The brackets are set for this year’s college basketball’s March Madness tournament. Over the next four weeks, 68 teams will play 67 games to compete for a national championship.
The Virginia Cavaliers are the overall No. 1 seed, just the sixth time in tournament history that they’ve held the top spot, while Villanova, Kansas, and Xavier are the other top seeds.
Virginia is the top seed in the South region, Xavier commands the West, Villanova the East and Kansas the Midwest.
Virginia has the best defense in the country, but they’re as good or even better offensively, surpassing even other Virginia teams of recent tournaments skills wise. They have the talent to go all the way to make it to the final four and even win the national championship.
Kentucky is a team in that region that could surprise a few opponents along the way in the South after their wheels were coming off just a few weeks ago. After struggling for part of their season and even having some “experts” saying that they might even miss the tournament head coach John Calipari found a way to get them playing their best basketball when it matters the most.
Look for Loyola-Chicago to play the role of Cinderella in the South as it has enough skills to upset Miami and even get hot to win a couple of games, don’t be surprised if they play the role of bracket busters.
In the West region the favorites may be Xavier, but Michigan, after winning the Big Ten tournament, is playing good enough to upset their way to the Final Four as they look focused and poised to beat anybody.
Eighth-Seeded Missouri has enough talent to be considered a sleeper, and if they get hot they can become a scary team capable of defeating some higher seeds.
Look for mid-major South Dakota State to play the role of Cinderella in this region as they have one of the best scorers in the country in Mike Daun. In previous tournaments when mid-major teams have had one of the country’s top scorers they’ve always been able to do some bracket damage and the Jackrabbits may continue that trend.
In the East region, Villanova will most likely make it to the Final Four as they have the experience and the basketball talent necessary to get past anyone. In this region, the fourth-seeded Wichita State may not have the skills to defeat Villanova, but they can definitely make it to the regional semifinals where they would face and lose to Villanova.
The Midwest, which some are calling “the region of death” is perhaps the most competitive region of the bunch as it’s stacked with Kansas, Duke Auburn, and Michigan State.
Duke isn’t the top seed in this region, but they are arguably one of the most talented teams in the country. On paper, they have everything to win this region, but this is a region where anything can happen.
The inconsistent and controversial Oklahoma, led by national player of the year candidate Trae Young, has been a disaster for the last month and a half, yet they somehow found a way to be included in the tournament. The controversy stems from the fact that they were chosen for the tournament despite going 4-11 in the final 15 regular-season games and losing twice this season to rival Oklahoma State, who was left out.
Despite the controversy and their recent struggles, if Young regains his early season form the Sooners could be dangerous and beat anyone in the region. This, though, is highly unlikely as the team has no chemistry and will depend mostly on the individual heroic performances from its players, mostly from Young.
NC State has the potential to become the Cinderella of this region if it gets past Seton Hall. Although the Jayhawks would most likely defeat them they are a nice matchup as they play great three-point defense and have the potential to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.
Click Here To Get The 2018 Official March Madness Printable Bracket!
