Three Point Range

Starting off my region by region previews is the Midwest. Headlined by Illinois, it's got a ton of great teams, and especially some great players. It also has my Syracuse Orange, so it's the region I've spent the most time looking at, trying to figure out the route for the Orange to make a Final Four run. I'll have the South preview up tomorrow sometime from 1-2, and then the West and East will go up on Friday, after we get the results from the First Four. If you want to be the first to know when you can see them, follow me on Twitter @ThreePointRange where I'll be talking about the tournament as it happens, as well as posting whatever blog updates come along. Without further ado, let's dig into some hoops.  1. Illinois vs 16. Drexel Line: Illinois -23, o/u 144 Preview:  I mean look, Illinois is going to win this game. They're going to win it handily. Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn alone are enough to beat Drexel. Add in all the other studs the Fighting Illin...

The Big 12 is always one of the best leagues in college basketball. With just ten teams, it usually has top to bottom quality that leads to any team being capable of beating any other on any given night. Last season, Kansas was dethroned at the top of the league, not winning a share of the title for the first time in 14 years, and Texas Tech made a run to the finals of the NCAA Tournament. Both teams will look very different this year, and there are a few other teams sneaking up into contention, so it should once again be a very fun year in the conference. The Contenders 1. Kansas Starting 5: Devon Dotson, Isaiah Moss, Ochai Agbaji, Silvio De Sousa, Udoka Azubuike Why They'll Be Good: The Jayhawks were a very young team last year, and they have almost their entire core returning. One man who was not on the court very much last year was senior center Udoka Azubuike, who battled injuries for much of the year. When he's on the court, Kansas is a different team. He...