Kansas draws 2 seed in the Midwest Regional opposite Kentucky

The full matchups in the Midwest Regional have been released:

#1 Kentucky vs #16 Manhattan/Hampton

#8 Cincinnati vs #9 Purdue

#5 West Virginia vs #12 Buffalo

#4 Maryland vs #13 Valparaiso

#6 Butler vs #11 Texas

#3 Notre Dame vs # 14 Northeastern

#7 Wichita State vs #10 Indiana

#2 Kansas vs #15 New Mexico State

Quick Reactions:

This bottom half of the region is all about storylines, namely in-state battles in the second round.  Butler and Notre Dame (Indiana) and Wichita State and Kansas (Kansas) are set to battle for supremacy in their respective states if seeds hold into the Round of 32.  Indiana has a chance to crash the party if they can upset their way to the Sweet 16.

Kentucky has a chance for a decent challenge in the Sweet 16 if either Maryland or West Virginia can make it.  Both teams have the potential to pressure their opponents into silly mistakes, and even Kentucky has shown the tendency to get sped up and sloppy at times.  But those teams have to make it past some interesting matchups first.

Texas made it in, but the committee didn't do them any favors.  If they somehow manage to get past Butler, they are likely to get eaten alive by Notre Dame.

If seeds hold, Kansas and Kentucky would likely be the most anticipated Elite Eight matchup, and the real question is if Kansas has worked out a gameplan for the Wildcats size.  We'll have to wait and see.

So with 3 regions still to go, we'll have to see what other surprises we have.  I'm not sure how it will be possible to beat the strength of this region though.  We'll get a quick preview of New Mexico State up shortly, with a deeper look at them in the next couple of days.