Here’s a look at the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament as March Madness gets set to tip off Tuesday:
Conference: AAC
Coach: Kelvin Sampson (9th season)
Post-ing up: Coming off Final Four and Elite Eight appearances the past two seasons, Houston has its eyes on another Final Four run, this time in its home city. Led by senior guard Marcus Sasser, a leader on the previous two tournament teams, Houston lost two regular-season games by a combined seven points, including to fellow top seed Alabama.
Conference: Horizon League
Coach: Darrin Horn (4th season)
Post-ing up: The Horizon League champions win with defense and by limiting possessions, allowin2g only 63.6 points per game. They play slow and slower, with a tempo rated 358th nationally out of 363 Division I teams. The Norse enter the third NCAA Tournament in program history seeking their first win after losses in 2017 and 2019.
Conference: Big Ten
Coach: Fran McCaffery (13th season)
Post-ing up: The Hawkeyes are scoring boatloads of points. McCaffery is berating referees. Iowa is Iowa. Kris Murray (brother of former Iowa superstar and current Kings forward Keegan), who scored 20.5 points a game in the regular season, leads one of the highest-scoring offenses in the nation.
Conference: SEC
Coach: Bruce Pearl (9th season)
Post-ing up: For the last six weeks, it appeared Auburn might miss the NCAA Tournament again under Pearl. The Tigers lost eight of 11 games, but they defeated Tennessee to cap the regular season. That helped Auburn, led by Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr., solidify its postseason positioning despite an early exit in the SEC Tournament.
Conference: ACC
Coach: Jim Larranaga (12th season)
Post-ing up: The ACC regular-season champions feature a guard-heavy lineup, led by fourth-year junior and ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong. A well-balanced attack helped the Hurricanes to the highest-scoring offense in the conference during the regular season. The ageless Larranaga returns for his 11th NCAA Tournament appearance, and sixth with Miami.
Conference: Missouri Valley
Coach: Darian DeVries (5th season)
Post-ing up: DeVries and his son Tucker, a standout 6-foot-7 wing who averages 19.0 points a game, are in the tournament together after a fantastic season in which the Bulldogs knocked off Sun Belt champion Louisiana and Mississippi State. Opponents had better guard the 3-point shot against this group, which shoots it at a 37.3 percent clip.
Conference: Big Ten
Coach: Mike Woodson (2nd season)
Post-ing up: The preseason favorites to win the conference (according to the media poll) survived a January slide to finish second in the Big Ten in the regular season. Star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis emerged as a Wooden Award candidate as a senior, recording 20.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in the regular season.
Conference: MAC
Coach: Rob Senderoff (12th season)
Post-ing up: Senderoff is one of the more underrated mid-major coaches, leading the Golden Flashes to eight 20-win seasons in 12 years. The 49-year-old, Spring Valley, N.Y., native is due for a bigger job. An NCAA Tournament upset, which would be the school’s first win since 2002, could make that a reality.
Conference: Big 12
Coach: T.J. Otzelberger (2nd season)
Post-ing up: Fresh off its surprising Sweet 16 run last year, Iowa State relied on a stingy defense to overcome an offense that ranks near the bottom of the country in scoring. The Cyclones had wins over Baylor (3) and Kansas (1) but will be without third-leading scorer Caleb Grill, who was dismissed from the program earlier this month.
Conference: SEC
Coach: Chris Jans (1st season)
Post-ing up: The Bulldogs didn’t resemble a tournament team in late January. They lost eight times in nine games, though five were by fewer than 10 points. But non-conference wins against Marquette and TCU, as well as a key win to open the SEC Tournament, were still enough to clinch their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019.
Conference: ACC
Coach: Jeff Capel (5th season)
Post-ing up: Capel earned ACC Coach of the Year honors after bringing the Panthers within touching distance of the regular-season conference title. First-team All-ACC guard Jamarius Burton sets the tone on offense, while Blake Hinson, in his first season since transferring from Iowa State, led the team in scoring during the regular season.
Conference: Big East
Coach: Sean Miller (1st season)
Post-ing up: In Miller’s second stint with Xavier, the Musketeers are hoping to repeat history behind the coach who took them to the Elite Eight in 2008 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2009. One of the nation’s best 3-point shooting teams is led by guard Souley Boum, but Xavier will be without star forward Zach Freemantle, who had surgery on his left foot earlier this month.
Conference: Atlantic Sun
Coach: Amir Abdur-Rahim (4th season)
Post-ing up: When Abdur-Rahim took over four years ago, Kennesaw State had never had a winning season at the Division I level in 14 seasons and had fired four coaches. It won just one game in his first season. Now, three seasons later, it is in the NCAA Tournament, as feel-good a story as there is this March.
Conference: SEC
Coach: Buzz Williams (4th season)
Post-ing up: Texas A&M couldn’t quite catch Alabama for the SEC’s regular-season title. The Aggies suffered five non-conference losses, but an offense led by sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV and one of the country’s best offensive rebounding rates helped Texas A&M secure its first NCAA Tournament berth under Williams.
Conference: Big Ten
Coach: Micah Shrewsberry (2nd season)
Post-ing up: Led by first-team All-Big Ten senior guard Jalen Pickett, the free-flowing Nittany Lions will fire away from deep as one of the most 3-point heavy teams in the country. They finished the season red-hot, and Shrewsberry has already brought the program to another level in just his second season in charge.
Conference: Big 12
Coach: Rodney Terry (interim, 1st season)
Post-ing up: Taking over in December after Chris Beard was fired following a domestic violence arrest, Terry led the Longhorns to a 17-7 mark to end the regular season and then topped Kansas to win the Big 12 Tournament. Three transfers — guards Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice and forward Timmy Allen — lead the Longhorns.
Conference: Patriot League
Coach: Matt Langel (12th season)
Post-ing up: The Raiders are riding a nine-game winning streak into their fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid, and six of those wins came by at least 17 points. Colgate is a lethal 3-point shooting team, ranked first nationally at 40.8 percent, and features five double-figure scorers, led by senior guard Tucker Richardson.