Jake's West Region Bracket

"This is March."- Jon Rothstein. Welcome to the most fantastic three weeks of the year, and I have you covered. In my previous articles, I finished second out of twenty-five in my conference tournament pool, and this month has been an excellent month for me. There are three more weeks, and let's try to capitalize on the most intriguing tournament in years! Here is my West Region Bracket:

My winner: Kansas

Similarly to Arizona, Kansas has excellent offense and defense. Fortunately for Kansas, their kryptonite in Texas is not in their region, and with the return of Bill Self to the sideline, Kansas should regain the rhythm that brought them to the one seed. Kansas has a top-30 offense but is paired with a top-10 defense. As long as Kansas can keep up with their opponent’s on offense, the defense will take care of it on the defensive end and should lead to a Kansas victory. My path for Kansas to the final consists of a win over Howard. In the second round, I have them beating Arkansas. This game will be gritty with Arkansas’s defense style, but Kansas can pull off a late victory and move them onto the Sweet 16. In my bracket, I have them playing Iona. I feel that Iona, lead by the legend Rick Pitino, can cause a spoiler in the tournament. Whether it is Iona, St. Mary’s, Uconn, or VCU, all teams will cause a defensive nightmare for Kansas. Experience goes a long way, and most of this Kansas team remains from the team that won it all last year. They only got better with the addition of Gradey Dick. Kansas will move on to the Elite 8, and I have them getting another match-up with TCU. They split their regular match-ups, but TCU’s magical season ended with a Kansas victory. Kansas’s AtTO is around 1.4 and hit 36% of their three’s. They also have a top-ten defense, and defense wins championships. Rock Chalk, Kansas, to the Final Four.

My highlight game of the Round of 64: Uconn vs. Iona

Danny Hurley vs. Rick Pitino. If you are familiar with college basketball, particularly New York/New Jersey hoops, The Hurley and Pitino family often come up. Danny Hurley is the son of legendary high school hoops coach Bob Hurley and has led UConn to a remarkable year. Going into Big East play, UConn was dangerous with their stud guard in Jordan Hawkins and their big man in Adama Sanogo. UConn is top 20 in both Kenpom’s offense and defensive efficiencies. They have the recipe to do well in March but are faced with Rick Pitino. Excuse his scandals, and he is a basketball mastermind. Iona dominated the MAAC and is ranked #79 in the Kenpom. Walter Clayton and Nelly Junior Joseph must lead the Gaels in scoring and rebounds. Iona can hit the three-ball at a rate of 37%, and if they get on a run, it could be a tremendous first-round match-up. One negative about UConn is that they give up a lot of runs and do not often recover. They almost sold the game against Providence as Providence went on a 26-5 run in the Big East tournament. I trust Rick Pitino to get his Gael’s ready and shock the world in the tournament's first round.

My pick: Iona ML

For more picks, follow @sharpapp_jake on Instagram for content updates throughout March!