This IS an NCAA Bracket Post!
Well this is it! We are finally just a couple of days away from the Big Dance! This is what we have been waiting all year (nope two years) for! With the playoffs getting cancelled last year due to Covid, the anticipation is high for this year.
My hats off to the NCAA for the time and effort they have put into making sure the tournament actually happens this year. Taking advantage of the many facilities in Indianapolis and the surrounding area is pretty smart.
There should be some epic games played as some iconic spots in the basketball world. Can you say Hoosier Stadium? Can you say the real Hoosier Stadium (Butler Fieldhouse)! This is going to be awesome. My brother in law has his bags packed and is ready to hit the road for his annual early round trip with his friends. Thanks to them allowing limited spectators they might actually get to see some games.
In case you missed it, that is my bracket at the top of this post. That is the 8.5" x 11" piece of paper that I am banking on to get me through the next month or so. After this weekend it will be warn and abused, picked up and put down, thrown around the room, and scarred by countless pen and pencil marks crossing off this team or circling that one.
You read that right, I have Gonzaga in the final (no surprise there). What is different from my bracket and probably 80% of the rest of the world is that I have Illinois beating them in the final.
I actually probably have quite a few controversial picks in my bracket. I think it is pretty solid though. Given the way I have been following the top 25 all season as I write my posts for you, I am pretty confident with my picks.
One of the few that I question is Michigan State and that play-in game. @enforcer48 says that BYU isn't that great, and Michigan State has beaten three top five teams in the past couple of weeks. Their play has just been too inconsistent for me. You never know which team is going to show up. Their past performance in the tournament hasn't been that great . Especially in the past five years or so. I just can't count on them to perform the way I hope they do.
Trust me, that is one bracket bust I probably wouldn't be too sad about if they surprise me!
I don't have Michigan going as far as some people. They are also pretty inconsistent. They have proven they have some weaknesses and I think the right teams can take advantage of that in the tournament. That St. Bonaventure team was looking really solid on Sunday. I wouldn't be shocked if they had an upset over U of M even though my bracket doesn't indicate that.
VCU was looking really good as well. Even though they lost to St. Bonaventure, the Iowa team they should be playing in the 3rd round has also been inconsistent.
I think this a good time to point out that nine of the Big 10 teams made it to the tournament this year. That is the most of any other conference. It's probably not quite as impressive when you consider there are actually 14 teams in the Big 10 now, not ten.
So there you go. Look it over. Argue with me about it in the comments. Turn it in as your own bracket in the office pool. I don't care. Just remember if we win it all, I get a 10 % cut!
The Spartans are dangerous whenever they are in the tournament, but I'm gonna take a chance and skip over them this time as they play in the first round.
Would be pretty impressive if they go far like this one year (can't remember) this past decade when they went to the Final Four.
Yeah, it has been more miss than hit lately. They had the run in 2000 or whenever it was and then many one or two deep runs, but nothing that came to fruition. I remember more often than not them getting knocked out in the first round. They have the talent, but it would take nothing short of a miracle for everything to click into place this year I think.
Well. My bracket is a bit different than yours :) I have Gonzaga (you had to know that was coming) over Ohio State in the Championship. I have Oklahoma State knocking off Illinois in the elite 8.
I had to pick pretty carefully to make it MSU over UCLA in the play in game. UCLA is a west coast MSU this year. Lose to WSU and stomp Oregon. What? I've got BYU no matter. I saw them play 3 times against GU plus a couple of early season tournament games. They are pretty darn good. They've got a 7'3" guy at center that alters shots and scores pretty good, and they can shoot the three. Their last game was against GU in Las Vegas and they led by 12 at half. They played smash mouth basketball and slowed GU down. Only 3 teams actually led GU in the second half and two of them were BYU. West Virginia being the other.
Like you, I make one bracket and stick to it. I start with two copies and might have to print a couple more as we go along :)
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL.
I am sure I've got plenty of misses in there. I just think Illinois is a really good team. I had to give a lot of the Big 10 teams the benefit of the doubt just due to their strength of schedule. It was a tough conference this year, so any of them could come out swinging. I kind of feel like the Big 12 was the same way. They had an interesting statistic about MSU being the only team who beat four of the top five teams in the past year or something like that. Of course they had to go back to last year, but still. I'd love for a deep run from them, but I am just not feeling it.
five thirtyeight had an article a couple of years ago that made an argument that the pre season poll was a much better predictor that the seeding list. Which would put MSU in a pretty good place. I'm about as good with a bracket as I am with investment advice. Like Don't Do What I Do. :)