Arizona

One question that seems to float around college basketball on an annual basis is the "how will they replace..." inquiry. That could apply to just about any player, from a key sub to a starter to a conference player of the year honoree. But the danger of using the word "replace" is that sometimes the departed players is too difficult to account for by simply plugging someone else into their role.

After going over the teams expected to win their regular season titles, we move on to talking about the top freshmen in each conference. Will all automatically take over and become the stars of their respective teams and leagues? It's tough to say at this point in the season, but that doesn't mean that we can't discuss it. Below are the picks for final 16 conferences, and Part One can be found here.

MAC: Kris Brewer (Kent State)

With the college basketball season finally on the horizon, the game that's been overlooked by many in conference realignment will once again have the center stage. Perennial contenders will once again make a run at a national title while some new faces will pop up as well. The first four-part preview will focus on the conferences, and more specifically who will win each of the 32 leagues.

The final region is the West, which is where Connecticut began their run to the national title. While some of the departures in this region will steal the majority of the ink there are a number of teams who should feel good about their prospects in 2011-12. Below is a quick breakdown of each of the 16 teams.

(1) Duke: lost to Arizona in the Sweet 16

Two tickets to next weekend's Final Four were punched on Saturday, with both games living up to the thrilling form of Thursday night's contests. In the Southeast final Butler made a bit of history, becoming the first team to make consecutive trips to the Final Four when being seeded three or lower with a 74-71 overtime win over Florida. Shelvin Mack scored a game-high 27 points, Matt Howard added 14 and freshman Khyle Marshall scored 10 off the bench. Also, Butler's three-point defense was a factor in the win as they limited the Gators to 3-for-14 on the afternoon.

The first two tickets to the Final Four will be punched on Saturday, and one can make a good argument that three of the four teams slated to play were not supposed to have reached this point. But what's expected beforehand means nothing when compared to actual achievement, which is why Butler, Arizona and Connecticut all find themselves 40 minutes away from a trip to Houston. Two of the best players in the nation will be on display in the West final in Arizona's Derrick Williams and Connecticut's Kemba Walker.

Of the four games played on Thursday night the matchup between West top-seed Duke and five-seed Arizona was the game people thought could provide a double-digit margin. The defending national champions were a solid favorite going in and they played as such in the first half, taking a 44-38 lead into the locker room thanks to a 16-6 edge in points in the paint and 12-5 in points off turnovers. Kyle Singler and Kyrie Irving scored 14 points apiece to lead the Blue Devils, who were far more balanced than an Arizona team that featured a lot of Derrick Williams and little of much else.

The NCAA Tournament moves on to the regional rounds this weekend, beginning with matchups in the West and Southeast regions on Thursday night. The West has gone mostly according to form with the top three seeds arriving in Anaheim, joined by five-seed and Pac-10 regular season champ Arizona. Each of the four teams has an All-America candidate on its roster but the five national titles the head coaches account for below to two: Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (three) and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun (two). Below is a preview of each of the two games, both of which can be seen on CBS Thursday night.

East Region
Charlotte
12:15 PM (7) Washington vs. (2) North Carolina (CBS)

East Region
Cleveland, OH
2:10 PM (8) George Mason vs. (9) Villanova (TNT)