FanHouse Deshawn Sims

The NCAA tournament is just one day away, so FanHouse writers and editors got together to talk over each region. The Midwest Region got the ball rolling, followed by the East. Now, the South. What is intriguing about this region, and who do we like?

Matt Snyder: The one thing I like about the South Bracket is it's the one bracket with a bit of a mid-major flavor. Butler and Gonzaga should both have a shot at taking down Ty Lawson (right) and the mighty Tar Heels, and Western Kentucky has a solid chance at beating Illinois in the first round.

ESPN's Erin Andrews just reported on the air that Illinois point guard Chester Frazier suffered what is being called a bruised hand in practice Wednesday. She said it is "highly doubtful" that he will play at all this weekend, but the team hopes he can play next week in the Big Dance.

Andrews also mentioned that Frazier didn't want many details released, which makes be believe this is worse than being reported. How would a bruised hand not be cleared up in a week, and why would it be a secret?

On its surprising drive to the NCAA tournament, Michigan seemingly blew a tire Feb. 22 in Iowa City. That Sunday afternoon, playing against an undermanned and, quite frankly, under-skilled Iowa team, Michigan blew a lead late and lost in overtime as coach John Beilein benched star guard Manny Harris, offering only "I didn't think he was playing well" as an explanation.

It looked like a death blow to its NCAA hopes at the time, and the move was met with total disdain by Michigan's fans, but in the aftermath of the stunning benching, the team is playing some of its best ball of the season. The Wolverines are 3-1 since -- with wins over Purdue, at Minnesota and now a 73-45 thrashing of that same Iowa team in the Big Ten tournament's first round.

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Heading into Saturday, Michigan's NCAA Tournament resume looked pretty decent, save for two key spots: the Wolverines were under .500 in the Big Ten, and had no big road victories.

Consider both problems taken care of. Claiming what was arguably its most clutch win in more than a decade, Michigan stormed back from a 12-point deficit at Minnesota and stunned the Gophers 67-64. The two teams basically swap spots in the Big Dance picture -- Michigan now looks like a pretty safe bet to get in, while Minnesota finds itself right on the border.

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For one half, the Michigan Wolverines were all but trying on their dancing shoes. One half later, they were all but watching Wisconsin waltz into the NCAA tournament.

Michigan's DeShawn Sims-Manny Harris combo did all it could to build on the Wolverines' win over Purdue Thursday, but Wisconsin turned the Wolverines away with their trademark physical defense in the second half. The pressure went up, and the Wolverines' offense went down, managing just 21 points in the second half.

So, can Wisconsin sleepwalk into March Madness and are the Wolverines done, just days after they were all but called a shoo-in?

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Bill Raftery sounded the call early and often during Thursday night's ESPN broadcast: If Michigan could pull off a home upset of No. 16 Purdue, it would essentially secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines upheld their end of the bargain, jumping out to a 16-point second-half lead and posting an impressive 87-78 win over the Boilermakers.

So is Raftery right?

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The Penn State basketball team hasn't visited the NCAA tournament since 2001, when Joe Crispin and Titus Ivory led the Nittany Lions to the Sweet 16, after knocking off two-seed North Carolina in the second round. Since then, they haven't even been close to mounting a return.

This year, the Nittay Lions have their best team since 2001, yet their work is still cut out for them. Coming into this week, their RPI lingered in the mid-80s. The non-conference strength of schedule was not good at all, but Penn State appears to be making headway in conference play.

If you want a game recap, you can check one out. Here, we focus on more than that. The one thing I will say that is left out of the recap is the six missed free throws in overtime by the Hoosiers. Those all came before a few tack-on free throws by the Wolverines. Simply put, IU still should have won, if they could just hit their damn charity shots.

What is the fallout for each team?

Indiana

This game showed that the Hoosiers, no matter how hard they play, are simply not in the same league as the rest of the Big Ten this season in terms of talent. When you have a 20 point lead at home with only 18:46 left in the game, it should be in the bag.

The problem is that Indiana doesn't have the type of player who can take over and ensure the lead doesn't get blown -- like D.J. White could have. The leadership is lacking because no one who played significant minutes last year is back -- with all due respect to my boy, Kyle Taber. The talent is lacking because Tom Crean has basically had to start over.

Just when I was ready to start tooting the Big Ten's horn, again, for being on their way back to a powerhouse conference, Ohio State gets embarrassed by West Virginia and Iowa gets trounced at Drake. Those were quality opponents, sure, but it was a good time to capitalize on the impressive Michigan State and Purdue wins during the weekend prior to Christmas.

Regardless, I have to root for the conference as a whole this year to maintain some level of sanity, as my alma mater has now lost consecutive games to Northeastern and Lipscomb. What a way to build momentum heading into January, huh?

Conference season for the Big Ten kicks off Tuesday night in Mackey Arena, as Purdue hosts Illinois in what is shaping up to be quite the contest. On paper, the Boilers are easily the favorite and should handle Illinois. They very well could. The Fighting Illini, however, have only lost one game all season -- a two-pointer to undefeated and 16th ranked Clemson. Sophomore seven-footer Mike Tisdale has really come into his own in the past four games, and he'll pose a major problem for the Boilers down low. I like Purdue here, but it's gonna be a doozy.

A few weeks ago, coming off an impressive upset of UCLA, Michigan was handed a reminder by the Duke Blue Devils that their basketball program wasn't quite all the way back just yet. A second chance -- this time at home -- was all the Wolverines needed.

On the strength of DeShawn Sims' 28-point and 12-rebound effort and Duke's abysmal long-range shooting, Michigan basketball took another huge step in their rebuilding process with an 81-73 victory today.

Duke was too reliant on the outside shot. They were a terrible 7-of-33 from three-point territory, and this reliance also contributed to their only visiting the free throw line six times (they made four). The Blue Devils, however, will be just fine. It was their second straight road game, and we all know they don't play on the road outside their conference often. They'll rarely shoot so poorly from three, and you can count on Coach Krzyzewski stressing the importance of offensive variety after this loss.

The real story in this game was Michigan. I had already written their program was on its way back.