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The wild West region gets more wild with loss by No. 1 Gonzaga

Marshall Henderson

In case your West region wasn’t wacky enough after the Round of 64, Saturday’s games cemented this quarter of the bracket’s status as the most unpredictable in the 2013 NCAA tournament.

It began with the No. 14-seeded Harvard Crimson, who shocked the Mountain West and the country by taking down trendy Final Four pick New Mexico in the Round of 64. Then Ole Miss, fueled by whatever keeps Marshall Henderson going, pulled an upset over Big Ten foe Wisconsin. Then it was La Salle, who beat a tough Boise State team in the First Four, coming through to beat Kansas State. But not to be outdone in this madness, No. 9 Wichita State outlasted No. 8 Pittsburgh, then eliminated the first No. 1 seed of the tournament Saturday night by beating Gonzaga.

So what are we left with? A No. 9 seed playing a 12- or 13-seed for a spot in the Elite Eight. A 6-seed in Arizona that has yet to be tested will face either Iowa State (who beat Notre Dame convincingly in the Round of 64) or Ohio State for its next chance to advance.

The reason for the madness in this region has been a mix of overseeding, matchups, and surprise performances. Gonzaga showed in its Round of 64 game against Southern that something was not right when the Jaguars ran the Bulldogs to the wire. Wichita State beat Pittsburgh at its own game to advance to meet the Zags. Ole Miss rode the wave of an SEC championship to beat a team that we have seen beat Indiana. La Salle’s guards matched up well against Kansas State and it got a big performance from Jerrell Wright to advance.

The real question now is if we will see an underdog emerge from all of this dust or if ultimately Ohio State or Arizona, teams that have spent time in the Top 10 this season, will represent this region at the Final Four in Atlanta. Judging by how things have gone, I’d favor madness over predictability.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_