It is finally March, folks! You know what that means: The greatest tournament in American sports, March Madness, is here.
Last year, my expertise led me to a 42-21 record, finishing off my predictions strong with correctly predicting three of the four final teams and the correct champion.
This year, it is my goal to give you an even better insight into this tournament, giving you the path to a perfect bracket. And trust me, my bracket is perfect. They sent me the script. With that being said, let’s get the predictions underway.
No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Creighton: If you ask me, Louisville was criminally under-seeded. They finished the regular season ranked no. 10 in the AP poll but were seeded eighth? It doesn’t make sense. However, with the Cardinals practically playing a home game at the Rupp Arena in Kentucky, I pick them to move on.
No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 High Point: This game is interesting to me and I am very excited for this one. High Point is one of my Cinderellas this year, being 14th in offensive rating and having well-rounded bench players that can score with ease, give me the upset win over a struggling Purdue.
No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Montana: For this one, I really don’t need to give it much thought. Montana has an overvalued seeding even as a 14 seed. Wisconsin is going to be too much for the Grizzlies. Give me the Badgers.
No. 1 Houston vs. No. 16 SIU Edwardsville: This one is a no-brainer. I don’t think any of these 16 seeds have potential to do the near impossible, especially against the best defense in the country. Give me Houston.
No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 16 Alabama State: Before I give my prediction, what a game winner for the Alabama State Hornets on Tuesday. With that being said, they looked bad for a lot of that game against a 16-17 Saint Francis, and now they are playing Auburn. Auburn by a lot.
No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 McNeese: If you read my article from last year, McNeese was my favorite Cinderella, and I even had them in the Sweet Sixteen. They lost by 21. They look good again, but I’m going with Clemson.
No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 VCU: For most of this week I have had BYU winning, but my mind has changed. BYU thrives off the three-ball and VCU is known for forcing teams off the three-point line. The last time a team did that to BYU, they got smoked by Houston. Give me VCU.
No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Georgia: It hurts me to pick in this matchup. I love Georgia and Asa Newell—he is a stud—but the Bulldogs from Spokane, not Athens, are coming out on top. They are criminally underrated this year.
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Wofford: The only thing I am anticipating for this matchup is to hopefully see Wofford’s Kyler Filewich go to the charity stripe so I can see his granny shot free throw. Tennessee wins easily.
No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas: It’s battle between two of the most prestigious coaches in college basketball, Coach Cal and Arkansas vs Coach Self and Kansas. It is tough to choose, but I’ll take the 7-seeded Jayhawks.
No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Yale: Yale could be a great story for this year and they have a good matchup against the Aggies. Yale excels at defensive rebounding and limiting second chance points will win them this game. Give me the upset and Yale moves on.
No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 11 Drake: For the third straight year, I personally have Drake upsetting and moving on. This year, they will do it; I can feel it. Drake plays extremely slow and Missouri cannot play that way. Drake wins, led by Bennet Stirtz.
No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 Utah State: This game has potential to be good, but I really don’t think Utah State will be capable of an upset here. If UCLA gets hot, they can easily run away with this game. UCLA moves on.
No. 2 St. John’s vs. No. 15 Omaha: I won’t give this game much attention, but I want to praise Coach Rick Pitino for the fantastic turnaround he had with St. John’s. The 2-seeded Red Storm moves on.
No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC San Diego: This matchup is haunting me. My heart says UC San Diego as they are good at forcing turnovers and capitalizing off of them, and Michigan is bad with turnovers. However, my brain says Michigan dominates them with size and the team is on fire right now. As much as it pains me, I think I have to go with Michigan here, but I hope I am wrong on this.
No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 UNC Wilmington: The final game of the night, this one won’t be close. Texas Tech has the potential to make a run to the Final Four and it starts with an easy win in this matchup.
Bryce Norwood can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho.edu.