Selection Sunday was the best Sunday since football ended, and it’s not even close. With March Madness just around the corner and the bracket now in my hands, I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, unable to fall asleep from excitement, just waiting for the day to come. Now, let’s take a look at the bracket as a whole, and then dive into each region.
OVERALL BRACKET
Soak it in folks. Print out a few copies just to hold and admire. March is finally here.
SOUTH REGION
Alabama earns the well deserved one seed, and their road to the final four seems to be the easiest. If the Tide can ignore the noise and dominate teams like we’ve seen them do throughout the season, I don’t know who’ll stop them in this region. Arizona may have a chance, but their defense has been suspect in recent weeks, and a poor defense will get shredded by this Bama offense.
EAST REGION
This eastern region is filled with teams that stand a chance of making it to Houston. Purdue is the crowd favorite of the one seeds to be the first out, but they can be extremely hard to beat if they play complete games. Edey is just too hard to guard, so if the Boilermakers’ supporting cast is able to knock down shots when the big man gets double or triple teamed, it will mean game over for their opponents.
Duke on the other hand is probably the best five seed in the whole tournament. However, they are facing off against arguably the best twelve seed in Oral Roberts. Then you have Marquette who’ve defied all odds this season, and could very well continue to do so in this year’s tournament. And of course, Izzo and his Michigan State squad will be lurking at a quiet seven seed this year, waiting to make a run.
MIDWEST REGION
Houston looks to tear through their region for home court advantage in the final four. Their squad has been solid on both sides of the court, and if they continue to play that way they’ll be extremely tough to stop. The Texas Longhorns also look to make a deep run, and hopefully forward Timmy Allen will be back to help out after missing the Big 12 tourney. Xavier is another dangerous team in this region, finishing second behind Marquette in the Big East tourney and entering with a chip on their shoulder.
WEST REGION
Can Kansas defend their title after losing three stars to the NBA last season? Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick (who’ll be a leader in jersey sales wherever he lands in this year’s draft) would undoubtedly say yes. And I can’t argue against them. This team has won so many big games this season, and their well rounded squad won’t have too much competition in the West.
That is, until they inevitably face off against UCONN in the sweet sixteen. It’s difficult not to look back on Kemba’s unreal championship run in 2011, and this team has a similar underdog feel. I would say that UCLA is a threat as well, but after losing Jaylen Clark to a torn achilles, I’m unsure that Jaquez will be able to carry the load all the way to the elite eight where Kansas will be waiting.
Conclusion
I am so excited. But, I can’t fill out a bracket until we know who a few of the 11 and 16 seeds are come Wednesday. So, my Wednesday post will be delayed til Thursday so I can give you my picks. Check back in then, and give me your thoughts in the comments!