Bracket Breakdown: West Region

Top Four Seeds: UCLA, Duke, Xavier, Connecticut
Favorite: UCLA
Sleeper: Connecticut
Bracket Buster: Baylor
Best First Round Game: West Virginia vs Arizona
Upset Watch: Drake vs Western Kentucky
Best Player You Don't Know: Courtney Lee G Western Kentucky

The Bruins have the easiest road to San Antonio of the four number one seeds and it should be no surprise that barring a major upset, UCLA will most likely reach its third consecutive Final Four. Ben Howland is to the national championship game what John Calipari is to the Final Four; they just can't make that next step. The Bruins are loaded with everything. They have a heady lead man in Darren Collison, a versatile wing scorer in Russell Westbrook, and a beast inside with Pac-10 Player of the Year Kevin Love. Duke is the two seed in this region and have been great for most of the year but have been down recently. The only inside game from the Blue Devils is bench player Brian Zoubek. Duke's lack of an inside game has caught up with them but the experience of Coach K on the sideline could a major factor in the success they have this tournament. Xavier won the A-10 by three games but are relatively unknown to most fans. Stanley Burrell and Drew Lavender form a potent back-court that is equally on offense and defense. the up-and-down UCONN Huskies are the four seed and if they play up to their potential, a Sweet Sixteen matchup with UCLA should be in order. Watch out for Baylor as a possible Cinderella because of their ability to score and play up tempo. In the end, the Bruins have too much of everything.

Sweet Sixteen: UCLA, Connecticut, Baylor, Duke
Elite Eight: UCLA vs Duke
West Region Champion: UCLA
Most Outstanding Player: Darren Collison G UCLA