The West Region of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

Round 2 of March Madness pits 16 teams against each other in the West Region.

March Madness is upon us. Many have already filled out their brackets and started their office pools which were well known in US gambling news. Since the 8 bottom teams have been reduced, we can now begin to look at the 64 teams that will face of in the first round. These teams have been divided by the ratings for each region. The four regions are Midwest, East, West and South.

• March Madness overview
• West Region 2nd round
• March 19-March 20

The top teams of course will play the weaker teams. The regions don’t represent the geographical location of the teams. Teams are purposefully placed outside of their region as not to give any one team a home court advantage. Of course in the next two rounds you may have teams that are playing within 100 miles of their home town. Now let’s look at the games that will occur in the West Region competition in Omaha, Nebraska; Jacksonville, Florida and Portland, Oregon March 19-20.

First up we have University of Wisconsin vs. Coastal Carolina. The Wisconsin Badgers are a number 1 seed position and hold an awesome record of 31-3 in their division. Their offense is considered the most efficient in the country and last year they made it to the final four. Coastal Carolina is 16th seed with a record of 24-9. They’re not a big team, but managed to make it to the tournament for a second year straight. I don’t recommend betting on this one according to US gambling laws.

University of Oregon and Oklahoma State University might be entertaining. The Ducks of Oregon State are an 8th seed with a 25-9 record. Their hot player, Joseph Young is Pac-12 Player of the Year. The Oklahoma State Cowboys are a 9th seed with a 18-13 record. The Cowboys lost their last 6 of their last 7 games. They are a good team in a slump and led their conference in free throw percentages and offensive rebounding.

Jacksonville will host 8 teams

The University of Arkansas and Wofford University will square off. The Razorbacks have a 26-8 record and a SEC player of the year Bobby Portis. They’ve won 10 of their last 13 games. The Wofford Terriers, with a record of 28-6, got their bid by winning the Southern Division Tournament. They have been to the show four times in the past six seasons. They also lead the conference in field goal percentages, scoring defense and scoring margin. 

University of North Carolina and Harvard University will meet. The North Carolina Tarheals are normally potent. They have a record of 24-11. Having, Marcus Paige, one of the best guards in the nation, they can just explode at a moment’s notice. Harvard University is a 13th seed with a 22-7 record. They nearly lost their chance losing to Yale, but overtook them in a later confrontation to get their bid. This may be a good one to wager on for all those involved in mobile sports betting out there..

Xavier University and University of Mississippi will meet up. The Xavier Musketeers have a 21-13 record, but made it to the final four last year where they lost to North Carolina. Normally a dangerous team, but with bad losses to Texas El-Paso and Long Beach, they are unpredictable. The Mississippi Rebels, appeared in the tournament last in 2013, are returning to the tournament with a record of 20-12. Unfortunately for them, they lost four of their last five games.

Baylor University and Georgia State may be a bit of a lopsided matchup. The Baylor Bears are a 3rd seed with a decent 24-9 record. They’ve led every regular season game by at least 6 points. This was only done by Kentucky who many expect to win this year. They’ve also held every non-league opponent to 66 points or less. The Georgia State Panthers won their Sun Belt division to get their bid. But at 24-9, they won 9 in 10 games. Along with having their first bid in 14 years, the panthers may be hungry.

Portland will host Virginia Commonwealth, Ohio State, Arizona and Texas SO

Virginia Commonwealth and Ohio State should be interesting. The 7th seeded VCU Rams had a 26-9 season, are without their big man Briante Weber. Having lost 3 of their last 4 season games, don’t expect much. They will have to face a good Ohio State team who have a 10th seed spot and a 23-10 record. The Buckeyes have 54% shot accuracy from the 2-point area which puts them at 12th best in the nation. Look out for D’Angelo Russells who seems to be able to do it all.

University of Arizona will face Texas SO will have their clash. The Arizona Wildcats are one of the strongest teams in the country with an impressive record of 31-3. They currently have 4 players that are expected to be in the NBA. They rank at the top of almost every important category. This may be a beatdown since Texas Southern is at a 15th seed. Their record of 22-12 is decent. Winning their bid outright it should be noted they made last year’s final four.