West, Midwest, South, East: Welcome to my Bracketology.
It’s that time of the year again: March Madness! The NCAA Tournament might be the most exciting and surprising event that happens in sports all year, and after Covid taking away the 2020 bracket madness, it’s good to be back. I have created countless brackets, including coin-flip brackets, autofilled brackets, a magic 8-ball bracket, a “grandmother’s choice” bracket, and a “highest seed advances” bracket. However, in this blog, I will show you my “main” bracket, which is the bracket I tried to make the most accurate and have submitted in my competition groups. In addition to showing you my picks, I’ll also talk about different dark horses, sleepers, and other teams that I think will make moves in the tournament. Welcome to Maris’ Bracketology!
First of all, it is quite an odd year in the world of March Madness. Duke and Kentucky did not even make the tournament! (Lol, I’m not mad about that, though.) Another surprising fact is that the teams of some of the most iconic college basketball coaches, such as Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, and Jim Boeheim, are all a No. 8 seed or lower. Strange times!
Before I begin, I want to note that I made my brackets using ESPN’s Tournament Challenge website (and they also have an app). It has a decent interface and is by far the most popular among people for creating brackets and competing in different groups with friends and family.
WEST:
Alright, let’s dig into the West Region of the Bracket… As you can see in my selections below, the most notable upset I have in this region is the No.13 seed Ohio beating the No.4 seed Virginia. My logic for this pick was based around Virginia’s Covid-19 troubles. Not only did they have to exit the ACC Tournament due to Covid, they have been quarantining for the past week and will arrive in Indiana later than any of the other teams. Additionally, they will be one player short for the first couple of games due to a positive Covid test. Overall, The West is a tough region. It is filled with powerhouses, such as Kansas head coach Bill Self, Iowa center Luka Garza, and the undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs.
EAST:
In the East Region, there are lots of interesting things going on. First, I would like to point out that UNC-Greensboro made the tournament! Even though I did not pick the team from my hometown to win their first matchup, I will be very happy if they beat Florida State, and I end up getting this pick in my bracket wrong. Also, UNCG’s head coach, Wes Miller, played for UNC-Chapel Hill, and his half-brother, Walker Miller, is on the Tar Heels’ current roster. So, go UNCG Spartans! Georgetown is another team to watch. A big story is how they really were not supposed to be in this tournament. However, they just won the Big East Tournament, which secured their automatic bid, and their head coach is former Hoya and NBA legend, Patrick Ewing. Speaking of famous coaches, Rick Pitino, the former coach of Louisville, led Iona to the NCAA Tournament in his first season of coaching for this school. Rick Pitino has won two National titles in his career even though his 2013 title with Louisville was officially taken away due to their scandal. Either way, he is still a talented coach, and this could be a dark horse in the tournament due to his experience. Finally, as I am writing this, I am watching the play-in game between Michigan State and UCLA to earn a spot as a No.11 seed and to play against BYU. I have the winner of this play-in game beating BYU, but I am not sure if I am going to keep it this way before tomorrow. I thought Michigan State was going to win this play-in game, but as of right now, they are struggling.
SOUTH:
Moving on to the South. Of course, the first thing my eye sees is UNC sitting at a No.8 seed against Wisconsin in the Round of 64. UNC balled out in the ACC Tournament and deserved to be in that title game (*cough* refs *cough*). And I’m not complaining either… if you recall from my recent blog post, I was at the ACC Tourney in Greensboro… I saw the officiating debacle firsthand! I obviously have UNC winning their first game, but unfortunately, I have them falling to Baylor. We were just too darn inconsistent this season. One game we looked like a top 5 team, and the next game we looked much worse. Now keep in mind, this is my “main” bracket. I obviously have another bracket where UNC wins it all… Go Heels! In terms of other moves I have going on in the East region, I have Virginia Tech beating Florida in their first game. Florida will not have their best player, Keyontae Johnson, in the tournament due to his horrible health scare at the start of the season, so I have the Hokies advancing. However, a star that will be playing in this region is Mac McClung for Texas Tech. This is why I have them advancing to the Elite Eight.
MIDWEST:
We have reached the Midwest region. First off, Oklahoma State as a No.4 seed is, in the words of Stephen A. Smith, blasphemous! The fact that Illinois and Oklahoma State are a potential Sweet 16 matchup is crazy! I honestly feel bad for Illinois to have to face this team so early; they have the second best odds to win the Tourney, but I don’t know if they can make it past OSU. The gem of OSU is their star player, Cade Cunningham, who is projected to go Number 1 in the next NBA draft. Midwest region beware. Another blasphemous seed ranking in the Midwest Region is Georgia Tech at No.9. As mentioned, I just last week had the opportunity to see them win the ACC Tournament in person, and they played some great basketball. Although this might bias my decision with GA Tech being an ACC team, they are the lowest seed for an ACC Tournament champion in 34 years! I suppose their lower-than-expected seed is due to their losses to Mercer and Georgia State during the season, but still, I think they deserve better than a No.9 Seed. The Midwest region also has two legendary coaches in Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and Bob Huggins (West Virginia). This should be a very exciting region!
FINAL FOUR & WINNER:
This is not the Final Four I envisioned when I first laid eyes on my empty bracket, but this is where I ended up. And my winner is…. Gonzaga: the only No.1 seed to make it to my final four. This was a tough choice for me. Honestly, I did not want Gonzaga going all the way in my bracket, but in each matchup I encountered with them, I felt like I had to pick them. Gonzaga has some high expectations placed on them. In ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, around 30% of brackets have Gonzaga winning the entire Tournament. I suppose I added to that number. For the sake of my bracket, I hope they pull it off, but it is March Madness after all, and with so much hope and attention on one team, I am not sure that it will happen. We shall soon see, and good luck to everyone and their bracket adventures!
