NCAA Tournament: Which region is toughest?
In this year's NCAA Tournament, Ohio State was rewarded with the number one overall seed.
Or were they?
"Rewarded" may be an overstatement considering the stockpile of talent in the East bracket. Indeed the Buckeyes must survive a region that includes three other powerhouses - North Carolina, Syracuse and Kentucky - if they want to cut down the nets in Newark.
Does Ohio State have the toughest road to the Final Four?
Maybe not.The West region is no pushover either. As CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish notes, the ACC tournament champs (Duke), Mountain West tournament champs (San Diego State) and Big East tournament champs (Connecticut) are all here -- plus four other teams (Texas, Arizona, Tennessee and Missouri) that were ranked in the top 10 at various points this season.
Hmmm. Well surely the Southwest bracket must be easier. Not so fast. Top-seed Kansas is joined by Notre Dame and Purdue, who both were in the mix for a No. 1 seed just 10 days ago. And don't forget Louisville, which nearly won the Big East tournament - in fact, CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd picked the Cardinals to make it to the championship game.
That leaves the Southeast bracket. Pittsburgh is the No. 1 seed and SEC champ Florida is No. 2. After that is a huge dropoff. Yes, No. 3 seed BYU boasts everyone's player of the year Jimmer Fredette but the Cougars are without star forward Brandon Davies, who was suspended for having premarital sex - a violation of the Mormon school's honor code. No. 6 seed St. John's had huge momentum heading into the postseason but senior D.J. Kennedy is out of the tourney with a torn ACL.
It seems that the Southeast may offer the least difficult path, which is fitting considering the region's finals will be played in New Orleans. No doubt the Pitt Panthers are hoping the Big Easy is just that.