2010 NCAA Bracket Advice: South

Key to the region...
Whether or not perimeter play rules the day. Duke and Villanova are the class of this region and they meet in the Elite Eight if their shots are falling. Both teams primarily score from the outside and lack a consistent post game presence. Size is something that has bothered them, especially when athletic opponents can pound them in the paint, which Baylor, Notre Dame and Louisville among others can do.

First round upsets:
Siena (13) over Purdue (4)...This goes beyond picking against the Robbie Hummel-less Boilermakers, who were trounced in the Big 10 semis. Siena has wins in the past two tournaments and return most of the key players from those teams, including junior forward Ryan Rossiter (13.9 pts, 11.1 reb), who has 19 double-doubles on the season. And yes, Purdue is not the same without their star forward and get a tourney tested squad like Siena in round one is yet another bad break.

Others:
Louisville (9) over California. The Cardinals are the Jekyll and Hyde team in the field, but the Bears were lucky to be selected, let alone seeded eighth...11th seed Old Dominion is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country and will not be intimidated by playing a Big East foe, having defeated Georgetown on the road earlier this season. Still, can't quite pull the trigger as Notre Dame is playing at a very high level and Luke Harangody is rounding back into form.

Best player you've never heard of:
The complex offensive sets of the Richmond Spiders run through guard Kevin Anderson, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. Whether he is raining jumpers or using his speed to slash to the hole, Anderson can score in a variety of ways, just like he when he dropped 31 at Wake Forest and 29 in a win over Temple earlier this season. The 6-0 junior has flown under the radar much of his career, but that likely will change in this tourney, especially if he goes up against Villanova's Scottie Reynolds in a potential second-round matchup that will have viewers glued to their TV.

Others:
Tim Abromaitis (Notre Dame), Omar Samham (St. Mary's), Alex Franklin (Siena)

Sweet 16 matchups:
Duke over Siena, Baylor over Richmond...The Saints offense knocks out Purdue and Texas A&M, but they run out of ammo against a Duke team that is third in the country in scoring margin...Every bone in my body wants to pick Villanova not just to reach this round, but come out of the region. Getting out of the Big East will do wonders, but losing five out of seven heading into the tournament is not exactly a confidence builder. The Spiders have Big East caliber players and take down the Cats, but the size of the Bears, especially shot-blocker Ekpe Udoh, keeps them from moving on...

And going to the Final Four...
Baylor. No team got more of a seeding break than Duke, who despite being arguably the weakest of the four number one seeds, has arguably the easiest road to Indianapolis. Of course, that is not to say the Blue Devils place on that top line is not without merit, especially after winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles. Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith form a devastating scoring trio, but while they have received more help on the boards than in recent years, they get next to no points from their bigs. Hard to see how the Dukies match up with the Bears huge and athletic front wall while LaceDarius Dunn will drill three after three. The theme this year is ACC overrated, Big 12 deep and those theories clash here...82-78, Tweety Carter named Most Outstanding Player.