The Southwest region of the NCAA bracket looks like a bomb went off and Kansas came stumbling out of the rubble with three battered and bruised underdog friends. The Jayhawks were the only single-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 out of the Southwest as upsets came left and right throughout the first weekend. Joining the Jayhawks are three double-digit seeds: No. 10 Florida State, No. 11 VCU and No. 12 Richmond. Just like we all predicted.
Calling the Southwest region this year’s bracket buster would be an understatement. The region, and its four Sweet 16 teams, obliterated brackets on the first weekend. With that in mind, let’s revisit the predictions and make some new ones.
Grab a 2011 NCAA Tournament printable bracket and make your own predictions this week in preparation for Thursday’s games.
Southwest Region
No. 1 Kansas over No. 12 Richmond Spiders. The Spiders have been a nice story, but Kansas rolls in this one. The Jayhawks look destined for a Final Four appearance, but if there’s one glimmer of hope for Richmond, it’s Kansas’ face-plant against Northern Iowa in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
No. 11 VCU Rams over No. 10 Florida State Seminoles, 70-68. I said VCU didn’t belong in the NCAA Tournament last week. I was wrong. I wasn’t just wrong, I was so very wrong that I’m not sure what right even is anymore. Three dominant performances later, the Rams are in the Sweet 16 and look like the hot hand in this year’s March Madness. They’ve got momentum and a chip on their shoulder, a dangerous combination.
Southwest Region Final
No. 1 Kansas over No. 11 VCU, 72-64. The VCU run ends here as Kansas coasts to the Final Four. It’s been fun for the Rams, but Kansas just looks like the better team in every aspect of the game.
Stay with our Sweet Sixteen predictions StoryStream as we update the bracket throughout the day.. To get caught up with the happenings from March Madness, check out our NCAA Tournament results StoryStream.