Yahoo Sports NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region bracket breakdown
Yahoo Sports college basketball writer Nick Bromberg gives his first-look breakdown of the Midwest Region of the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket.
Video Transcript
NICK BROMBERG: Houston was a somewhat surprising choice to be the number-one seed in the Midwest region on Sunday and could have to take down a former Southwest Conference rival to make the Final Four. The Cougars are the number-two overall seed in the men's tournament despite losing the AAC title game to Memphis on Sunday.
Houston got the top spot in the Midwest over Kansas thanks to just three losses all season long. And the selection committee made a point to say that Houston was competitive in all three of those games and Marcus Sasser missed Sunday's contest.
Big 12 champions Texas are the number-two seed in the region on the opposite side of the bracket and could take on Texas A&M in the second round if the Aggies beat Penn State. The number-seven Aggies finished second in the SEC and could be the most under-seeded team in the entire tournament after missing the tournament a season ago. If A&M and UT face off, that could be a spicy weekend match-up that will happen more frequently in the future in the SEC.
Xavier grabbed the number-three spot in the region and could be a sleeper candidate to make the Final Four for many bracket pool entries. If you're looking for an upset, Drake is tempting as the number-12 seed against number-5 Miami in the first round. The Hurricanes lost forward Norchad Omier to an ankle injury just seconds into the ACC title game on Saturday.
The Midwest also features two Big 12 teams among its top six seeds, as Iowa State is the number-6 seed. If the Cyclones can get to the Sweet 16 for a second consecutive season, they will have a significant home-court advantage in Kansas City.
And since the brackets are out, they are here and you need to make sure to get in on the action with Yahoo Sports Fantasy Tourney Pick'em for both the men and the women's tournament this year. You could win $25,000 in our best bracket contest. It's free to play, so head to tourney.yahoo.com to enter.
