2018 NCAA Tournament Picks: West

NCAA Tournament Picks: South | West | East | Midwest | Final Four

2018 NCAA Tournament Picks – West Bracket

By Walter Cherepinsky – @walterfootball

Rather than go through, game by game, I’m going to show you my selections on the brackets and post notes on some of the interesting contests:

The NCAA Tournament selection committee usually does a poor job of seeding these teams, but I seriously think they’ve lost their minds this year. How in the world is Xavier a No. 1 seed? I don’t understand this at all. Xavier should be a No. 4 seed!

I was very tempted to take Missouri over Xavier in the second round. Michael Porter has returned for Missouri and will make a huge difference. There’s a chance he disrupts chemistry, but they’ve had a lot of time to practice to integrate him back into the team. I want to play the odds and select Xavier to reach the Sweet 16, but man, it’s tempting to call the upset.

Gonzaga, meanwhile, seemingly has a cake walk to the Sweet 16. South Dakota State should pull a 12-5 upset over overrated Ohio State, but will have trouble dispatching the talented Zags, who are better than Xavier. It would actually make more sense if Gonzaga were the No. 1 seed and Xavier were the No. 4 seed!

In the bottom half of the bracket, the one upset I have in the opening weekend is Providence beating Texas A&M. The Aggies are missing a key player in Duane Wilson and could have trouble with the Friars.

That said, it seems like North Carolina and Michigan are set for a collision course in the Sweet 16, and it’ll be a hell of a game. The Wolverines are playing great basketball lately, and I think they can dethrone the defending champions. In fact, I think Michigan has a great chance to make it out of this region, though Gonzaga will have something to say about that.

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