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All this talk about the Mid-West region being the so called “toughest” region…well there may be some truth there, but take a look at the West region. All 4 teams still alive in this region were all ranked in the top 25 prior to the NCAA Tournament. This is the only region where this is the case.

Let’s take a look inside the numbers for Kansas State vs. Xavier:

The two things that stick out to me here is that K-State holds sizable advantage in their ability to get to the free throw line and also in crashing the offensive boards. Xavier does turn the ball over less and shoots a slightly better percentage from the field, but these categories are virtually even.

These two teams played each other back in December with K-State winning 71-56. Here is another look at the 4 factors to winning related to this game back in December. (Much Different than the entire season chart above)

The good news for Xavier is that the NCAA tournament is different than the regular season. They don’t have to be a better team than K-State…only a better team for one night. I like Xavier’s team, but I think K-State might be too much for them again.