March Madness is officially here and RotoBaller will be giving a full breakdown on each region, beginning with the South.

First, a couple of notes and tips. The Selection Committee did an awful job. I wasn't surprised that Syracuse got in over Monmouth--the committee continually favors teams from major conferences. How did Tulsa make it in while the well-deserving Bonnies were left out? No clue. The seeding is all messed up as well. Kentucky is a 4-seed and Michigan State, who won their conference tournament and looked incredible down the stretch is a 2-seed. Also, Big Ten regular season title winner Indiana is a 5-seed. The biggest advice I could give is cover the seeds when filling out your bracket.

If you look at seeds, you may find yourself with a 7-seed like Iowa in the Final Four. You will second guess yourself when realizing you have an 11-seed facing a 14-seed in the second round. Trust your gut and first instinct.

Editor's Note: If you are interested in more college basketball columns, you can also check out our CBB DFS lineups picks and daily league predictions.

 

March Madness Picks for the South Region

Top Four Seeds: #1 Kansas, #2 Villanova, #3 Miami, #4 California

Kansas enters the tournament winners of 14 straight, Big 12 regular season and tournament champions. They can score from the outside with electrifying point guard Frank Mason, and from the inside with Perry Ellis. They are incredibly balanced, but the last time they were the number one overall seed was in 2010 when they were upset in the second round by Northern Iowa.

Many people will have Villanova losing in the second round, but don't be one of them. They will prove everyone wrong this year reaching the Sweet 16, minimally.

I like this Miami team, but they have mostly struggled on the road this year. I wonder if a neutral court will hurt them. I had California as my sleeper team, but they face Hawaii, another one of my sleeper teams. Tough, tough matchup.

 

Most Intriguing Matchup: Colorado vs. Connecticut

Colorado was a sleeper team of mine and I love them here. People will overrate UConn because of their National Championship run two years ago, and how they get hot in March. They would not have made the tournament if not for a made desperation three-pointer at the buzzer. On Twitter yesterday there were so many people saying how UConn will beat Kansas in the second round, but they have to get past Colorado. If anything, I think Colorado can beat Kansas in the second round. Take Colorado here.

 

Bust of the Region: Maryland

Had them as my bust in my sleeper and bust column and will continue to abide by that. If they do beat South Dakota State (how are they a 12-seed?) I expect them to lose to either California or Hawaii.

 

First Four Matchup

Since expanding to 68-teams in 2011, one of the teams to play in the First Four have won a game in the first, second round, or beyond. VCU made the Final Four in 2011, South Florida in 2012, La Salle went to the Sweet 16 in 2013, Tennessee made the Sweet 16 in 2014, and last year Dayton won in the first round. For whatever reason this has happened every year since. Maybe because after winning a game a team feels hot or it's hard to scout a team with only a day's notice. The play-in game in this region is among 11-seeds Vanderbilt and Wichita State. The Shockers have the number one-rated defense, per Kenpom.com. The winner would face Arizona. Arizona hasn't looked right all year, and I think they can get upset in the first round.

 

Final Four Pick

I'll go with California. If Hawaii doesn't upset this very young team in the first round, then Cal would have momentum and could make a Final Four Run. As Charles Barkley said last night, California is one of the most talented teams in college basketball.

 

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