Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com ranks the each of the four regions in the NCAA Tournament:

  1. Midwest: The Big East champions (No. 1 Louisville) are here, as are the Big Ten champs (No. 2 Michigan State), Big 12 champs (No. 3 Kansas), Mountain West Conference tournament champs (No. 5 Utah), Pac-10 tournament champs (No. 10 Southern California) -- plus a team that beat North Carolina and Duke during the regular season (No. 7 Boston College), a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country in January (No. 4 Wake Forest) and a team with two NBA Draft picks (No. 12 Arizona).

2. West: No. 1 Connecticut and No. 2 Memphis are ranked first and third (but in opposite order) at KenPom.com, where No. 3 Missouri is 10th. Additionally, the West has the Pac-10 champions (No. 4 Washington), the Big Ten tournament winner (Purdue) and a team that used to be really good until its point guard broke his foot (No. 6 Marquette).

3. South: No. 1 North Carolina shouldn't have a problem making the Elite Eight, that is unless No. 4 Gonzaga does something it hasn't done all season, i.e., beat a team with a top 15 RPI. In the bottom half, Jonny Flynn's legs could fall off at any moment, which would leave No. 3 Syracuse without a competent point guard. And though Blake Griffin is awesome, the reality is that No. 2 Oklahoma has dropped four of its past six games.

4. East: Anything but a regional final between No. 1 Pittsburgh and No. 2 Duke would be a surprise (although Pitt did lose at No. 3 Villanova this season). No. 5 Florida State can't feel good about its chances at a Final Four considering it already lost to No. 1 Pitt and No. 2 Duke (three times). Speaking of Duke, it beat No. 4 Xavier by 18 points back in December. Speaking of No. 4 Xavier, it's lost two of its past three games (to Richmond and Temple, no less). 

COMPLETE ARTICLE

College Hoops ncaa tournament, analysis