NCAA Tournament - South Region bracket breakdown
Yahoo Sports college basketball reporter Krysten Peek gives her first-look breakdown of the South Region of the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket.
Video transcript
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- The NCAA tournament is here. And it's the Alabama Crimson Tide that got the overall number one seed for the first time in school history and will have a little bit of home court advantage in the first couple of rounds. After winning the Pac 12 tournament, Arizona is the number two seed and have plenty of work to do if they want to see Alabama at the Elite Eight. Let's take a look at a couple of favorites and potential upsets in the South Region.
Alabama has to be the favorite to emerge out of this region after winning the SEC championship and having one of the best players in college basketball in freshman Brandon Miller. The Crimson Tide are playing their best basketball of the season with the rim protection of Charles Bediako and Noah Clowney. And when they get hot from the perimeter, they are unstoppable.
Number nine Missouri is a team to keep an eye on after finishing in the top 25 to close out the season. And they'll potentially have a tough second round match-up against Arizona if they can get past number 10 Utah State. First year head coach Dennis Gates and his team play a fast-paced offense and have a great leader in senior Kobe Brown who's averaging 16 points and three assists heading into the tourney.
And finally, a potential first round upset to watch is number 13 Furman against number four Virginia. Virginia lost to Duke in the ACC Championship game and are without forward Ben Vander Plaats after he suffered a broken hand leading into the postseason Furman won the Southern Conference and is led by seniors Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson. Experience and great shooting propel teams in the tourney, and Furman has both.
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