It’s March, people, there was bound to be a bit of madness the Monday after Selection Sunday, and I’m certainly not about to take any of this as some sort of sign I shouldn’t bet way too much money filling out multiple NCAA tournament brackets as usual.
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Thousands to millions of brackets will be filled out and thrown away after the first Thursday and Friday of the tournament.
First off, everyone should congratulate the Missouri State Lady Bears. This year, more than any other, seems to be wide open, with no clear cut team emerging as the favorite going into March Madness. – The Ivy League regular season champion receives an automatic bid. Their guards were good at the end of the season, though, and they still have the Wiltjer-Sabonis combo inside.
This year, you can watch every game live online via NCAA March Madness Live, Bleacher Report and CBSSports.com. The odds of predicting a ideal bracket are astronomical–of course, that never stops me from trying. Sports ranks them from 1 to 68, starting with Michigan State’s player of the year Denzel Valentine. I can understand why Virginia was given a No. 1, but I can’t understand why Michigan State was given a No. 2. The 4 top seeds are: Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia. However beating Xavier won’t be an easy task as they have been one of the most consistent teams all year, and are a deep squad lead my Chris Mack and are playing some of their best basketball when it matters. Oregon, Oklahoma and Texas A&M have all been picked by multiple experts to reach the Final Four in Houston, though they haven’t gotten much respect as legitimate national title contenders. It’s a shame, but as Kentucky Coach John Calipari stated, “It doesn’t matter where you’re seeded, or where you have to go – it’s all about winning the games”.
As for that Final Four? I have Texas A&M winning the West region.
“Where the committee came up with the idea that OR should be rated ahead of them, I’ll never know”, Williams said.
Had Michigan State fallen on the top line, it likely still would have been paired in the same bracket as Virginia. It has also sent four different schools to th Final Four in that time: Wisconsin (twice), Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan.
North Carolina is also a strong favorite in this year’s field. As a rule of thumb, the seeds in the Final Four should add up to the high single digits or the low teens. The Jayhawks of Kansas were named the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. However, outside the 1 seeds, Kentucky and Duke, there are some smart plays to make it to the Elite Eight.
O’Connell, a Hall of Fame basketball writer, has covered every Final Four for The Associated Press since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson faced each other in 1979.
With the win, many thought it would be enough, but to the “bracketologists”, MI is still sweating it out with the likes of Monmouth, St. Mary’s, Temple, South Carolina and San Diego State. When No. 5 Oklahoma State lost to No. 12 OR in 2013, the game was played in San Jose, Calif. No. 12 Harvard upset No. 5 Cincinnati in 2014, a game played in Spokane, Wash.
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If you don’t have subscriptions to those networks, you can take advantage of the three-hour free access on any of those pay channels to watch one complete game and a half game for free, or you can carefully plan watching the second half of each of three games. Experience matters Kentucky has put this theory to the test in the era of the one-and-done player, but remember the Wildcats have cut down the nets only once in this century.
