Alright everybody, lets cut to the chase. Who listens to advice for brackets? I’m sorry if some of you do, but March Madness brackets, to me, are one of the few sport activities you have to do completely one your own. How many times do we hear about the story where said person didn’t watch a game ALLLLL season, but picks which school they which they went to, and beats your bracket? At the end of the day, if you pick the champion, you have such a huge advantage over everyone. So with that being said, I will try and persuade y’all on my picks and angles, even though in March you got to ride solo!
East Region
The East region has Duke. I’m pretty sure you all know that Duke is the overwhelming favorite to win the whole bracket. They are loaded, a truly historic group of Freshman. The odds are, Duke will have three of the top five NBA Draft picks this upcoming Summer, and all three of those players are Freshman. Duke is beatable though. While I personally do not seeing them going out any earlier than the Final Four, Duke can lose. They only lost one time when fully healthy. That was to a big, strong, physical Gonzaga team. They also lost to the Syracuse zone because they forced Duke to shoot. Duke could lose by efficient offenses.
Who can challenge Duke? Well the easy answer is #2 seed Michigan State. Michigan State, even as a #2 seed, is underrated. The Spartans won the Big Ten regular season, and the conference tournament! They are banged up and will probably only go 7 or 8 deep, but they only have one Freshman contributor. They also have a coach almost as good as Coach K of Duke, in Coach Izzo. Michigan State always finds a way, and I will pencil them in to the Elite-8.
One trap I would not fall in to in this region is picking Yale over LSU. LSU is the best #3 seed, player wise, but their coach is away from the team dealing with a scandal. Now, anything could happen as I’ve mentioned, but I really cant see LSU losing this one. People love to hype Kentucky and Tennessee, but LSU is the team that had the #1 seed in the SEC. LSU is as athletic as anyone in the nation. Jersey Freshman Naz Reid is a mismatch nightmare. While at times he plays soft and too cute, this “point-forward” is hitting his stride and his last game had 26 points and 14 assists. Add that to three shooters on the perimeter, and I personally give Yale close to no shot.
The upset I like is Belmont over Maryland. Historically, one play-in team finds a way to advance. The last time we saw Maryland, they lost to a Nebraska team who had six healthy scholarship players! As a person who watched countless Rutgers games, and plenty of Big Ten games, I really haven’t seen too much Maryland. They have a nice point guard – center combo, but they don’t excite me. Belmont does. They are good, real good. The selection committee picked them for the tournament when Belmont is a mid-major. Belmont is the first team to get an at-large bid out of the Ohio Valley conference and this is because they space the floor, score, and win. They have plenty of momentum after taking care of Temple, and will be ready to roll against Maryland.
Midwest Region
To me, this is the deepest bracket. It would be must see basketball if UNC faces Kentucky in the Elite 8, but Kentucky will have to battle. Lets flash back to December 8, 2018. In the Garden, Seton Hall actually took down Kentucky 84-83. If both teams win round one, they will face off again. But this isn’t why I state that fact. Seton Hall is going to lose to Wofford in their opening game. I state this fact because Kentucky doesn’t defend the three well. December 8th, Seton Hall got hot from three, and Wofford is the best 3point shooting team in the nation. From the conference that brought you Steph Curry, the nation needs to be introduced to Wofford’s Fletcher Magee. Magee is currently three three’s away from being NCAA’s all time leading 3point scorer. He is surrounded with two other shooters, a true big, and an athletic power forward. Wofford isn’t deep, but they certainly can make noise, and that includes beating Kentucky.
If Kentucky survives that one, they can pick their poison in a likely matchup between #3 Houston and #6 Iowa State. I personally like Iowa State to beat Houston, but Houston is a legit #3 seed. They are just too small for me. Iowa State has a star in Marial Shayok. This Senior helped lead Iowa State to a share of the Big 12, and they won the conference tournament! He’s been waiting on this moment since he transferred from Virginia, and now finally he’s the leader of a dangerous team!
While I am hyping Wofford, Houston and Iowa State up, I say there is a decent to good chance Kentucky still survives. After the battles they have to go through, I really don’t like their chances against UNC. UNC’s road is a lot easier to me and while they will be tested, the bottom part of the bracket just feels loaded. Yawn, I am taking my second #1 seed, and believe UNC comes out of the Midwest. I will be New Jersey’s #1 Wofford fan, and if they could have crept up to the #6 seed, with the momentum they could have gained, I could see them coming out the group. But I have to put my fandom a side and roll with UNC.
West Region
Up until about two weeks ago, you couldn’t tell me Marquette wasn’t making the Final Four, I wasn’t listening if you disagreed. They lost five of their last six and seriously looked like they burnt out. Markus Howard is shooting 17/57 from three in those last six games. He’s almost averaging 10 three point attempts a game, where he only shot more than 10 threes in 37% of the games before that! He’s settling for bad shots. Even if they get passed Ja Morant’s Murray State, FSU might be too much to handle. If Marquette hits their three’s, they can go toe-to-toe with nearly anyone, but they are not and FSU is HOT.
