Re-Seeding: WEST

1. Gonzaga (1)

2. Iowa (5)

3. Virginia (11)

4. USC (14)

5. Creighton (19)

6. Kansas (22)

7. Oregon (36)

8. Oklahoma (39)

9. VCU (45)

10. Missouri (51)

This is the worst bracket. The Midwest is the messiest by seeding but this is quite clearly the worst bracket. Seeding isn’t terribly out of whack. Kansas is too high and will be without Jalen Wilson, so USC making the second weekend won’t surprise me.

If Gonzaga doesn’t win this region, it’s one of the great disappointments in the Mark Few era. It’s not that Iowa or Virginia couldn’t beat them in a one off, they can, it just seems this is as good a setup as the Zags could hope for.

Virginia is favored sizably over Ohio but will be coming off Covid protocols and Ohio has steamrolled some teams despite some starts and stops throughout the year. It may not mean much now, but they did only lose by 2 to Illinois early in the year.

Creighton has gone 3-3 in their last 6 games and UCSB is 69th in KenPom. The Jays are the favorites for sure but this bracket is begging you to pick both the 4 and 5 to lose. UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack should be a hot name in the coaching cycle anyway, but this would accelerate that. It’s possible both Arizona jobs open, too. 

One final note, I’m not sure how it stacks up historically, but this is the worst 8-9 game of all 4 brackets. Looks good in name but it’s a woofer.