SPORTS

Bracket Picks: 9-step guide to the South Region

Jeff Greer
Louisville Courier Journal

The field for the 2016 NCAA Tournament is out, even if none of us ever thought we'd see the bracket during the two-hour megabonanza thing CBS tried to pull off Sunday night.

(At least teach Charles Barkley how to use the picks board before he goes on the air. Please?)

In an effort to help you pick your bracket, these nine-step guides for each region in the tournament are designed to give you some information that'll hopefully serve as some background for your predictions.

Other regional guides: East | West | Midwest

As the headline says, this guide is for the South Region, so let's break it down. The four regional semifinalists will play in the Sweet 16 in Louisville.

1. Team to beat: Kansas. The Jayhawks are the overall No. 1 seed in the field, and they earned it, winning the regular-season and tournament titles in the toughest conference in the country. They haven't lost since Jan. 25, and they have won 14 consecutive games. Perry Ellis has been fantastic this season, and there is plenty of talent on Bill Self's roster to win a national championship.

Join the C-J Bracket Contest

2. Contenders: Villanova, Miami, California, Maryland. The two teams that always seem to get high seeds and no one trusts - Villanova and Kansas - got paired up here, which leads me to believe this might be a fun region to follow. Miami is a very solid team on both ends of the floor, but the Hurricanes haven't proven they can consistently win big games away from home. Then Cal and Maryland are two teams with tons of NBA talent, but they have both had their issues this season.

3. Dark horse: Iowa. The Hawkeyes were 20-5 and a top-five team, then they plummeted faster than Ben Carson in the Republican primary. They lost four consecutive games, beat Michigan and then lost to Illinois in the Big Ten tournament. But there is a top-five team in there somewhere, and Fran McCaffery's a good enough coach to help the Hawkeyes find themselves. They have a great draw to do that and make a run.

4. Cinderella: Wichita State. Do the Shockers count as a true Cinderella anymore? I'll let you decide that. But Wichita State, given an 11 seed and slotted in a play-in game, has Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker and a great coach in Gregg Marshall. Wichita State barely got into the tournament, but there always seems to be a team like that that ends up doing well, and I'm comfortable betting on the team with the nation's most efficient defense, two very good veterans and a great coach.

5. The upset to pick: Iowa over Villanova. Second round in Brooklyn, and my dark horse pick has to put up or shut up. Villanova has been consistent all season, The Wildcats are balanced, and they have a tough, experienced roster. I'm a big fan of Josh Hart. But I do like Iowa in this potential matchup. The Hawkeyes shoot the 3 and they take care of the ball, and if Villanova falls in love with its 3s - and they don't fall - it's trouble all over again.

6. Best first-round matchup: Wichita State vs. Vanderbilt. I picked Wichita State as a team that can make some noise, so I think the Shockers win this one, but it should be fun. These are two teams that everyone thought would be a lot better this season, and injuries and other issues popped up. At their best, though, they could both cause problems for Arizona. Heckuva of a play-in meeting in Dayton.

7. Best potential matchup: Cal vs. Maryland. So many pros. Just hope neither team messes it up and loses in the first round. Feels like anything is possible with these two.

8. Best player: Perry Ellis, Kansas. Cue all the old guy jokes. But seriously, Ellis averages 16.7 points and 5.9 rebounds for the top-rated team in the country, and he shot 52.3 percent from the field. Lotta talent in this region, too. Melo Trimble (Maryland), Jaylen Brown (Cal), Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa) and others are all very good players, too.

9. Best coach: Bill Self, Kansas. A model for consistency, Self's Kansas has put together another really solid season. The Jayhawks went 15-3 in, again, the toughest league in the country. It'd be a major disappointment if this team didn't reach the Final Four.

More CJ NCAA coverage

TV times for Thursday's NCAA Tourney games

Calipari: He and Pitino sometimes 'throw elbows'

Cats turn to video game again for team bonding

IU's Johnson 'probable' for NCAA Tournament

Mar 12, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self and tournament most valuable player guard Devonte' Graham (4) are interviewed after the  championship game of the Big 12 Conference tournament against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Sprint Center. Kansas Won 81-71. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports