Part V of a multi-part series breaking down this year’s Madness.
Part I | Part II (East) | Part III (Midwest) | Part IV (West) | Part V (South) 
SOUTH REGIONAL | Team | Record | Conference | Team | Record | Conference | | #1 Memphis | 33-1 | Conference USA | #16 UT Arlington | 21-11 | Southland | | #8 Mississippi State | 22-10 | SEC | #9 Oregon | 18-13 | Pac 10 | | #5 Michigan State | 25-8 | Big Ten | #12 Temple | 21-12 | Atlantic 10 | | #4 Pittsburgh | 26-9 | Big East | #13 Oral Roberts | 24-8 | Summit League | | #6 Marquette | 24-9 | Big East | #11 Kentucky | 18-12 | SEC | | #3 Stanford | 26-7 | Pac 10 | #14 Cornell | 22-5 | Ivy League | | #7 Miami | 22-10 | ACC | #10 St. Mary’s | 25-6 | West Coast | | #2 Texas | 28-6 | Big 12 | #15 Austin Peay | 24-10 | Ohio Valley | In the Southern bracket we have the Spartans of Michigan State carrying the Big Ten banner into the tournament. Their opponent? The Temple Owls from the Atlantic 10. Unfortunately for the Spartans, it will be the Temple basketball team and not their hapless football team they will be facing. These two teams have faced each other three times since 1980 with Temple winning twice in 1998 and 1997. The only time they’ve met in the post season was in 2001 at the Georgia Dome with Michigan State prevailing 69-62. Spartan fans shouldn’t get all too excited with this matchup however. The Spartans are only 4-5 against teams in the top 50 and the Owls are sitting at #47 in the RPI. This in addition to the the upset prone nature of this year’s Spartan squad when they tend to play to their opponents level. How else can you explain losing to Penn State and scoring a dismal 36 in a loss to Iowa. They haven’t exactly stepped up to the plate against tough competition either when they fell to both Purdue, Indiana and Wisconsin to end the season when the Big Ten title was still up for grabs. But regardless, the Spartans will prevail over the Owls of Temple setting up a potential grind it out, physical matchup with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
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|  |  | | Record | overall | 25-8 | 21-12 |
| conference | 13-7 | 14-5 |
| against
tournament
teams | 4-5 | 3-4 | | Resume | RPI | 15 | 47 |
| SOS | 43 | 51 |
| Quality Wins | 6 | 8 | Team Stats
per game | Points | 71.3 | 72.6 |
| Turnovers | 13.7 | 12.8 |
| Rebounds | 41.1 | 35.5 |
| Free throw % | 0.731 | 0.741 |
| 3pt % | 0.373 | 0.372 |
| Blocks | 4.4 | 4.4 | 
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