2024 NCAA Tournament: West Region Round of 64

Dude…

The West Region has North Carolina as the number one seed. North Carolina squeaked in as a one seed. Will they come out of this region and punch their ticket to the Final Four in Phoenix? The Dudes have the latest West Region predictions!!!

#1 North Carolina vs. #16 Wagner- North Carolina may have some issues down the road, but Wagner shouldn’t be one of them. RJ Davis and Armando Bacot are a dominant duo who should handle Wagner pretty easily. Good on Wagner for making it into the actual bracket, but I think this will be the only dancing they will be doing. 

#8 Mississippi State vs. #9 Michigan State- This should be an insane matchup. Both of these schools are incredible teams that just fell a little flat this year. Mississippi State played decently in the SEC, getting a huge win over Tennessee in the SEC tournament before getting bounced by Auburn. Mississippi State has been an up and down team, who is looking to make their mark in the tournament. Michigan State was supposed to be a top 5 team this year under Tom Izzo. With a bunch of veteran talent, it looked like the Spartans were going to be a threat this year. They had a really rocky season in the Big 10 but managed to scrap into the tournament. This matchup should be very interesting but it’s hard to bet against Izzo in the tourney. Give me the Spartans.

#5 St. Mary’s vs. #12 Grand Canyon- I smell an upset in the air. Sure, St. Mary’s won the WCC tournament, but their slow paced play is going to be a problem for the Gaels. Grand Canyon can hoop. Grant-Foster, who used to play at KU, led GCU to a conference title. This Grand Canyon team is a threat. And I believe they will prove it to us all against St. Mary’s. Bring the Cinderella shoes out, it's GCU’s time!!

#4 Alabama vs. #13 Charleston- Alabama is one of the best offenses in the entire country. Nate Oats has his team back in the tournament and is a real threat to go deep. Nelson is a phenomenal big who is a three level scorer. They face Charleston who won the Colonial Athletic Conference. Alabama should handle them easily, but watch out for a major upset coming in the next round.

#6 Clemson vs. #11 New Mexico- New Mexico being an 11 seed is barbaric. This means the only way they made the tournament by winning the Mountain West. I believe their resume would have been strong enough to make it in. However, the Mountain West was disrespected by the committee. So, Jaelen House and JT Toppin are trying to will the Lobos to the next round. They face PJ Hall, Joseph Girard III, and the rest of the Clemson Tigers. Clemson started off extremely hot, being one of the last teams undefeated early on in the season. They’ve slipped a lot in the second half of the season, as they look to try and redeem themselves after an early exit in the ACC Tournament. I believe the Lobos will establish themselves as a true dark horse to make a final four in this bracket.

#3 Baylor vs. #14 Colgate- Baylor has been a great shooting team all season, Ja’Kobe Walter, Missi, and RayJ Dennis are ready to shoot the Bears to a deep run as well. Scott Drew will have this offense firing on all cylinders. They face off against the Patriot League Champions in Colgate. This offense is also very good and can make this into a run and gun style of basketball. That plays really well into Scott Drew’s hands. I believe RayJ will go off and lead the Baylor Bears to the next round. 

#7 Dayton vs. #10 Nevada- Another instance where a Mountain West team was underrated and another team was over rated. The Dayton Flyers have been in the rankings for the majority of the year. They were the #3 seed in the Atlantic 10 but got bounced by Duquesne in the first round. Dayton looks to take out Nevada in the first round. The 2nd rank out of the Mountain West lost in the quarterfinal. Nevada has been good all year, and I believe they will continue to be a threat this tournament as they bounce Dayton back to Ohio and move onto the second round.

#2 Arizona vs. #15 Long Beach State- Let me get it out of the way and tell you that I’m picking Arizona. Caleb Love is going to help Tommy Lloyd’s team move onto the next round. The story of Long Beach State is great. The head coach, Dan Monson, was fired from being head coach, but was allowed to continue to coach the rest of the season. That turned into a huge Big West Tournament Championship. Even with the awesome story, Arizona should handle Long Beach State with ease.