletic, talented squad.

But in the West to me, Syracuse has some good competition and if they dont make it out I will not be shocked. It is gonna be a dogfight, because there are some good teams here among the first 5 seeds. Including one who I think will be a surprise to a lot of people

The Kansas State Wildcats boast the number 2 seed, and this team is good, I mean really good. Coached by the intense Frank Martin, the Wildcats had a great year from the Big 12 finishing 26-7. KSU has one of the best backcourts, if not the best in the nation with Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. They were in contention for a number 1 seed, so this team is no joke. Seeing Pullen and Clemente on the big stage will be a fun sight to see, KSU will be a burden for a lot of teams.

The Pittsburgh Panthers grabbed the 3rd seed, a great season for Pitt especially after losing DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, and Levance Fields from last year. As with any Pitt team this is a gritty, tough, scrappy bunch. Ashton Gibbs is a name to remember, he is a great shooter and scorer and has a good number 2 guy alongside him in Brad Wanamaker.

Vanderbilt grabbed the 4th seed from the SEC, they are led by a good guard-big man combo in Jermaine Beal and AJ Ogilvy. Beal is another one of those guys that can go on a great run in this tourney, and Ogilvy is a talented big. Jeffery Taylor has been another good player for the Commodores who have some great wins on the year.

Rounding out the the rest of the West, you have the 5th seeded Horizon League champs Butler. Butler is a tough squad, they should make the Sweet 16 with no problem. Watch out for them

Then you have 7th seed Xavier, 8th seed Gonzaga, 9th seed Florida State and 10th seeded Florida. Outside of the top 5 seeds here, the rest are all good but to me not enough to make a lot of noise or threaten Syracuse. But Syracuse will have to meet up with Kansas State and play them in a game that will not be easy and ripe for an upset. Either way it's gonna be a good one.

PB's Region Champ: Syracuse
PB's Region's Best Player: Wesley Johnson

East
Duke grabbed the number 1 seed in a light East region this year, that to me only has two great teams. Duke has really underachieved in the tournament the past few years, but they are legit title contender. They have three great players on the perimeter in Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, and Jon Scheyer and a great set of big men. But will they put it all together or fall short again? We will see.

In my opinion Duke's only real challenge will be the 2 seed Villanova Wildcats. The Wildcats led by Scottie Reynolds from the Big East are coming off a Final Four berth last year. That experience coupled with the great play of Reynolds and his backcourt partner Corey Fisher gives them a shot to come out of this region. But their horrid finish were they lost 5 out of 7 works against them. But I will give 'Nova the benefit of the doubt due to their talent and experience coming out of that rugged Big East though.

The Baylor Bears are the 3 seed out East and quietly had a really good season out of the Big 12. They have two dynamic guards in LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter and are a solid Sweet 16 team. If they had better big man play they might could go further but being that they are such a perimeter driven team I dont know how far they can go. They will come to play though.

Purdue grabbed the 4 seed and I would have been confident in picking them for a deep tourney run, but then Robbie Hummel got hurt and their chances got hurt. They still have a good duo in E'Twaun Moore and Jajuan Johnson, so they will be a good Sweet 16 pick but I dont see them going further.

After the 4 seeds it gets a little light among the rest of the region but there are still some good teams with 5 seed Texas A&M and 6th seeded Notre Dame. A&M and Notre Dame both used great finishes to get off the bubble and into the tourney.

Next you have 7th seeded Richmond, and 8th seeded California and their dynamic little man Jerome Randle who you should really be watching for, next up is 9th seeded Louisville who scored a big win over Syracuse late in the year and 10th seeded Saint Mary's and their talented big man Omar Samhan.

To me it's a two horse race in Duke and 'Nova, and they will decide who comes out of this region.

PB's Region Champ: Villanova
PB's Region's Best Player: Scottie Reynolds

Well there you go a region by region breakdown and preview of the 2010 NCAA tournament. I will be back after the second round for a Sweet 16 preview and followed up by writings on the rounds after that. I hope you enjoy the tournament and got your brackets ready, enjoy the tournament and come through and read my writeup and give me your feedback.

Until next time, Peace