2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: Midwest Region Breakdown
- Tristan Beckmann
- Mar 14, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 17, 2023
The 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is upon us! For each region, I will be breaking down the most vulnerable high seed, a Cinderella team in the region, an upset alert, and a sleeper team in the region. I will also be spotlighting a high-major and mid-major player in the region. Each article will conclude with my picks that are totally 100% guaranteed to not be accurate! The third region I will be breaking down is the Midwest Region, in which the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be contested in Kansas City, Missouri. Without further ado, let’s get right into it!
Most Vulnerable High Seed:
#5 Miami (FL) Hurricanes (25-7, 15-5 ACC)
Miami is solely listed here because the status of veteran center Norchad Omier is relatively unknown as of now. If Omier can’t suit up for Jim Larranaga’s Hurricanes, they’ll be missing elite rim protection and a double-double machine. Without Omier, Miami’s outlook for this tournament becomes very murky, but they immediately assume Final Four contender status if he is healthy. It’s important to remember that these guys are the ACC regular season champions, but they wouldn’t have been there without Omier’s help. It is also important to remember that that championship came during an embarrassingly down year for the conference. They are a super-efficient offensive club, but they struggle to be efficient on the defensive end of the floor. That mixture almost never bodes well in the NCAA Tournament. An already inefficient defense without its leading shot blocker would spell a first round loss to Drake for me, despite the presence of Isaiah Wong, Nijel Pack, and Jordan Miller. It is time to wait and see with Omier and the Hurricanes.
High Major Player to Know:
Houston G Marcus Sasser
The best player on the best team is a cop-out answer, but there’s more meaning to Sasser’s status as our “high-major player to know”. Considering his recent groin injury suffered in the AAC Tournament, Sasser isn’t just someone to be known as a player, but for the sake of your brackets before they lock on Thursday as well. The 6’1 guard is the catalyst for Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars team, leading the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game. In addition to his scoring output, Sasser averages 3.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 2.8 rebounds per game. He also shoots 38.3 percent from three-point range on over seven attempts per night. Recently, he was named to the AP First Team All-America, becoming the program’s first selection since 1984. He was also named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year last week, validating his performance all year long for the Cougars. If he’s not healthy, Houston immediately sees their national championship contender status come into question. I would be surprised if Sasser plays against Northern Kentucky in the Round of 64, but Houston should not be tested in that game regardless. The situation becomes dire if the elite two-way guard has to miss any of the Cougars’ games beyond that.
Mid-Major Player to Know:
Drake G Tucker DeVries
Tucker DeVries is probably a name that most people have not heard of, but he is a name that you’ll need to remember when filling out your bracket for the office pool. Most college basketball fans know his name by now, but I think everybody will know it by the weekend. He’s a 6’7 sophomore wing who is the alpha dog of the Drake Bulldogs, if you will. The Waukee, Iowa native was a strong player as a freshman, but he made a huge jump in production this season. The son of head coach Darian DeVries, Tucker averaged 19 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game this year. The good thing about DeVries is that he is very efficient as an offensive player, and he can knock down tough shots when it really counts. The Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year shot 45.7 percent from the field this year alongside an impressive 38.7 percent clip from three point land. If DeVries can score at will like he usually does for Drake, they’ll be able to compete with the Miami Hurricanes in the opening round as well as whomever they play in the Round of 32.
Cinderella in the Region:
#12 Drake Bulldogs (27-7, 15-5 MVC)
I promise you that this is not a Drake Bulldogs article, I just really didn’t like any other team in this spot. The Drake Bulldogs should be one of the most popular first round upset picks in brackets across the world if Miami center Norchad Omier is unable to suit up. Darian DeVries’ team is solid in every area of the game, as they shoot 36.7 percent from three (45th in the country), 77.1 percent from the free-throw line (19th in the country), and limit their opponents to a 22.4% offensive-rebounding rate (3rd in the country). Don’t get it confused, as Drake doesn’t just go as Tucker DeVries goes. DeVries is nicely complimented by Roman Penn, a 6 '0 guard who averages 12.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. Alongside DeVries and Penn, Drake has two gritty seniors in marksman D.J. Wilkins (2 3PM per game on a 37.2% rate) and glue guy Garrett Sturtz, who averages 9.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Those seniors are an integral part of a Bulldogs roster with the 18th most minutes continuity in all of Division I, and that experience looks to pay off this March.
Upset Alert:
Originally I shook off the possibility of Kent State getting an upset win here over the Hoosiers, but on second/third thoughts, I definitely wouldn’t count the Golden Flashes out. They have a very balanced offensive attack that is led by two senior guards in Sincere Carry and Malique Jacobs. Carry averaged 17.6 points, 4.9 assists, and 1.7 steals while Jacobs averaged 13 points and 2.7 steals per game. Former Indiana assistant Rob Senderoff has this team clicking on all cylinders, as they’ve won six consecutive games heading into the big dance. The Golden Flashes played a tough schedule throughout the year that may have just prepared them for a game of this caliber, as they lost to Gonzaga, Charleston, and Houston on the road by a combined 14 points. They’ll have to continue to hit shots and play clean in a fast-paced game with a strong Indiana Hoosiers bunch, but an upset here is not out of the realm of possibility. If Indiana struggles to hit shots from beyond the arc and Trayce Jackson-Davis doesn’t play his best game, their fate might be sealed. Can Jalen Hood-Schifino step up and have a big March as TJD’s sidekick?
Sleeper in the Region:
#10 Penn State Nittany Lions (22-13, 10-10 Big Ten)
Micah Shrewsberry has done an incredible job this season helping Penn State return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. Jalen Pickett is the superstar for the Nittany Lions, averaging 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.7 assists on a nightly basis. The AP Second Team All-American is complemented by Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk, two seniors who both shoot the cover off the basketball. Lundy shoots 40.6 percent from three on 6.4 attempts per game, while Funk connects at a 40.5 percent clip on 7.2 attempts per game. Those two are a big reason why Penn State ranks ninth in the country with a 38.5% three-point percentage, making sense of why nearly 48 percent of their shots are from beyond the arc. The Nittany Lions own the seventh-best turnover rate in the nation as well, turning it over on just 13.7 percent of their offensive possessions. With this said, there are red flags, as Shrewsberry’s team ranks in the bottom three in America in offensive rebounding rate, free-throw rate, and opponent turnover percentage. With how they performed last week in Chicago at the Big Ten Tournament, Penn State could be dangerous if they find a way to mask these weaknesses in the big dance.
My Picks:
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to share thoughts and opinions in the comment section!
All statistics used in this article are courtesy of KenPom, College Basketball Reference, and Wikipedia.
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