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“Getting Closer into the Madness”: A March
Madness preview
Buzzer beaters, bettors-despair and Cinderella stories are on the horizon for the world of college
hoops as the month of March is now here. The NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament,
also known as March Madness, is set to start the First Four on March 15; the play-in round for
teams to get into the tournament. Many teams are on a bubble to enter the play-in round and has
made Selection Sunday even more interesting as each team has found themselves on fire against
some of the best competition in the tournament. This season has shown us that anyone can win
this tournament and that the contenders for the championship are always expanding. Only a week
ago, we saw that 7 out of the AP top-10 teams were beaten all on the same Saturday. For the first
time ever before in college basketball. So as we look into this preview, just keep in mind that
even though there are favorites, it does not mean they will ultimately be unbeatable.
The Bubble Teams:
As mentioned before, the teams that are on the bubble for the tournament are all on a hot streak.
However, the conference in which they play is also considered. Rutgers, at a record of 17-12
after a close win against the University of Indiana on Wednesday, found themselves in probably
the best place to get in the tournament as they are 11-8 against a difficult Big-10 conference.
With only Penn State left to play on their schedule, they have a better chance to make it into the
tournament over teams like the VCU Rams. Despite the Rams being 21-8 this year, they won’t
have the best chance to contend for a spot just because they are in the Atlantic 10 conference. In
other words, just like last year, the record of the Rams won’t matter, but the competition will.
This gives teams like Florida, Indiana, Xavier, Memphis and BYU an advantage as they have all
played and won against an AP top 25 team at least once in their season. The competition and
layout of their season, and how each team responded to adversity will be factors in why they
make it in or not on Selection Sunday. With that being said, here is my first four in and my first
four out:
Four In: Four Out:
Rutgers Indiana
Xavier Dayton
SMU Virginia
Wyoming VCU
Of course these predictions are a little too early as we still need to see teams compete in their
conference tournaments, especially teams such as Florida and Texas A&M. If Florida or Texas
A&M goes deep into the SEC tournament, then it would almost make them a favorite to be one
of the Four In. However, they both will face each other in their first game of the tournament and
whoever does win will then face off against Auburn, the number one seed in the SEC
tournament. Besides those two teams, I can’t imagine a change in the last four in this deep of
selection.
Who to look out for as favorites:
The obvious two teams to look at this year are going to be Gonzaga and Arizona. Gonzaga, led
by Junior Forward Drew Timme, are currently ranked first in the AP rankings as they have only
lost three games this season, all against ranked opponents. Out of their 24 wins this year, only
two of them were wins by a single-digit margin. The rest were blowout wins, or by double-digits.
Arizona, who finished the year 28-3, boasted an impressive home record going 17-0 at the
McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona. A team, with many international players, made Arizona into
a threat in the Pac-12 as they brought a unique style of European play to the state of Arizona.
Going into the Pac-12 tournament, Arizona is favored to win it at -135 odds according to
sportsbetting.ag.
Both of these teams to me seem like favorites for March Madness as they will most likely take
the number one seeds for the West (Gonzaga) and Midwest( Arizona). For the East and South
parts of the brackets, my predictions are most likely staying within the Big 12 and the SEC. The
Big 12, which consist of basketball giants like Kansas, Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor, will have
some of the hardest teams to face in the tournament this year. Baylor, who won last year's NCAA
title, will look to repeat this year as they lead the Big 12 standings this year with a 26-5 record.
However, going into the Big 12 tournament, Baylor is ranked as a second seed behind the Kansas
Jayhawks. Kansas, who is tied with Baylor overall in conference record (14-4), are neck to neck
in talent and overall standings. This conference tournament will most likely decide who will be a
number one seed in the bracket.
The same can be said for Kentucky and Auburn going into the SEC tournament this Wednesday
as they both go into the tournament with the best odds according to teamrankings.com. Auburn,
led by Freshman Forward and NBA Draft prospect, Jabari Smith, ended the year first in the SEC
rankings and posted winning records on home, away and neutral sites. Kentucky, whose
performance on the court is quick to attack with compatible ball movement making an efficient
team on offense, will look to brush past competition in the SEC tournament. Even though the
SEC does have other great teams like Tennessee and Arkansas, they are no match to compete
with either Kentucky or Auburn.
Of course you can never really put a lock on any of these teams. March Madness is filled with
upsets every year that just make social media post wild scenes of shocking outcomes per day in
the tournament. With that being said, get ready to take some days off. Kick back, relax, and
enjoy one of the most blood-pumping tournaments known to man in the Western Hemisphere.
The official 68-team bracket will be announced on Selection Sunday, March 13th.
Written by- Brandon Hernandez
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