In perhaps the weakest region of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, the West, the Oregon Ducks and Oklahoma Sooners head in confident.
By Robby Sabo
These brackets of many shapes, sizes and variety, for the NCAA Tournament committee has a very keen sense of humor.
(If you actually believe they don’t look at potential dream matchups and regional scenarios, as they claim, they I have some ice to sell you.)
They do consider such things. They do “manipulate” their way through setting the field up. So much so, that region picks up a fancy nickname rather quickly.
2016 has proved consistency, for each region is unique in its own way.
For example, the South Region this time around is the “Bracket of Death.”
The West Region? Well, perhaps in stark contrast to the South, the West is the “Bracket of Mediocrity.”
Find out for yourself:
The Complete Bracket
I mean, honestly, there isn’t much here.
The one team to shock us as a No. 1 seed is coming from the West. Very few thought the Oregon Ducks were worthy of a No. 1 seed in the tourney, yet here they are.
Not surprisingly, however, the committee stuck with keeping a West squad in the West region as the top seed.
Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Duke, Baylor, and Texas round out the top six.
The Player
Until proven otherwise, Duke’s Grayson Allen is the player of the West Bracket.
Is he on the team? No. This No. 4 seed for Duke is actually a much better fate than actually deserved, and marks their lowest seed since their No. 6 spot in 2007 when they were upset by VCU in the first round.
Nevertheless, Allen was the man who won the title for Duke a season ago, and has already proved his worth on the biggest stage.
The Cinderella
Is there one from the West this year? Probably not.
However, the teams up top are, by far, the weakest of all the four regions, so a Cinderella is possible.
Not just because of their smarts, Yale qualifies as that Cinderella in this bracket.
No. 12 Yale will start off against Baylor in the infamous 12/5 matchup. Should they win, they’ll then take on the winner of the Duke-UNC Wilmington matchup.
Yale in the Sweet 16 is not out of the realm of possibility.
The Winner
The Texas A&M Aggies come into the tournament boasting the SEC’s top-rated defense, and seem to be headed for an epic defensive battle against Shaka Smart’s tough Texas squad.
Should they get to the Sweet 16, momentum and confidence would have been built.
A tough Oklahoma team could stand in their way at that point, but don’t overlook the Aggies. They’ve already beaten Texas and Baylor this season, and the veteran ilk of their squad could prove valuable.