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2014 NCAA Tournament Bracket Released: All 68 Teams, Schedule

The full 2014 NCAA Tournament bracket was released Sunday night. How does it all shake out? Let's look.

By Bryan M. Vance
Eileen Blass-USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 NCAA Tournament bracket and schedule were released Sunday evening and the nation as officially entered its least productive month of the year. It's March Madness, and it's arrived with a bang.

2014 NCAA Tournament

WMU Earns 14 Seed, Will Face No. 3 Syracuse

Matt Daley

Enter the Hustle Belt Bracket Challenge Now

Bryan M. Vance

2014 NCAA Tournament

WMU Earns 14 Seed, Will Face No. 3 Syracuse Enter the Hustle Belt Bracket Challenge Now

As expected the Mid-American Conference has received just one bid to the big dance, marking the 14th straight year the MAC has failed to earn an at large bid. As winners of the 2014 MAC Basketball Tournament Championship, Western Michigan earned the conference's automatic bid and due to a weak RPI (poor non-conference schedule) the Broncos have earned a No. 14 seed in the South region. WMU's first opponent? No. 3 seed Syracuse. You know, the-once-undefeated-and-top-ranked-team-in-the-nation Orange.

The Broncos open play on Thursday, March 20 in Buffalo, with the winner advancing on to play the winner of Ohio State (6) vs. Dayton (11). The Broncos' division is loaded. Featuring the No. 1 overall seed Florida Gators, along with Kansas (2), VCU (5) and UCLA (4) among its ranks. For the Broncos to make any serious noise they'd first have to get past one of the best defensive teams in the nation (Syracuse) then work their way past some loaded squads. Of course all the top seeded teams are heavy hitters, but we're talking the top team in the country, one of the best freshman in the nation, and one of the best mid-majors in the nation all in one section.

How does the rest of the bracket shape up? Well it looks something like this:

Bracket2_medium_medium

via cdn3.sbnation.com

Let's break it all down by seeds for each region, starting with the South:

SOUTH REGION:

  1. Florida
  2. Kansas
  3. Syracuse
  4. UCLA
  5. VCU
  6. Ohio State
  7. New Mexico
  8. Colorado
  9. Pittsburgh
  10. Stanford
  11. Dayton
  12. Stephen F. Austin
  13. Tulsa
  14. Western Michigan
  15. Eastern Kentucky
  16. Winner of Albany vs. Mt. St. Mary's

EAST REGION:

  1. Virginia
  2. Villanova
  3. Iowa State
  4. Michigan State
  5. Cincinnati
  6. North Carolina
  7. UConn
  8. Memphis
  9. George Washington
  10. St. Joe's
  11. Providence
  12. Harvard
  13. Delaware
  14. NC Central
  15. Milwaukee
  16. Coastal Carolina

MIDWEST REGION:

  1. Wichita State
  2. Michigan
  3. Duke
  4. Louisville
  5. Saint Louis
  6. UMass
  7. Texas
  8. Kentucky
  9. Kansas State
  10. Arizona State
  11. Winner of Iowa vs. Tennessee
  12. Winner of NC State vs. Xavier
  13. Manhattan
  14. Mercer
  15. Wofford
  16. Winner of Cal Poly vs. Texas Southern

WEST REGION:

  1. Arizona
  2. Wisconsin
  3. Creighton
  4. San Diego St.
  5. Oklahoma
  6. Baylor
  7. Oregon
  8. Gonzaga
  9. Oklahoma State
  10. BYU
  11. Nebraska
  12. North Dakota State
  13. New Mexico State
  14. Louisiana
  15. American
  16. Weber State
The West is a loaded division as well. Arizona, Creighton and Wisconsin should all be considered legit candidates of winning it all. Teams such as Baylor and Oklahoma State are capable of getting how and making some major noise, and even the lower seeds such as New Mexico State have the pieces to cause some real damage.

Wichita State is easily the most interesting team in the Midwest Region. The Shockers still have yet to lose this season, and for that reason should be considered a top-tier team, but there is reason to doubt if Wichita State is actually one of the Top 4 teams in the country, undefeated record aside. Clearly the fact that no one has been able to beat the Shockers yet is amazing, but the talent level and grind of playing every few days is about to amp up here soon and now it's win or go home. Having not lost yet could prove dangerous for them if they were to get in some serious late trouble and lose composure due to the pressure from the streak. Also in that division Louisville feels like a HUGE snub with the 4 seed. The Cardinals are a damn good team and may be as good now as they were at the same time last season. We all remember what that team went on to do a year ago.

Out East you got Virginia, a squad that was in the NIT a season ago, and Cincinnati about as dangerous of a school as you can get. Think about this: In the state of Ohio the Bearcats are the top-seeded team. Higher than OSU, Xavier, Toledo (a 27 win team that didn't make it in the Tournament).

We'll be covering WMU's trek through the Tournament, but if you're looking for coverage of the entire bracket head on over to SBNation.com/college-basketball. There you can find up-to-the minute coverage of all the action, and some of the best looking coverage on the internet. Just look at this gorgeous bracket, you can't find anything this pretty anywhere else on the web.

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