Girl’s Guide to Bracketology: South Region

Posted by Stiletto Jen 216 views

The teams for the NCAA 2009 Tournament have been released and millions are frantically trying to perfect their brackets!

I have broken down the teams into their regions and matchups to help you compare to make your own brackets! And if you are interested in joining my free online bracket pool, head to Stiletto Sports NCAA Brackets on Yahoo Sports! Free to join and no experience needed! Pick you teams based on your fave colors, mascots and vacation spots!

More Stiletto Sports Bracketology Guides:

————————————————————-

I have broken the teams down by First Round matchups, in order by ranking per region. Each matchup gives the game date and location as well as the info on the teams, their ranks, their overall record of wins/losses for the season, conference info and a bunch of key facts and figures! But please bear with me while I finish compiling the lists and organizing the data! Some of the schools are missing data but will be up asap! Check back soon!

The South Region

#1 UNC (28-4)

ACC
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
Nickname: Tar Heels
What is a Tar Heel: Been wondering that for years. In short, North Carolina was big on producing tar way back in the days of wars. Also, someone with “tar on their heels” is said to be someone who stands their ground and doesn’t back down.
Mascot: Ram named Ramses
School Colors: Carolina Blue and White
Arch Nemesis: Duke Blue Devils
Coach: Roy Williams (!)
Players: Tyler Hansborough, Ty Lawson
Fame and Fortune: home of the great Michael Jordan, amongst many, many others.

#16 Radford (21-11)

Big South Champs:
Location: Radford, Virginia
Nickname: Highlanders
Why?: Apparently it honors the Scottish-Irish heritage of that area of Viriginia.
School Colors: Red & White
Coach: Brad Greenberg

———————————————————-

#2 Oklahoma (25-7)

Big 12
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Nickname: Sooners
Sooner than what damnit!: I’ve been curious about their name for a long time! It’s actually a throwback to the early days of land settlement. People were given markers and allowed to claim their land, but a “sooner” was someone who snuck in before they were officially allowed to and staked their claim anyway! (Far & Away with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman when they were still together and he wasn’t crazy, shows a great example of this….)
Mascot: Sooner Schooner. LOL! It’s actually an oldtime wagon (think Oregon Trail game….) pulled by two horses, Boomer and Sooner
School Colors: Crimson and Cream
Coach: Jeff Capel
Arch Rivals: Texas. It’s called the Red River Shootout. And also Oklahoma State.
Fact: All I know is that Sam Bradford is the QB for the Sooners football team that almost won the NCAA Football thingy and he was the Heisman Trophy Winner.

#15 Morgan State (23-11)

MEAC Champ
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Nickname: Bear
School Colors: Blue & Orange
Song: “On when the Morgan Grizzlies fall in line, it simply means we’ll win another time”
Coach: Todd Bozeman

————————————————————

#3 Syracuse (26-9)

Big East
Location: Syracuse, NY
Nicknames: Orange, Orangemen
Mascot: Otto The Orange
School Colors: Orange….. are you noticing a theme here?
Coach: Jim Boeheim
Home Court Advantage: The Orange play in the Carrier Dome–I’ve even heard of it! It’s the largest domed college stadium in the country. My school had a dome. It was small.
Players: Jonny Flynn, Arinze Okanadu
Fame: VP Joe Biden

#14 Stephen F. Austin (24-7)

Southland Champs
Location: Nacogdoches, Texas
Nickname: Lumberjacks
School Colors: Purple and White
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Fan Zone: Nicknamed the Purple Haze…..nice!
Claim to Fame: They boast the best forestry schools in the nation! Hence, the lumberjack references….