FSU plays 11 players, which is a lot, especially for a college team. Of the 11, only ONE is below the height of 6foot4. They also play three Freshman, but those three are buried at the end of the rotation, only averaging 10 minutes a game each. FSU reminds me of those mid-2000s Louisville teams. They know how to apply pressure, and are ready to move. They could be a part of the best sweet-16 matchup, if they advance and face off against Gonzaga. Gonzaga is another big team who has been dominant all year. They are the only team to defeat a healthy Duke, even though if was in Hawaii back in November. While Gonzaga lost in the WCC championship game to St. Mary’s, Gonzaga hasn’t faced size in a long time. FSU will catch Gonzaga at a perfect time, and defeat them in a game for the ages.
I don’t have either team representing the West region though. That is reserved for Michigan. Michigan is the best all-around defensive team in the nation. They play as a unit and make teams uncomfortable. Early in the year they completely dismantled Villanova and UNC, winning by an average of 22 points. Michigan’s kryptonite is Michigan State. They are 0-3 against the Spartans so thankfully they aren’t in the same bracket as them. Other than that, I don’t see many flaws. They are seasoned, only having one Freshman contributor. That Freshman is Ignas Brazdeikis, who is the teams leading scorer. Other than that, they return six big time contributors from last season’s runner-up. Michigan ended Florida State’s run last season in the Elite-8 and I feel some déjà vu.
South Region
Every year, people argue one region is a lot weaker than the others. This year, I will say the weak region is the South. #3 seed Purdue relies too much on Carson Edwards, #4 seed Kansas State is potentially without it’s Senior leader in Dean Wade, #5 Wisconsin recently has tournament success and plays sound defense, but I think they need another piece, and #6 seed Villanova shoots so many three’s that they define inconsistency. Even the top two seeds are shaky. Virginia has a pour history in the tournament, even though this year they are loaded, and #2 Tennessee feels like they play down to their competition.
I’ll tell you what I’m upset about. My buddy Tim is a huge Kansas State fan, and it hurts to write this, but they are down their best player and their leader. Dean Wade is so important to KState; I think they could have reached the Final Four if he played. Now, with that kind of compliment, its radical of me to pick them to lose in the first game, but either way I just cant see them getting passed #1 Virginia in the sweet-16 if they were to meet up. It stinks that Wade will again miss the tournament, and this team did reach the Elite-8 without him last season, but I am not too confident in them this run. A game to watch will be #13 UC Irvine looking to upset #4 Kansas state, but KState is still too talented and I think they find a way to pull away in the final minute. We were robbed of a Final Four run though.
I’m also not buying this #12 Oregon over #5 Wisconsin upset. I’ve heard week after week how bad the PAC 12 is. Yes, Oregon won eight straight games to close the season, and they did mess with their rotation leading to that hot streak, but now they are looked at as the most popular upset pick. The PAC 12 was baddddddd this season, even though they snuck in three teams. Wisconsin is nothing special, but I think and hope the #4 team in the Big Ten can beat the #6 team in the PAC 12. Oregon might be hot, but Wisconsin should handle them.
So who comes out of this region? Why not Tennessee. Tennessee held the #1 ranking for a good part of the season. They had an Elite-8 run last season and return basically everyone. Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield are two 6foot7 swingmen that can take over a game when you need it. Its valuable to have one player capable of taking over, and Tennessee has two. They are battle tested too; they beat Gonzaga and they took two out of three against Kentucky. Tennessee is as balanced as any team in the nation, and I almost feel with Kentucky’s surge, that Tennessee is now slept on. Well don’t sleep no more, Tennessee is here.
Final Four
If you’re still with me, and I will wrap this up quickly, I have Duke facing Michigan and UNC against Tennessee. Duke and UNC I feel have distanced themselves this season. Duke has had it all year, and UNC has come on as of late. If this is indeed the final matchup, it could be historic. We’ve seen this matchup three times already, and that is still not enough. After the 2018 year full of upsets, I would be ecstatic for the two best teams to fight in a heavyweight battle. The way Zion Williamson complements every player, I just don’t see Duke losing. Zion’s intangibles are something I haven’t seen since LeBron came on the scene. Zion makes everyone better by creating turnovers and pushing in transition. Whether it is a steal or a block, his on-ball and off-ball defense elevates the team to a new gear. Him and RJ Barrett can get to the hole better than anyone in the nation. Get Barrett in transition and he looks like a superstar himself. This comparison isn’t fair, and their games don’t match-up, But Zion and Barrett are the college version of LeBron and Wade, especially in transition. LeBron and Wade won in Miami, and so will Duke.
Now, after wasting 10 minutes of your life reading my ramblings of March Madness … why should you listen to me? Well, you shouldn’t. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in this tournament, no matter how many games you watch or how many statistics you run. So go out there and have fun making your bracket!!! And please share and support if you enjoyed the read 🙂
Thank you,
Goose
Kowal's Korner 
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