Bracket Breakdown: West

Steve Alford and Tony Snell of New Mexico

Of the four brackets the West is the probably the weakest, but that can also mean it is the most wide open. Gonzaga is the number one seed and deservedly so. They didn't play a real tough schedule, but anybody who wins like they did deserves the top spot. Ohio State played their way into a two seed after winning the Big Ten tournament and fellow Big Ten member Wisconsin sits at the five seed. New Mexico has played good ball and looks like they could make a run and Belmont and Wichita State appear to be upset picks. Also don't forget about Bruce Weber's K-State Wildcats. Here's a more in-depth look...

West Region winner: New Mexico Lobos
In a bracket that seems to have no favorite, take a good look at Steve Alford's New Mexico squad. The Lobos are 29-5 and went undefeated against ranked opponents. If you think for a second that the Mountain West was a walk in the park then hold on just a second. The MWC was arguably one of the top three toughest conferences and five teams made the tournament. New Mexico won the regular season and the conference tournament and they will now have a chance to make another tourney run -- this one of bigger proportion. It's not going to be easy as they will probably meet Ohio State in the Sweet 16. The Buckeyes have won 10 in a row and are playing very well right now. In the Elite 8 the Lobos will have to take down either Gonzaga, Kansas State or Wisconsin and that will be another tall task. However, Alford has played with the big boys before and has put together a tremendous season. Now it's time to do it on the national stage.

Lamont Jones of Iona

Upset Pick: Belmont over Arizona
The Bruins should come away the victor in this one. Belmont is 26-6 and won the Ohio Valley Conference behind a high-powered offense. They average 77.2 points per game which is the 15th in the nation and their 49 percent field goal percentage is fourth in the nation. Arizona has looked shaky of late, losing three of their last five. Although the 'Cats are talented, don't count on them making a run in this tournament.

Potentially Intriguing Matchup: Gonzaga vs. New Mexico (Elite 8)
Two mid-majors going head-to-head for the right to advance to the Final Four would be intriguing to watch. The Lobos and Zags have been in the tournament before and they both have seasoned veterans on the sidelines. However, neither team has made it the Final Four. It seems likely that this matchup could happen and if it does, the fans will finally get to see what all the hype is about these two squads.

Player to Watch: Lamont Jones, guard, Iona
Lamont Jones knows about big time competition. He transferred to Iona after two seasons at Arizona and he has torn it up for the Gaels. Jones averages 23.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and his Gaels will have the tough job of beating Ohio State in the first round. Last season there were two 15 seeds that won a second round game and they both did so behind Superman-type efforts from their star players. Iona needs Jones to bring his A game if they are to upset one of the Big Ten titans.

Bottom Line: There is no clear favorite in this league, but New Mexico, Ohio State and Gonzaga are all playing good basketball. One of those three will emerge.

Can the Big East Win the Big One?

Since the Big East grew to 16 teams a few years ago they have dominated the college basketball landscape, put the most teams in the tournament and churned out NBA lottery picks in mass numbers. The only thing lacking is a national championship, something the conference has not won since 2004, which came before expansion. In 2005 several teams from Conference-USA joined the Big East and many had quality basketball programs. Louisville, DePaul, Cincinnati, Marquette and South Florida made the league 16-strong and with their addition the conference the Big East boasts 40 Final Four appearances and 10 national championships. Of the 16 teams, South Florida is the only one who has not reached a Final Four, an incredible feat for any conference. Despite all these stats, the Big East has not won a title since their expansion and that leaves many pondering the question, "Why?"

The number one reason no team has been able to win the big one is because the regular season is too hard. Think about it, with so many teams playing at a high level and numerous teams ranked, they beat up on each other. I saw a stat a few games ago that said Villanova was 4-5 against ranked teams in their conference. That's nine conference games against ranked opponents with more to come, especially in the conference tournament. By the time the tournament rolls around everybody is wiped out from the competition in the regular season. They have just played potentially 4-5 games in their own conference tournament and then they are trying to win six more games against quality opponents in order to win the national championship. That's hard for a team to do.

Pittsburgh is the winningest team of the 2000s and they have never even made a Final Four. This year could be their year but they have already started to tail off in the last week of the year. A team who must endure that many tests is weaker at the end of the year and that is why we have not seen a Big East champion since the expansion. UConn, led by Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon, won down in San Antonio in 2004 and since the next year the five C-USA teams joined. Since then the Big East has had five Final Four teams (Villanova, Georgetown, UConn, West Virginia and Louisville) and every single one of those teams lost in the semi-final game. Before expansion the Big East had titles in 2004 and 2003. Obviously, the additions make for great conference play but the league can not reap the benefits in postseason play.

This year the Big East could break their own record of eight teams getting NCAA bids this year but none of them seem to be a formidable national title contender. Pittsburgh has the best shot but no one else could go up against Kansas, Duke or Ohio State and expect to win. I would guess that none of the Big East teams will even make the Final Four this year because a lot of them are good but not great and that has been the theme in the Big East since expansion. Reality is, they need to divide into divisions or something to lighten up the schedule because, even though it makes for great television, the top 25 matchups every night aren't helping in the postseason. It's one thing to be battle-tested, but it's quite another to be worn down.

So to answer the question in the headline, no I don't think the Big East can win the big one anytime soon because they hurt their own chances with the regular season schedule. It would take a great team to do that and one that is very mentally and physically tough. I think the only team out of the Big East who could do that would be Pittsburgh but they should focus on getting to the Final Four first. For this year I would shy away from picking any team from the conference to hold up the crystal ball in Houston.