——————————————————

#4 Gonzaga (26-5)

West Coast Champs
Location: Spokane, Washington (You have no idea how long I’ve wondered where it was. I always assumed it was in the Southeast)
Nickname: Bulldogs ( I really wish it was Gonzo from the Muppet Babies). Players are also called Zags***
What is a Gonzaga?: I feel kinda bad because it really always has reminded me of the Muppets but the school is actually named for the young Jesuit saint, St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
Mascot: Spike the Bulldog
School Colors: Blue, White, and Red
Coach: Mark Few

#13 Akron (23-12)

MAC Champs
Location: Akron, Ohio
Nickname: Zips***
WTF is a Zip?: Short for zipper. You think I’m kidding? I wish. Yup, zippers were invented in Akron. I suppose getting caught with your zipper down is something to fear….
Mascot: Zippy the Kangaroo
School Colors: Blue & Gold
Coach: Keith Dambrot

*** Did anyone else notice…. it’s the matchup of the Zips….and the Zags!

——————————————————-

#5 Illinois (24-9)

Big 10
Location: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
Nickname: Fighting Illini
How do I say that weird word?: Illinois sounds like “ill-inn-oy” So is their nickname “Ill-inn-e?” “Ill-inn-eye?” It’s actually pronounced “Ill-eye-nye” Go figure.
School Colors: Orange and blue
Coach: Bruce Weber

#12 Western Kentucky (24-8)

Sun Belt Champs
Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky
Nickname: Hilltoppers
Mascot: Big Red, a very indescrible, yet beloved, red creature appearing during the games.
School Colors: Green and White
Coach: Ken McDonald

————————————-

#6 Arizona State (24-9)

Pac-10
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Nickname: Sun Devils
Mascot: Sparky the Sun Devil
School Colors: Maroon and Gold
Coach: Herb Sendek
Rivals: Do not confuse these guys Arizona, also in the tourney. The two schools have a huge, long-standing and heated rivalry. In football, it’s known as the “duel in the desert”

#11 Temple (22-11)

Atltantic 10 Champs
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Nicknames: Owls.
Mascot: Hooter, the Owl.
School Colors: Cherry and White
Claim to Fame: They were the first school in the US to adopt the Owl as their mascot.
Song: “Fight for the Cherry and the White”
Coach: Fran Dunphy. Former coach was John Chaney who looked shockingly like an owl.
Random Fun Fact: According to wiki “Temple’s campus squirrels are known for their boldness and antics.[10] Recently, a squirrel has been spotted stealing a muffin from a vendor every day at lunch time, even unwrapping the wrapper to eat it.”

———————————————

#7 Clemson (23-8)

ACC
Location: Clemson, South Carolina
Nickname: Tigers
Mascot: The Tiger and the Cub
School Colors: Orange and Purple *
Coach: Oliver Purnell*
School Song: It’s not the “official” song, but Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky is one of the fan favorites!
The Paw: The paw in the logo with the little white hook at the bottom is registered trademark to Clemson and is from a Bengal Tiger.
*Is it just me that finds that really fun?

#10 Michigan (20-13)

Big Ten
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Mascot: Wolverines
School Colors: Maize and Blue
Fight Song: ” The Victors” was declared by John Phillip Sousa as the “greatest college fight song ever written”
Coach: John Beilein
The Fab Five: The fab all-freshman starting line-up team of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson that went to the championship game in the tourney in their freshmen and sophomore years. They were also the first team to really start rocking the loose baggy shorts that are so popular today. However, there was a HUGE money scandal surrounding the team and um, yeah, totally took away their glory. But I still like to think of them as the Fabulous Fab Five Forever!
Fame: James Earl Jones, Lucy Liu, and Selma Blair, Madonna, Derek Jeter and Michael Phelps…just to name a few!

————————————————

#8 LSU (26-7)

SEC
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Nickname: Tigers
Mascot: Mike VI, a real Bengal-Siberian Tiger (because the name Tony was already taken perhaps?)
School Colors: Purple and Gold in honor of Mardi Gras
Coach: Trent Johnson
Famous alumni: Shaq

#9 Butler (26-5)

Horizon
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Mascot: Bulldogs
School Colors: Blue and White
Coach: Brad Stevens
Claim to Fame: The final championship in the 1986 movie Hoosiers was filmed in Bulter’s basketball arena!
*** This is a great little team to root for. Once a virtual unknown, in the last decade, they have really made a name for themselves as a regular in the NCAA tourney!

———————————————–

More Stiletto Sports Bracketology Guides:

Girl’s Guide to March Madness: Getting Ready for the Big Dance

All info compiled from CBS Sports, Wikipedia and team websites

About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!