The NCAA mens basketball tournament has officially arrived. Yes it is already that time of the year to almost crown the champions of the 17-18 college basketball world. It seems like yesterday that the season was just starting.
How Everything Works
The winner of each conference tournament will receive an automatic bid into the field of 68. This fact is very significant to the much smaller conferences such as the Ivy League and so forth.
What to Expect
We will have ourselves some upsets here and there. If you are one of those bracket fillers, it obviously is a guessing game as to whom is going to be those pesky bracket busters. The past two years the bracket buster has been Middle Tennessee State University.
Upset Alert
Back in 2016 they responsible for the biggest upset in tournament history when they defeated the #1 Michigan State Spartans. And they were also responsible for me throwing away my bracket that. year. Then last year, they upset Minnesota, but did not have the same feel from the previous year. Expect them to make another opening round upset again this year. And it would not surprise me if they make a second round upset. Certainly count them in for at least one upset this year.
No Clear Cut Favorite
This past season, with the possible exception of Virginia, there really has not been a dominating school coming into the tournament this year. I would expect quite a few surprises here and there.
Here are a few predictions of mine.
1. A school seeded #4 or #5 will win it all
Right now, schools that are projected to be seeded at #4 and #5 are playing their best basketball, and it could not be at a better time. Michigan is looking pretty strong with their Big 10 conference championship victory.
Michigan is currently playing as if they are a #1 seed, we all know that they will not get that seed, expect them right there in the middle of the pack. However they will still be a strong contender.
Other strong dark horses include Texas Tech, West Virginia, Florida, Wichita State.
Picking a #4 or #5 seed is usually a dumb move to make, but I would not judge you for doing so this year.
2. Middle Tennessee State makes the Sweet 16.
As I stated earlier, Middle Tennessee State has had two major upsets in the first round the past 2 years in the first round but has had trouble getting past the second round. However this year that all changes with the help of Nick King who has turned into quite the offensive weapon as of late.
3. Duke will not make the Sweet 16.
Love them or hate them you got to respect Coach K and the Blue Devils.
Coach K has racked up 91 tournament wins backed with 12 Final Four appearances. I am sure I do no have to tell you that is an impressive resume. Oops I just told you.
I am not taking anything away from Duke or Coach K this year. Although Duke probably has the most talented team in the country however they are young and that could very well hurt them with tournament inexperience.
4. Who will be the last four left standing.
These are in no particular order:
Michigan: Like I stated earlier the Wolverines are playing the best basketball right now. They are on a hot streak going into the tournament and therefore I see them continuing on that hot streak throughout March.
Villanova: Nova is a team that can score a bunch of points on any team on any given night. However their defense is difficult to predict because they switch it up so much that can confuse anyone. They have an incredible freshman in Dante DiVencenzo and also Jalen Brunson who are offensive machines.
Purdue: The Boilermakers are the most complete team out there right now scoring 81 points a game with a 21 point margin. Those are veery good numbers. Therefore how can you not pick them for a regional championship winner.
Virginia: You know what they say Defense win championships. Virginia has had one of the best, if not the best defense in the country, it is debatable.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.