Let’s get this out of the way. A year ago, we had a good year in this area. It was a really good year.we succeeded university university He was selected for the National Championship and finished in the 100th percentile (41,822nd out of over 20 million brackets) on ESPN.
Basically, expect a massive setback 12 months from now. Fade this bracket.
eastern region
This is the toughest region in the tournament. I said it on Sunday, you said it on Sunday, and it’s been said a million times in the three days since Sunday.
Two things apply here as well: 1) As high up as it is, this region is not immune to turmoil. 2) I don’t think anyone can beat Connecticut until I see it with my own eyes.
It’s a chalk opener, even though Yale continued its entertaining game against Auburn and Morehead State pushed Illinois to the brink (and nearly pulled the upset). FAU/Northwestern feels like a long shot, but the Owls have the advantage because of March’s pedigree.drake over State of Washington This is the only numerical disruption in the region.
FAU nearly pulled off another March Miracle in the second round, playing UConn in a game closer than anyone in the last two years in the tournament. Dusty Mae gets the job she decided she wanted at a power council job.san diego state do They successfully replicated their March magic and defeated Ken Pom Darling Auburn to reach the second weekend and set up a rematch of last year’s national title game.
Illinois has a long run in the bottom half of the bracket. BYU One of the most fun second round games of the tournament and iowa The trend continues for 2-seeds who start the season unranked and are unable to make it past the opening weekend of the tournament. Everyone is starting to wonder why Drake head coach Darian DeVries isn’t being targeted by these power conference programs with head coaching vacancies. Darian DeVries is starting to be targeted by some of these power conference programs due to head coaching vacancies.
The coach’s son, Tucker DeVries, was on an absolute tear throughout the tournament, lighting up Illinois in the Sweet 16 and bringing the Bulldogs one game closer to the Final Four. UConn treated his SDSU in much the same way as last April, finishing off a Cinderella story in the regional final and booking a trip to Phoenix.
western region
At least one area will completely collapse this weekend. The West’s top seeds are certainly unstable enough to make that happen, but they just couldn’t bring themselves to trigger chaos here.
Three double-digit seeds advance to the second round. There’s a reason New Mexico against Clemson is the most trending upset pick in the tournament: It’s not really an upset pick. The Lobos are favoring him by a 2.5-point margin, and his 11th seed is favored to beat the 6th seed in this tournament, making him 10-1. Nevada beats Dayton in the tournament’s ugliest first-round game, and Pat Kelce’s Charleston team defeated an Alabama team that had been crying out for a “first-round upset” for almost the entire time, a year ago. won the victory everyone thought he would get. Past 8 weeks.
St. Mary’s defeated Grand Canyon in the most entertaining game of the first round, with Colgate’s outside attack nearly torpedoing third-seeded Baylor. The Raiders will eventually get someone into this tournament, but I’m already worried I’ll end up blaming myself for not realizing this was the year. There is.
baylor do Richard Pitino leads New Mexico State to the first Sweet 16 in program history, only to be eliminated in Round 2. One of the most underrated fan bases in all of college basketball will be back next week.
Arizona State and North Carolina both benefit from formidable competition to set up the “Caleb Love Bowl” in the Elite Eight. Love and his All-American First Team boyfriend RJ Davis put on an eventful, thriller show. Eventually, the little tradition of early Tommy Lloyd flameouts was watered down and the Zona finally got over the hump and returned to the Final Four for the first time since 2001.
Pac-12 survives at least a few days longer.
southern region
This is where things break down.
Buzz Williams is good for at least a second weekend run wherever he goes, but he hasn’t run one yet. Texas A&M still. That changes this weekend. Buzz missed a layup at the buzzer in last season’s Sweet 16 win over Zion Williamson and Duke. Virginia Tech. This year, he finally got his signature tournament win when the Aggies defeated top-seeded Houston in the second round.
A&M then turned around and lost in the Sweet 16 to this year’s tournament’s iconic Cinderella, James Madison. The Dukes beat Wisconsin, then Duke, and captured the hearts of American sports.
Serving will be mostly in the bottom half of the bracket, starting in the first four outside of Colorado State until they beat an injured Florida team in the first round. Kentucky and Marquette face off in a chalky Sweet 16 matchup, with Dwyane Wade’s tournament ghost leading his golden Eagles to the Elite Eight.
I repeat this statistic 50 times every March until the trend stops. In every tournament except the one since 2012, he has had at least one team seeded lower than his No. 7 seed. In almost every expert slot you can find on the internet, there are no Final Four teams seeded lower than No. 7. Recent history says they’re all wrong.
If everything is going to fall apart anyway, they might as well swing it big: James Madison makes the Final Four.
Midwest region
I get that Samford in Kansas is trending, and there’s a good reason why it’s trending. The Jayhawks are tough, they didn’t have a lot of depth to begin with, and they’re playing against a veteran team that puts pressure on them for 40 straight minutes. The world is about to receive a crash course in buckyball.
Another big upset like everyone feels is unlikely to happen. McNeese is competitive with Gonzaga, but the Bulldogs haven’t lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 2008, and that won’t change this year. The Zags defeated Sanford two days later to advance to the Sweet 16 for the ninth consecutive season. Everyone around the world is reacting to that fact by tweeting that they’ve never won a national title.
Oregon State pulled away from an overachieving South Carolina team, and Creighton overcame an Akron scare to set up the second round Dana Altman Bowl, which the Blue Jays won. Colorado State went 2-for-2 among the first four teams, but suffered a blowout loss to Tennessee in the second round.
Purdue pushed to the brink. TCU, which has everyone predicting another withdrawal in early March. Those talks are called off when the Boilermakers defeat Gonzaga in the Sweet 16.
I feel like I can’t wait for an Elite Eight weekend full of strong one-on-two matchups. It’s coming again this year, and this one might be the most anticipated.
It’s Purdue vs. Tennessee, in which “those who lose their fan base may be encouraged to give up college basketball for good.”
It’s Purdue. Purdue fans could be forced to give up on college basketball for good.
The University of Tennessee finally made a breakthrough and was stripped of the title of “best college basketball program to fail to make the Final Four.” Dalton Knecht made a name for himself in a sports world that didn’t yet know who he was with a series of outrageous performances.
final 4
Semi-final matches are the worst. UW embarrasses Arizona and James Madison looks like he has watched over the years as many Cinderella Final Four teams reach the sport’s biggest stage.
Thankfully, the title game ends up saving the season finale. Tennessee was in offensive range for the entire 40 minutes, but never took the lead over the hump.
UW became the first back-to-back national champions in college basketball history since 2006-2007, establishing Danny Hurley as the sport’s new coaching face.
