NCAA Tournament Regional Preview: South

The No. 1 seed: Kansas (30-4, 15-3 in the Big 12). The Jayhawks are the top overall seed and certainly the favorites to emerge from the South region. Playing in the loaded Big 12, Kansas pulled off three pairs of wins against Oklahoma, West Virginia and Baylor, all of whom are a No. 5 seed or better in this year’s tournament. Although the Jayhawks fell to Michigan State in their second game of the season, head coach Bill Self’s squad was able to get back on track, losing just three games the rest of the way. Kansas is one of the deepest teams in the nation, boasting a 10-man rotation including four double-figure scorers. Senior Perry Ellis leads the team on offense with 16.7 points per game and diminutive guard Frank Mason efficiently runs the point, registering nearly five assists per game. The Jayhawks have the height, talent and experience to brush even the strongest opponents out of the way and appear poised to make it to the Final Four. 

The other contenders: No. 2 seed Villanova enters the tournament on a disappointing note, having lost to Seton Hall in the Big East tournament title game. Despite the Wildcats’ past tournament failures, Villanova has a talented roster headlined by senior Ryan Arcidiacono and will look to return to the Final Four under Jay Wright for the first time since 2009. The third-seeded Hurricanes have an incredibly experienced roster with redshirt senior guards Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan heading the Miami backcourt. Throw in either No. 4 California—full of young, NBA-level talent in guard Jaylen Brown and big man Ivan Rabb—and No. 5 Maryland—which includes a potent backcourt duo of Melo Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon—and there will be a fair share of challengers to Kansas in this region.

The potential Cinderella: Wichita State. The Shockers have been the most dominant mid-major under head coach Gregg Marshall, making a Final Four run as recently as 2013. Wichita State has a roster full of experience with redshirt seniors Ron Baker, Anton Grady and Evan Wessel as well as senior Fred VanVleet leading the way. The Shockers have not performed up to expectations this season, winning just a single game against a ranked opponent in nonconference play against then-No. 25 Utah. But, Wichita State’s pressing defense has the potential to give opponents major challenges with the short two-day turnaround between games and the way in which they disrupt offenses with a limited shot clock could allow them to make yet another deep run into March.

The regional narrative: Standout coaches. Although the South region features a dominant No. 1 seed in the Jayhawks, a number of teams have the talent and presence on the sidelines to reach Houston. Five head coaches—Self, Wright, Marshall, Miami's Jim Larranaga and Connecticut's Kevin Ollie—have taken their team to the Final Four. Not to mention, Arizona's Sean Miller has lead his team to two consecutive Elite Eights and California's Cuonzo Martin and Maryland's Mark Turgeon have reached the Sweet 16 in their coaching careers. Kansas is experienced and will be hard to beat, but if another team can get on a roll, they may have a leader capable of developing a gameplan to defeat the Jayhawks. 

First-round matchups:
Thursday

• No. 8 Colorado vs. No. 9 Connecticut, 1:30 p.m.
• No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Austin Peay, 4:00 p.m.
• No. 3 Miami vs. No. 14 Buffalo, 6:50 p.m.
• No. 6 Arizona vs. No. 11 Wichita State/Vanderbilt, 9:20 p.m.

Friday

• No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 North Carolina-Asheville, 12:40 p.m.
• No. 4 California vs. No. 13 Hawaii, 2:00 p.m.
• No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Temple, 3:10 p.m.
• No. 5 Maryland vs. No. 12 South Dakota State, 4:30 p.m.