The South Region

Don't tell me there's not somebody in the NCAA looking out for the Duke Blue Devils.

They feasted on a mediocre ACC this season and somehow got a 1 seed over West Virginia who won the Big East. Add that to the fact that 2 seed Villanova hasn't looked like themselves in a couple of weeks now and 4th seed Purdue struggled to break the 40 point barrier in their last game and you have the makings of a nice and easy Sunday stroll to Indianapolis for the most polarizing college basketball program in the country.

Now that we've established that the Blue Devils get preferential treatment, let's take a look at who's going to have Dick Vitale throwing his bracket in that Blue Devil-painted trash can of his.

Louisville definitely has the necessary tools to knock off the Blue Devils in the second round. It's just a matter of whether or not they can hit their 3's and Edgar Sosa can avoid making the crucial mistake we all know he has the potential to.

Let's say the Blue Devils survive the Cardinals and get to the regional in Houston.

They should find the physical and seemingly forgotten Aggies of Texas A&M waiting for them in what should amount to a glorified home game for the Aggies inside Reliant Stadium.

(Houston is a short drive from College Station for those of you not familiar with that part of the state of Texas.)

The Aggies, just like Louisville have what's needed to knock off Duke. Donald Sloan can get into the lane when he wants and the crafty Brian Davis will certainly give the lead-footed Brian Zoubek all he can handle in the paint. If the officials let the players decide the game, don't be surprised if the Aggies pull it off. If the zebras come out a little trigger happy or as Bill Raftery says calling those cheap nickel-dimers, you'll hear more than those famous war hymns coming from the Aggie faithful in the stands.

Here's where things are going to get interesting.

Other than Villanova, who seems to forgotten who they are over the past couple of weeks, the team that has what it takes to beat Duke is Baylor.

That's right, I said it!

The school that's basically been an afterthought in basketball for sometime now and was the center of an ugly murder cover-up a few years ago is suddenly an emerging player in the Big 12 under the guidance of the enthusiastic Scott Drew.

Tweety Carter and LaceDarrius Dunn are one of the most active guard combos in the land and Michigan-transfer Ekpe Udoh is probably a lottery pick in the upcoming draft if he decides he's ready to start being fairly compensated for his exploits on the court. Throw in the human pogo stick that is sophomore Quincy Acy and the Bears have all the makings of a team that can make a run to Indianapolis.

The Winner: Baylor. Their bigs will be the key to them winning a track meet with Villanova. (Scottie Reynolds has only so many miracles in him, right?) Their overall athleticism will give the Blue Devils fits and a crowd that's sure to be rooting for them will help them find a way to beat Coach K's crew in a very entertaining game.

Baylor is the most famous Baptist school in the country so it's not exactly what you would consider party central. Things will never be the same down on the Brazos or at famous watering hole George's though after Scott Drew and the Bears pull off the tournament's most shocking upset and cut down the nets in Houston.