There are fewer colleges in the western part of the United States, which means there are fewer college basketball teams, fewer good college basketball teams, and an easier road to the Final Four if you're one of the programs situated in the region's bracket. This year could have at least been different at the top until Arizona's Brandon Ashley fell to a season-ending injury. Instead, they're one-seed status is a step down from Florida's and about the same as Wichita State and Virginia.
Number two, Wisconsin, is where the region really struggles. Obviously, the selection committee fell in love with the Badgers' non-conference wins over St. John's, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Marquette, and Saint Louis despite their 12-6 conference record, uninspiring offense, and history of tournament failures. They're a step down from fellow two-seeders Villanova, Michigan, and even Kansas, weakened by the loss of Joel Embiid but still more talented.
At number three is Creighton, a dependable team that will need to stay hot from three in order to make a deep run, but is probably a safe bet for the Sweet Sixteen on the play of Doug McDermott (26.5 ppg) alone. They can compete with number threes Duke, Iowa State, and Syracuse, but would probably be underdogs to all three on a neutral court.
Rounding out the top four in the west is San Diego State, who couldn't win their mid-major conference and lost one less game yet still earned the same seed as Louisville.
Taking advantage of a beatable top four could be Oklahoma or Baylor (and maybe even Oklahoma State). The former has a balanced, versatile offense while the latter is hot and one of the most talented teams in the country. Doug Gottlieb also mentioned Oregon today, but I'm not convinced.
