Oregon Ducks

2016 NCAA Tournament West Region: previews and predictions

Published Dec. 24, 2016 7:43 p.m. ET

Fox Sports

WhatIfSports.com used its college basketball simulation engine to play the entire 2016 NCAA Tournament 1,001 times. View the full bracket predictions or check out our region-by-region previews. After you've done your homework, create an entry in the FOX Bracket Challenge.

More previews and predictions: SOUTH | EAST | MIDWEST

It's all about getting hot at the right moment. Oregon won the final eight games in order to be awarded a one seed. Thankfully for Dana Altman's Ducks, Wisconsin is not in their region. In the past two seasons, the Badgers booted Oregon from the tournament in the Round of 32. The Ducks are led by sophomore Dillon Brooks. He plays a team-high 33 minutes per game and averages 16.8 points per contest.

While Oregon will be happy with the one next to their team name, on the downside, they get the best No. 2 seed, Oklahoma. Senior Buddy Hield finished second in the country with an average of 25 points per game. Oklahoma, as a team, tied for second in three-point shooting as they connected on 42.6 percent of shots from long range (10.4 made three-pointers per game).

If they didn't lose to Kentucky in the SEC championship, Texas A&M would probably be a No. 2 seed. That's a huge turnaround for a program that hasn't made the big dance since 2011. The Aggies have three players who average double-digits. The last time Texas A&M lost, they dropped the next three games.

The defending champs are the four-seed in this year's tournament. For the 21st-consecutive season, Duke is on the bracket. This is their highest seeding since 2007 (No. 6). That year, they lost to VCU in the first game. The Blue Devils basically play with six guys. They have lost three of the past five games. Now, they'll get an in-state opponent, UNCW, who would love to upset the empire. If Duke will survive and advance, it will be because of Grayson Allen. The super sophomore averages 21.6 points per game.

Other notables: No. 11 Northern Iowa, No. 12 Yale, No. 13 UNC-Wilmington

Round 1 Predictions: West Region
Matchup	Adv %	Avg. Score
1 Oregon	95.2	81.6
16 Southern University	4.8	65.0	Simulate Game
8 Saint Joseph's	19.3	69.5
9 Cincinnati	80.7	78.7	Simulate Game
5 Baylor	72.0	85.2
12 Yale	28.0	74.9	Simulate Game
4 Duke	63.5	85.0
13 UNCW	36.5	81.9	Simulate Game
6 Texas	75.5	77.2
11 UNI	24.5	68.0	Simulate Game
3 Texas A&M	75.9	90.2
14 Green Bay	24.1	82.8	Simulate Game
7 Oregon State	51.8	77.8
10 VCU	48.2	76.4	Simulate Game
2 Oklahoma	80.9	80.6
15 Bakersfield	19.1	70.1	Simulate Game