March Madness is upon us and once again the world of college basketball is ready to take center stage as a total of 68 teams get ready to battle it out in a national tournament in which one loss sends you packing.
Only the strongest will reach the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona, (April 1-3) and only one will earn the right to be crowned national champion in 2017 just as the Villanova Wildcats did in 2016.
‘Nova (31-3)is not only the defending champion, but also the number 1 overall seed and the favorite to win it all again. They will try to become the first back-to-back champions since the Florida Gators did it back in 2006 and 2007. The
Villanova is the East region top seed and will be facing the Mount St Mary’s Mountaineers who defeated the New Orleans Privateers 67-66 in a tightly contested First Four match that featured a pair of 16 seeded teams.
Gonzaga in the West, Kansas in the Midwest and North Carolina in the South are the other teams that enter the dance as number one seeds in the other regions.
The Cincinnati Bobcats (number 6 seed in the Midwest Region) will play the Kansas State Wildcats, who took care of Wake Forest in the other First Four game that featured a pair of 11 seeds.
Today two more games will decide who clinches the final two tickets to the “Big Dance”. North Carolina Central and UC Davis, two number 16 seeds, play in the first game to decide who gets to play Kansas and they are followed by the match between USC and Providence, a pair of number 11 seeds who fight it out to decide who plays the East’s number 6 seed SMU.
The Villanova Wildcats enter the “Big Dance” as the oddmakers’ favorite due to their great season, which saw them beat their opponents by at least 10 points in 25 of their 31 wins. The Wilcats have talent in all positions and a deep bench, with Player of the Year candidate, guard Josh Hart, leading the team.
Gonzaga (West), Kansas (Midwest) and North Carolina (South) have enough weapons to threaten Villanova so a repeat is far from a sure thing. Not to mention the threat posed by lower seeds along the way in which lower seeds frequently pull last-second upsets and bust the brackets of millions of fans.
Pay attention also on UCLA, perhaps the most explosive team of the tournament, with a lethal attack, difficult to contain due to its excellent three point shot effectiveness (41% of success). Other outsiders may be Iowa State, Marquette, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Vermont.
The Michigan Wolverines are the big stars of the moment after their amazing Big Ten title. John Beilein’s team had a 14-9 record just a little more than month ago but it won 10 of its last 12 games.
This year’s March Madness includes five schools making their tournament: North Dakota, Northern Kentucky, UC Davis, Jacksonville State and Northwestern.
All eyes are on 19-year-old Lonzo Ball, the leader of UCLA’s offense who’s able to score from anywhere in the floor. His height, great ball handling, game vision (7.7 assists per game) and scoring ability (14.6 points per game) is a threat against any team.
Other players to watch during the national tournament are Caleb Swanigan (Purdue), Mount Morris (Iowa State), athletic forward Josh Jackson (Kansas), excellent defender, or the aforementioned Josh Hart, Villanova’s point guard that’s excellent under pressure.
The Final Four will take place in Glendale, Arizona, at Phoenix University Stadium. It is the first time the event has taken place in a Western state since the 1995 Final Four in Seattle.
