The Gonzaga Bulldogs are preparing for the 2012 NCAA Tournament. They will have their work cut out for them if they hope to make it deep into the event, but they can be thankful for one thing: at least they're not in the South Region.
SB Nation basketball editor Mike Rutherford offers five points of analysis regarding the bracket announcements. One of his points is that the South region bracket offers the toughest and most stacked set of teams than any other region in the tournament.
Kentucky is the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, so it stands to reason that UK’s road to the Final Four should be the smoothest. That certainly doesn’t appear to be the case, as the Wildcats have drawn a region oozing with talented teams capable of giving them fits.
Having Baylor (which is loaded with NBA prospects) and Duke (which is Duke) at the top is bad enough, but the strength of this region is most apparent in the middle. There is no better 8/9 matchup than the South’s of Royce White and Iowa State going up against the defending national champions from Connecticut. Either of those squads could give UK trouble in the third round, but the Huskies – who boast likely lottery picks in Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond and have a handful of players who were part of a win over the Wildcats in the 2011 Final Four – are particularly worthy of fear.
Click through to the article for a full look at his early analysis. It's very insightful and well worth the read.
You can click here for a full, printable 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket.
Check out our Gonzaga team blog The Slipper Still Fits. For more coverage of Gonzaga in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, visit SB Nation Seattle's storystream. Click here for a link to our NCAA bracket 2012.
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