March madness begins this Thursday as 64 teams will play a first round matchup on either Thursday or Friday. Then over the weekend the winners will play again leading to only 16 remaining dancers by Sunday night. The fast paced, high energy tournament gives basketball fans a chance to witness cinderella stories and basketball blue bloods. Who has the best chance of winning the tournament, and who is set up for an upset?
Tournament Winners:
Auburn: The number one overall seed has had a great year winning the SEC regular season championship while playing great competition all season. The team is ranked fourth overall in the Ken Pom rankings and has knocked off Alabama, Houston, and Tennessee this season. In order to get it done they will need likely player of the year Johni Broome to play to his full potential.
Florida: The top offense in the country is on a winning streak heading into the tournament after taking home the SEC championship. The team averages 85.4 points per game while limiting opponents to only 69.2. On top of the high powered offense the Gators will be able to stay away from other tough SEC teams as their region is absent of them.
Houston: The Big 12 regular season and Big 12 tournament champions are in the three spot in the Ken Pom rankings. The team is focused on playing elite defense, only allowing 58.5 points per game. The Cougars are led by C.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharpe who both average over 10 points per game. They will look to capitalize off turnovers throughout the tournament with hopes of a national title.
Duke: The Ken Pom number one will enter the tournament hungry as they have not won a title since 2015. The Blue Devils are led by freshman Cooper Flagg and have played consistent ball all season. However, the route will not be easy as the team will have to battle through the likes of Alabama or Wisconsin to move on to the Final Four. Another problem is the health of Flagg who missed two games in the conference tournament due to an ankle injury.
Bracket Busters:
Drake: The 30-3 Bulldogs are led by Bennett Stirtz who averages 19.8 points per game. The team has been on a tear all season after the newly hired coach Ben McCollum brought over multiple players in his move to division one ball. With the experience and togetherness of this group they will be hard to stop. This means that teams like Missouri, Texas Tech, and even St. Johns should keep watch.
McNeese: The Cowboys have been on a tear as of late keeping a long winning streak into the tournament. Even better, the team has experience as they were in the tournament field just last year. The balanced offense will be hard to stop and 12 seeds average one or two wins a tournament. Clemson, Purdue, and even Houston could get in the way of this winning streak as the tournament begins.
VCU: This defensive team enters the tournament with multiple players averaging over 15 points per game. The team is experienced and tall with four starting seniors. However, they have not played any super great teams all season. On the right day this team could beat over half of the field. Therefore, BYU, Wisconsin, and Alabama should have their head on a swivel.
As the tournament begins make sure that you make your picks with a bit of knowledge on your side as top ranked teams tend to win the tournament. However, as we all know it is March and anything can happen.
