SAN ANTONIO — The South Region in the 2022 NCAA Tournament features some nuance at the top of the region.
No. 1 seed Arizona hasn’t made a Final Four since 2001, No. 3 seed Tennessee has never made the Final Four and No. 4 seed Illinois hasn’t been in the Final Four since 2005. Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Villanova has been a frequent flier in the Final Four over the past 15 years and 5-seed Houston made the Final Four as a 2-seed last year.
Arizona has had an extremely strong season under first-year head coach and former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd. They rank second in KenPom behind Gonzaga after a dominant 31-3 record.
LOCKED ON BRACKET BREAKDOWN SHOW: Catch the full bracket breakdown from the Locked On Podcast Network to help you preview the tournament and fill out your bracket
Villanova is led by Big East player of the year point guard Collin Gillespie. We know how important good guard play is in the NCAA Tournament. Nova won their final five games including the conference tournament coming into the Big Dance. They have losses to Baylor, Purdue and UCLA but strong wins over Tennessee and two against Providence.
Tennessee is looking to capitalize on their momentum after winning the SEC Tournament. They rank 7th in KenPom overall with a No. 3 ranking in defensive efficiency. They’re looking to make their first Final Four ever.
Illinois comes in as the four seed in the South Region and they’re a very dangerous team with both talented guard play and big man Kofi Cockburn inside. While they had some big wins this season, they suffered some bad losses in Big Ten play to Maryland and Rutgers, although Rutgers is a play-in tournament team. They’ll need to rely on some elite play from Cockburn to make a deep run.
South Region First Round Matchups
No. 1 seed Arizona vs. No. 16 seed Bryant/Wright State
No. 8 seed Seton Hall vs. No. 9 seed TCU
No. 5 seed Houston vs. No. 12 seed UAB
No. 4 seed Illinois vs. No. 13 seed Chattanooga
No. 6 seed Colorado State vs. No. 11 seed Michigan
No. 3 seed Tennessee vs. No. 14 seed Longwood
No. 7 seed Ohio State vs. No. 10 seed Loyola Chicago
No. 2 seed Villanova vs. No. 15 seed Delaware
Upset alert
Pretty much every NCAA Tournament game there’s a possibility for an upset, but let’s look at a few games where upset will be on the mind of many filling out a bracket.
No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 6 Colorado State
Michigan will be a popular upset pick as a team with plenty of tournament experience over the past 10 years. They barely snuck into the tournament after a rocky season, but they have plenty of talent to upend Colorado State. That’s not to say that the Rams aren’t a dangerous team though. They’re 20th in offensive efficiency and face a weak Michigan defense. Michigan will ned to limit Colorado State’s three-point attempts to have a chance at an upset win here.
No. 10 Loyola Chicago vs. No. 7 Ohio State
We’ve seen Loyola Chicago be strong in the NCAA Tournament in recent years. They made it to the Sweet 16 last year as an 8-seed and made it to the Final Four in 2018 as an 11-seed. They’re a 10-seed this year facing an Ohio State team that has been bounced on the opening weekend in their last five tournament appearances. The Ramblers have a good shot at an upset win here.
Elite Eight predictions
On the Locked On Bracket Breakdown show, our three experts have the following teams advancing to the Elite Eight in this region, the national quarterfinals.
Andy Patton, Locked On Zags podcast: No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 6 Colorado State
Chris Gordy, Locked On SEC podcast: No. 5 Houston vs. No. 3 Tennessee
Lee Sterling, Locked On Bets podcast: No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 2 Villanova
