The West regional is flooded with intrigue heading into March Madness opening weekend. Florida basketball sits at No. 1 in this bracket and has fans penciling the Gators in as the West winner. The top seeded Gators, however, are in a loaded field ahead of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
St. John’s has Queens and New York thinking about its first Final four run since 1985 as the two seed. Past national title winners Kansas and Arkansas are in this field. Texas Tech landed here as the No. 3 seed. Maryland is back in the madness, this time as a Big Ten representative. And no one should forget that all roads to the natty still runs through back-to-back champion UConn — who’s out west too.
The coaching lineup draws further intrigue for this side of the bracket. Todd Golden is on the rise in Gainesville. But he’s in a stacked room featuring national champion coaches Bill Self, John Calipari, Rick Pitino, and the current champ Dan Hurley. Golden could end up game-planning against Hurley in the second round. Pitino could see old nemesis Calipari.
Let’s not ignore the Cinderella possibilities here too. Grand Canyon brings the most Cinderella potential. But Omaha poses as a potential season-ending threat for the Red Storm. UNC-Wilmington is facing a Red Raiders team that comes with a massive injury concern. Drake and Colorado State are two more well-coached, high-energy teams hailing from the mid-major realm.
The west looks wild. And only four will make it to the Chase Center in San Francisco before March ends. Time to dive into the dream Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups here.
Sweet 16 dream scenarios: St. John’s vs. Drake, Florida vs. Grand Canyon
Calling two Cinderella’s here for this regional. Drake and Grand Canyon look prime to make its own runs.
The Bulldogs out of the Missouri Valley Conference brings with them Ben McCollum — arguably the most wanted mid-major coach in the nation. McCollum spearheaded a 30-3 mark with Drake plus owns a mammoth 422-94 overall record. Golden once was in McCollum’s shoes as a red-hot mid-major coach appealing for power conference jobs.
Meanwhile, the Lopes lure back plenty of experience from a team that came close to knocking off Final Four representative Alabama last year. Tyron Grant-Foster is back and leading the backcourt. Fellow guard Ray Harrison also returns and is averaging in double figures for points.
Senior JaKobe Coles is now tasting March Madness with GCU after playing for Butler and TCU. He’s the Lopes top scorer at 14.8 points per game. Junior Duke Brennan is the fourth GCU player to average in double figures nightly. Head coach Bryce Drew returns a deep and long Lopes team fueled by last season’s botched attempt to hit the Sweet 16.
Florida, meanwhile, proves to be too deep and physical for UConn and ends its consecutive title run. Pitino gets the Red Storm to turn to a fierce defense and the renewed red-hot shooting of RJ Luis Jr. to surpass the opening rounds.
Elite 8 dream matchup: Florida vs. St. John’s
What a huge test for Golden with Pitino on the opposite end. And what a defensive scrap fest this has the makings of becoming.
Florida transformed its defense under Golden — going from 93rd to 10th per the KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency rating system. The Gators then come with one of the nation’s deepest backcourts. Fans who annually watch the NCAA Tournament action know all about the importance of deep guard play. Golden’s crew scores at will through their three-guard attack featuring Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard all averaging between 13.6 to 17.5 points per contest.
But Golden gets a huge opportunity to outcoach a legend like Pitino. The two-time national title winner brings his own rugged defense to the court. The Red Storm are top five in the KenPom metric and can force turnovers. Kadary Richmond helps set the tone defensively here. Zuby Ejiofor also ignites this defense in coming over via Kansas.
It’s going to come down to who wears out who on both defense and through conditioning. St. John’s pressure defense wears down teams nightly. The Red Storm’s full court press (often thrown in the second half) can bring a blizzard to offenses. But Florida is equally skilled and aggressive on defense. Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh can swat shots and grab rebounds.
Florida versus St. John’s sounds more like a San Antonio matchup. But San Francisco gets blessed with this dream Elite Eight battle.
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