It could be a Texan takeover in Kansas City as Houston and Texas top the NCAA Tournament’s exciting Midwest Region.

The Midwest Region of the 2023 NCAA Tournament is a sports director’s dream if you’re in a newsroom in Texas, Iowa or Pennsylvania. Eight of the 17 teams in this region hail from those three states, including three apiece from Texas and Iowa. That’s a lot of local flavor in one small package.

As it happens, it looks like the Midwest may be an all-Texan affair in the end when the Elite Eight tips off in Kansas City, Missouri. (For those keeping score, the Kansas City Chiefs were once called the Dallas Texans… but I digress.)

No. 1 Houston and No. 2 Texas earned the top two seeds in this region, while No. 3 Xavier and No. 4 Indiana are also princes of their pods. Meanwhile, No. 7 Texas A&M joins No. 5 Miami (FL), No. 6 Iowa State and No. 8 Iowa as teams donning their home whites in the first round.

As for the underdogs, the top of the pack is led by a cadre of high-major squads in No. 9 Auburn, No. 10 Penn State and First Four 11-seeds Mississippi State and Pittsburgh. Don’t forget about the potential Cinderellas (No. 12 Drake and No. 13 Kent State), first-time entrants (No. 14 Kennesaw State) and some truly considerable bottom seeds (No. 15 Colgate and No. 16 Northern Kentucky).

The region is headlined by two national title contenders in Houston and Texas, but there is plenty of intrigue beyond just those two. Keep reading for a deeper look at how things might go down.

—Tournament Index: March Madness projections, Cinderellas, more
—March Madness: Cinderellas | Contenders | Mid-major stars
—Region Previews: South | Midwest | West | East

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