NCAA Tournament Round Of 32 Best Bets: West Region

Who will get to the Sweet 16?

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#1 Gonzaga vs. #9 Memphis

Gonzaga had a bit of a scare when they were up by just two measly points on #16 Georgia State at halftime. Then, they decided that they were Gonzaga and cruised to a win. They are still the best team in the country. The Bulldogs have the second-best offense and seventh-best defense in all of college basketball, according to KenPom. That type of greatness at both ends of the court is a big reason why pretty much everyone has them winning the National Championship, although we have already seen in this tournament that stats don't always matter. Kentucky was a team that also statistically was a top-3 team in the country, and they lost outright to Saint Peter's, who doesn't even crack the top-100. That's why it's called March Madness, because while Kentucky wins that game nine times out of 10, you just need one in this tournament.

Memphis will be looking to do just that. Since Penny Hardaway’s infamous and hilarious press conference back in late January, the Tigers have been rolling right along, and have turned their season around pretty dramatically. They looked lost for a good chunk of the season, which was puzzling considering how talented this team is. Six-foot-11 center Jalen Duren is a monster of a man, and has been the guy who has made the biggest impact on where the Tigers are right now. During the regular season, Duren led the AAC in rebounds per game with 7.5, and blocks with 2.2. The defense has been phenomenal during their late-season run, and they can guard you inside and outside. Emoni Bates is back after sitting out for most of the hot streak, and the 5-Star recruit could make Memphis a sneaky deadly team. They seem to be finally healthy and showing what many thought it was capable of at the beginning of the season.

I think this will be a tight game for most of the way, but Gonzaga will pull away in the second half. With both teams living in the transition game, a shootout is quite possible. Gonzaga is 15-0 when it scores 85 points or more, so that really wouldn't help the Tigers.

My Pick: Gonzaga -10

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#4 Arkansas vs. #12 New Mexico State

I have to say, this is a matchup that not many were predicting at all. An avalanche of people were on Vermont to beat Arkansas outright as a #13 seed, but it was New Mexico State that shocked everyone by beating a really good Connecticut team. Cinderella stories like New Mexico State often involve a player performing at a superhuman level, and becoming a household name by the end of the tournament. Welp, do we have a guy for you. “Teddy Buckets”, the nickname of Aggies star Teddy Allen, went off for a tournament-high 37 points against the Huskies. After a 20-3 start to the season this year, NMSU went just 4-3 over their last seven games, which was cause for concern heading into the Western Athletic Conference tournament. That concern was quickly doused, and they grabbed that automatic seed in the NCAA Tournament. They also didn't face much high level competition this year, which made some question just how good they really are. The Aggies played three of their 13 non-conference games against teams outside of Division I, and the only NCAA Tournament team they faced was Davidson, a game they won 75-64 on a neutral court.

Arkansas victory may be even more impressive, however. Everyone loved Vermont, and for good reason. Though the Catamounts were a #13 seed, they were one of the country’s most efficient offensive teams, ranked third in effective field goal percentage and had won each of its conference tournament games by at least 32 points. Vermont’s top two scorers accounted for 56.3% of its scoring against Arkansas, so it is at least a bit worrying that Allen can go off on them as well. He's averaging 19.3 points per game for the season, and now he's coming off a career game.

However, Arkansas arguably beat a tougher opponent two days ago in Vermont, and I think they can contain Allen enough to get past New Mexico State.

My Pick: Arkansas -6.5

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