UNC Basketball: Reseeding the teams in the Midwest Region
Keeping It Heel re-seeds the four teams in the Midwest Region, based on performance, as the 2019 NCAA Tournament continues Thursday evening.
Unless your name is Gregg Nigl, there’s at least one “X” on your bracket sheet. It’s been a pretty chalk tournament so far with a few upsets including No. 12 Oregon and No. 13 UC-Irvine winning their first-round matchups in the South and the Ducks moving to the Sweet 16.
The Midwest Region saw just one big upset in the first round with Ohio State beating Iowa State before falling to Houston in the second round. Wofford’s upset attempt over Kentucky fell short, which would have shaken up the brackets.
Outside of that Ohio State upset over Iowa State, the Midwest has been a fairly predictable region thus far. There hasn’t been no Cinderella and biggest “upset” has come from the Buckeyes.
Last week I ranked the 16 teams in the Midwest Region. This week I’ll be reseeding the remaining four teams in the said region.
Let’s begin:
No. 1 seed – North Carolina Tar Heels
Points per game: 86
Points allowed per game: 76
Offensive rating: 113
Defensive rating: 95
NCAA Tournament: Won first round (88-73) vs. No. 16 Iona; Won second round(81-59) vs. No. 9 Washington.
After struggling in the first half of their opener against Iona and trailing 38-33, the Tar Heels have outscored their opponents 136-94 in the three halves since. The most balanced team in this region has their leading scoring coming off the bench in Nassir Little.
Cam Johnson leads the team in made three-pointers (7), and Garrison Brooks leads the team in bloody lips. It will be extremely hard for teams to keep up Roy Williams’ fastest team he’s ever coached.
No. 2 seed – Auburn Tigers
Points per game: 80
Points allowed per game: 69
Offensive rating: 114
Defensive rating: 98
NCAA Tournament: Won first round (78-77) vs. No. 12 New Mexico State; Won second round (89-75) vs. No. 4 Kansas
Even though Auburn barely defeated New Mexico State they made 12 three-pointers and shot 38% from beyond the arc. In their blowout against Kansas, they made 13 three-pointers and shot 43%. Catching their drift?
They shoot threes when they are down, and they shoot threes when they are up. To this point, they’ve made over 400 which is a school record. However, that’s not all they do. Auburn is currently on a 7-game win streak and in those games, they’ve forced at least 11 turnovers per contest.
No. 3 seed – Houston Cougars
Points per game: 76
Points allowed per game: 61
Offensive rating: 112
Defensive rating: 90
NCAA Tournament: Won first round (84-55) vs. No. 14 Georgia State; Won second round (74-59) vs. No. 11 Ohio State
It’s been smooth sailing for the Cougars thus far, as they play like a team with experience. It took a miracle shot from Jordan Poole to stun the Cougars in the second round last year. Now in the Sweet 16 for the first time in decades, Houston looks to continue to dominate foes on the boards as they have a +22 advantage to date in the tournament.
No. 4 seed – Kentucky Wildcats
Points per game: 76
Points allowed per game: 64
Offensive rating: 112
Defensive rating: 95
NCAA Tournament: Won first round (79-44) vs. No. 14 Abilene Christian; Won second round (62-56) vs. No. 7 Wofford.
The biggest question circling Big Blue Nation right now is “How healthy is PJ Washington?” Until we know that answer, we don’t know how far this group of Wildcats can go. They had a bit of a scare against Wofford but with Fletcher Magee going 0/12 from three Kentucky was able to secure the victory.
Would they have been in that position if Washington was playing? All we know is that Washington is out of his walking boot and could play Friday night against Houston.
With a healthy Washington, Kentucky is the biggest threat to North Carolina in this region and would jump up in the rankings. But we shall see how they fare Friday.
The great thing about reseeding this region is that there is any of these matchups would be compelling. Whoever wins the Midwest Region would truly deserve it, and might have the strongest resume in the tournament.
Next. Nassir Little emerging at the right time. dark
For more on the NCAA Tournament, please check back with Keeping It Heel.