Tony Bennett might be getting sick of seeing Tom Izzo.
The seventh-year Virginia coach volunteered under his father at Wisconsin when it made a Final Four run in 2000. On the other side of the RCA Dome in Indianapolis was Izzo, who guided Michigan State past the Badgers en route to his first national title. Two coaching stops later, Bennett is still being pestered.
Izzo has eliminated the Cavaliers from the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years, doing so in the round of 32 last spring and in the Sweet 16 the year before. Each time, Michigan State was the lower seed.
Bracket:
That holds true again this season. Virginia (26-7) is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, while the Spartans (29-5) dropped down to the No. 2 in what might have been the most notable snub of Selection Sunday. If both teams win their first three games, Bennett and Izzo will meet again at Chicago’s United Center on March 27. The former is trying to make it past the Sweet 16 for the first time in his career; the latter is shooting for his second straight national semifinal.
A year ago, Izzo guided Michigan State to the Final Four as a No. 7 seed. This time around, he has what could be his most impressive team yet, one led by senior Denzel Valentine. Arguably the best player in the country, the 6-foot-5 wing is the first to average at least 19-7-7 since the 1983-84 season, when the NCAA started tracking assists.
Midwest Regional
Favorite: Michigan State
Tom Izzo is one of the great postseason coaches in college basketball. The selection committee somehow overlooked the Spartans for a No. 1 seed, but no one should be surprised if Izzo, 61, makes his sixth trip to the Final Four.
Sleeper: Seton Hall
The sixth-seeded Pirates have won 12 of their past 14 games, clinching their first Big East Tournament title since 1993. Sophomore point guard Isaiah Whitehead is streaky, but at his best he is one of the most exciting players in the country.
Upset alert
Little Rock over Purdue. With first-year coach Chris Beard, the Trojans enter the NCAA Tournament for just the fifth time in school history. Three players shoot at least 39 percent behind the 3-point line — including 5-foot-11 Marcus Johnson Jr., who takes 4.3 attempts per game.
Bracket breakdown
Michigan State and Virginia are legitimate national title contenders, but this regional is filled with recent upstarts and diminished powerhouses. Syracuse was ineligible for the postseason a year ago because of NCAA violations and barely sneaked in this season. Gonzaga is a double-digit seed for just the third time since 2001. Utah is only four years removed from a six-win season. Curiously, this regional contains more than a few nickname duplications: the Butler, Gonzaga and Fresno State Bulldogs; the Seton Hall and Hampton Pirates; the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
