2011 March Madness Bracket — Southwest Might Be Longhorn Country

When filling out the 2011 March Madness bracket, will the Selection Committee decide that the Southwest is Longhorn country? That’s the way it could look when all is said and done. Texas is #2 in the latest coaches’ poll, and could be set up for an eventual trip to San Antonio, where it could salt away a trip to the Final Four in front of a lot of its own fans at the Alamodome.

Right now Kansas is the #1 team in the country in both polls, and Ohio State is right behind it in the Associated Press poll, but Texas checks in at #2 in the coaches’ poll, with 13 first-place votes.

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If things pretty much stay that way, we could be looking at both of these teams lining up to be #1 seeds in different regions when the 2011 March Madness bracket is announced.

Here’s the dicey part – Kansas and Texas aren’t scheduled to meet again in the regular season (Texas won the first time, of course), but they could collide with each other in the Big 12 online betting Tournament, at which point one may be a #1 seed and the other may not be. And if they don’t meet in that conference tournament final, it means one of them has lost. Proceed accordingly.

The Big East, which is BAY FAR the best conference in college basketball, should be well represented in this 2011 March Madness Bracket. We project Notre Dame, which is #7 in the coaches’ poll, along with Louisville and St. John’s in the top half of this bracket. You have to look at the strength of some of the Red Storm’s wins, which included double-digit triumphs over Duke, Notre Dame and UConn, as well as a road win at West Virginia. They’ll get the benefit of the doubt from the Committee.

Also, don’t underestimate UNLV, which had some problems earlier in the season, but are playing better now and will also be the host of the Mountain West tournament, where they have often done well.

Here is what the top eight seeds in this region of the 2011 March Madness bracket could look like:

(1) Texas

(2) Notre Dame

(3) Purdue

(4) Louisville

(5) Saint Mary’s

(6) UNLV

(7) St. John’s

(8) Utah State

There are some smaller conferences in (or at least around) the Southwest that will be sending automatic qualifiers to the Big Dance. Here they are and who we would project as a champion:

Southland — Stephen F. Austin or McNeese State

SWAC — Texas Southern

WAC — Utah State

There are other conferences that don’t fit into any region too neatly:

Horizon League — Butler, Cleveland State or Valparaiso

Missouri Valley — Wichita State, Missouri State or Northern Iowa

Summit League — Oakland

Quick notes to remember when projecting your 2011 March Madness bracket in this region. If Butler wins the Horizon League and goes here, they may have enough respect from last year’s performance to get itself a top eight seed. Utah State certainly will be if they win all the way out in the WAC.

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