On to the south, what I'd say is the toughest bracket of them all.
South Regional
My sweet 16 teams in the south are Memphis, Michigan State, Stanford, and Texas. However, I think this one is wide open, as I could see any two of the top 6 seeds making the Elite 8.- Memphis looks to be a pretty solid pick. Mississippi State could give them trouble though. They've got a solid defense that will probably shut down Oregon, but I don't think they're athletic enough to hang with Memphis for a full 40 minutes.
- I'm picking Michigan State mostly on personal bias over Pitt, and I'm not really sure who I think will win. The first round game for MSU will be closer than it should be most likely, but I think the Spartans will pull through. Pitt should easily handle Oral Roberts, setting up what I see as one of the best matchups of the entire tournament between MSU and Pitt. The Panthers are rolling now that Levance Fields is back, and they're coming off a Big East tournament championship win over GTown. The Spartans got Drew Neitzel back, so to speak, as he's played extremely well lately. If he stays hot MSU should handle Pitt. However, both teams play physical defense and sometimes MSU has trouble scoring. The Spartans are used to great defense in the Big Ten though, so we'll see how it all pans out. Like I said, could be one of the best games of the Tourny.
- I'm not entirely comfortable picking Stanford either, but IMO the Lopez brothers will prove too dominant in that group of 4. Cornell in the first, a battle of two elite academic schools, could be interesting, but probably not. Kentucky has been good lately, and I wouldn't be surprised if they beat Marquette. However, without Patterson I don't know if they'll have enough inside presence. Definitely not enough if they make it to play Stanford, which is why I'm picking the Cardinal to win the group. Marquette doesn't have a dominant inside game either, so I think they'll beat Kentucky but lose to Stanford. I see some similarity between parts of Marquette's game and UCLA's, minus the Kevin Love part. Stanford had trouble with UCLA all year long, but the Bruins are one of the top 4 teams in the nation so that's to be expected. I wouldn't be overly surprised though if the Golden Eagles made it out over Stanford. So the bottom line? I have no idea who wins this group, but I like Stanford because of Brook Lopez. For the sake of decisiveness, I'll call Stanford to win it over Marquette.
- Texas, on the other end of the bracket, also has a pretty easy road. I like St Mary's over Miami as my upset for the South. I haven't been impressed with Miami, and St Mary's was ranked for part of the season, a rarity in the WCC for teams other than Gonzaga. Texas has two of the most clutch players in the country in AJ Abrams and DJ Augustin, and I don't think the experience on that team will fall to an upset early on.
Memphis v Michigan State and Stanford v Texas. I would take any of these 4 teams to the Final Four this year, but unfortunately only one will get that honor. In a single elimination tournament it's all about getting hot and staying hot, so the inconsistancy of Michigan State could be a problem. However, I think Izzo can pull the team together and put up a nice run. Because I'm biased toward my Spartans, I'll go ahead and pick Texas to win the South, but I like State's odds. They like to play a faster game than the Big Ten has allowed, and Memphis would definitely play that style of game. Turnovers would be a concern, but I think they physical defensive play of the Spartans will be the deciding factor. Memphis doesn't shoot free throws well, and State fouls a lot if they game is called tightly, so I like that trade off. Texas could have some trouble dealing with Stanford's size, but I think their guard play will dominate anyway. If Marquette makes it instead, I like Texas' odds even more. This would set up a rematch of Texas v MSU. The Spartans won round one at a "neutral" site, which was basically a home game at the Palace. Same story in the Elite 8 except in Texas. The Longhorns will probably win that game, but I like MSU's chances. They won once and I think they could do it again. This may just be wishful thinking though, so I'll pick Texas for the Final Four.
Now I'll qualify all of that. If Pitt beat my Spartans, I like the Panthers to beat Memphis and possible beat Texas. Pitt and MSU are similar teams, so it's no surprise that either could make a Final Four run. Pitt's hot right now, but long conference tournament runs aren't always kind to teams. Syracuse comes to mind. However, Pitt's a better team by far so I don't think that'll play much of a role. Long story short, I like the winner of the Pitt/MSU game to the Elite 8, and probably the Final 4 if Texas isn't at the top of their game. The Spartans are a wild card this year. If they finally pull it together and play as well as they're capable of (refer back to the Indiana game if you're not sure what that looks like) they could surprise a lot of people and make a deep run. They have the talent, it's just time to put it all together. Never count out the Izzo factor to make that happen.