March Madness is upon us yet again. It’s the time of year when Cinderella finds her glass slipper and crazy upsets shock college basketball nation. People all across the country, whether in a tournament pool for work or kids doing it as a friendly competition, believe that they are basketball experts and know what they’re doing when they fill out their tournament brackets.
What are the odds of actually selecting the correct teams for the National Championship game? According to ESPN last year only 881 out of 5.9 million bracket entries correctly predicted that the University of Connecticut would face the Butler Bulldogs. How do you know which team to select?
It’s a lot of pure luck, but that’s the fun part. It’s a challenge trying to guess which No. 12 seed will upset a No. 5 seed in this year’s field. Where to start? Although trendy, the top four overall seeds don’t have as clear of a path as most think. Only once (2008) have all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. How do I think this year’s bracket will unfold? Looking at each region with winners in all caps:
South Elite 8 Teams:
(1) KENTUCKY vs. (3) Baylor West Elite 8 Teams:
(1) Michigan State vs. (2)MISSOURI East Elite 8 Teams:
(1) Syracuse vs. (2) OHIO STATE Midwest Elite 8 Teams:
(8) Creighton vs. (2) KANSAS
National Championship:
(1) Kentucky vs. (2) Kansas
John Calipari gets his chance at revenge against Bill Self and Kansas.
My Top Overrated Teams:
Georgetown- Always makes an early exit.
Gonzaga- Don’t be fooled by their record. Always seem to disappoint.
Vanderbilt-A nother school that always seems to make an early exit.
My Top Sleeper Teams:
Wichita State- Bluejay fans know what the Shockers are capable of when they’re “on”
Creighton- How far the Bluejays go depends on if the 3 ball is falling.
Underrated team
Harvard- Tommy Amaker has made this Ivy League school a dangerous team to play.
Toughest Regionals: South and Midwest
The South regional with Kentucky, Duke, Baylor, UConn and Wichita State is a very interesting regional. There are a lot of big name schools that could do some damage, including last year’s national champions UConn. In the Midwest, I think this is where the most upsets could occur. There are a lot of talented teams who could make runs and surprise a lot of people.
Easiest Road to Final Four:
I think that for the top seeds, the East bracket has the easiest road to the Final Four for Syracuse or Ohio State. Not many teams that really scare me in that region.
My complete bracket will be posted on the creightonian.com website. Let the madness begin. Good luck.