March Madness is here, and the basketball action heats up in Milwaukee this week as the Bradley Center hosts the Midwest and West regional rounds of the "big dance." With fans flocking from near and far, the editorial staff at OnMilwaukee.com thought we'd help greet our new visitors with a week's worth of features and guides to everything that makes our city a great place to visit. It's "Welcome to Milwaukee Week" at OnMilwaukee.com!
Milwaukee was given a very good draw when the NCAA announced its men's basketball tournament pairings Sunday night.
Three conference champions -- Ohio State (Big Ten), Oakland (Summit) and UC-Santa Barbara (Big West) -- headline the eight-team field, while four other major-conference teams and a perennial mid-major contender round out the Milwaukee portion of the tournament.
Player of the year candidate Evan Turner leads No. 2 seed Ohio State (27-7). The Buckeyes shared the Big Ten regular-season title with Purdue and Michigan State and pummeled Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament championship game to earn the league's automatic bid.
Turner was a one-man wrecking crew, leading the conference with 20.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and finishing second with 5.2 assists per game.
Local fans will recognize the No. 3 seed, Pittsburgh. The Panthers have evolved into one of Marquette's top Big East Conference rivals and handed the Golden Eagles a 58-51 loss at the Bradley Center on Feb. 18.
Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 15.8 points per game.
Georgia Tech, Oakland (Mich.), Oklahoma State, UC-Santa Barbara, Xavier and Minnesota round out the brackets.
Here's a look at the eight teams headed to Milwaukee for first and second round games this weekend:
Midwest Regional
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Conference: Atlantic Coast
Record: 22-12, 7-9
Seed: No. 1o
Head coach: Paul Hewitt (10th season, 172-141)
Tournament history: 16th appearance (22-15)
Last appearance: 2007
Web site: ramblinwreck.com
Twitter feed: @GTAthletics
Ohio State Buckeyes
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Conference: Big Ten
Record: 27-7, 14-4
Seed: No. 2
Head coach: Thad Motta (sixth season, 154-53)
Tournament history: 26th appearance (43-24)
Last appearance: 2009
Web site: ohiostatebuckeys.com
Twitter feed:@Brutus_Buckeye
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Location: Stillwater, Okla.
Conference: Big 12
Record: 22-10, 9-7
Seed: No. 7
Head coach: Travis Ford (second season, 45-21)
Tournament history: 24th appearance (38-22)
Last appearance: 2009
Web site: okstate.com
Twitter feed: @OKStatecom
UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Conference: Big West
Record: 20-9, 8-8
Seed: No. 15
Head coach: Bob Williams (11th season, 179-145)
Tournament history: fourth appearance (1-3)
Last appearance: 2002
Web site: ucsbgauchos.com
Twitter feed: @UCSBGauchos
West Regional
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.Conference: Big Ten
Record: 21-13, 9-9
Seed: No. 11
Head coach: Tubby Smith (third season, 63-38)
Tournament history: 11th appearance (12-10)*
Last appearance: 2009
Web site: gophersports.com
Twitter feed: @GopherScores
Oakland Golden Grizzlies
Location: Rochester, Mich.
Conference: Summit League
Record: 26-8, 17-1
Seed: No. 14
Head coach: Greg Kampe (13th Division I season, 166-166)
Tournament history: second appearance (1-1)
Last appearance: 2005
Web site: ougrizzlies.com
Twitter feed: @OUGrizzlies
Pittsburgh Panthers
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Conference: Big East
Record: 24-8, 13-5
Seed: No. 3
Head coach: Jamie Dixon (seventh season, 187-53)
Tournament history: 22nd appearance (21-22)
Last appearance: 2009
Web site: pittsburghpanthers.com
Twitter feed: @CoachDixon
Xavier Muskateers
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Conference: Atlantic 10 Conference
Record: 24-8, 14-2
Seed: No. 6
Head coach: Chris Mack (first season)
Tournament history: 21st appearance (17-20)
Last appearance: 2009
Web site: goxavier.com
Twitter feed: @XUAthletics
