Christmas, step aside. This is the best time of the year.
It’s time for March Madness. The greatest tournament in the history of sports has arrived for another installment of heartbreak, cinderella stories, and thrilling endings.
The NCAA Tournament has proven time and time again to be the best postseason in all of sports.
The iconic nature of the next few weeks means a lot to many people, mostly college students who have a horse in the race. This tournament is the most important thing in the lives of so many people and I don’t blame them for it. If I’m not skipping class to watch games, I’ll be watching or keeping up with games in class.
Anyways, my favorite March Madness tradition has to be my bracket being busted on day 1. It never fails. At the end of the day, it’s about having the best bracket in your group, not having a perfect bracket. Although, picking a perfect bracket would be so sick. One day.
Here are a few teams I’m keeping my eye on throughout the big dance.
3 Seed, Kentucky
This year’s Wildcats have been polarizing. Coach John Calipari is America’s coach, running a team that’s teaming with NBA talent and star-potential.
Apparently, they play NBA defense, too. No, that’s not a good thing.
Kentucky is ranked 334th in the nation in OPP PPG. Not ideal!
Part of that probably comes from their guard-heavy rotation of Antonio Reeves, Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, and D.J. Wagner: all 6’4” and below.
Being ranked 2nd in PPG somewhat makes up for their horrid defense, but I’m a proponent that defense wins playoff/tournament games, so I have doubts that this team can take it to the Final Four.
Whether they make it far or not, this team is special. Sheppard, National Freshman Player of the Year, has improved in every game, displaying his ability to take over games and become a top-tier scorer at the next level.
Dillingham has been a high school phenom for some years now and is finally getting to flourish in a microwave-scoring role.
Justin Edwards, Tre Mitchell and Aaron Bradshaw have proven to be essential pieces to the team in the frontcourt.
If nothing else, this team is deep, talented, and coached by the best coach in the country.
2 Seed, Marquette
Shaka Smart is an awesome coach.
Marquette has disappointed in the big dance two years in a row now, but I think that changes this year.
The Final Four is a reachable goal for the Golden Eagles. This will be the last run for Tyler Kolek, and Oso Ighodaro as both will be graduating in the Spring.
Yes, Tyler Kolek will be graduating and he, in fact, can read.
All jokes aside, Kolek is a superstar with the ball in his hands at the college level. Averaging 15 PPG and 7.6 APG, he’s the glue, engine, driver and heart of the team.
Kameron Jones has proven to be an absolute sniper this year, shooting 41% from 3-point range.
I’ll be rooting for Smart and his rag-tag team of ferocious Golden Eagles throughout the tournament.
12 Seed, McNeese State
Who???
The hottest cinderella pick in the country, that’s who.
The McNeese State Cowboys have put the world on notice with their 30-3 record, top 5 defense, and 12-seed status in the tournament.
Led by their do-it-all 6’0” guard, Shahada Wells, the team has pulled off some impressive victories against talented teams.
I’m not sure how many nationally televised games they’ve played; I haven’t had the pleasure of watching them yet, but I will be tuned into their matchup vs. Gonzaga.
At first glance, they’re ridiculously undersized to be able to compete with Gonzaga, especially with the forward-driven scoring that the Bulldogs deploy. Either way, this game will bust brackets and I’m here for it. There’s nothing better than a cinderella team.
4 Seed, Auburn
Auburn is an extremely interesting team this year. They’ve showed great size, length, and inside scoring ability throughout the season.
They were able to accumulate a 27-7 overall record and an impressive 13-5 record in conference play in the SEC.
Bruce Pearl has such a contagious spirit that’s been fun to see spark inspiration in his players.
Auburn’s leading scorer, Johni Broome, had this hilarious moment with Morgan Freeman sitting courtside earlier in the season:
It’s good to see he showed respect to the legend after he originally thought it was an overzealous fan.
I would say that I see a Final Four appearance in the Tigers’ future, but they could run into the buzzsaw that is UConn in the Sweet 16. I’ve gone in circles over who I think will win the National Championship this year and I haven’t been able to convince myself it will be anyone other than UConn.
Auburn will still give teams problems up until then. They’re not the best three point shooting team in the country, but they also don’t shoot a ton of threes, so they know their strengths and limitations.
I see nothing wrong with picking Auburn to go far this year. If Charles Barkley is doing it, why shouldn’t you? He’s never wrong.
5 Seed, Saint Mary’s
Saint Mary’s might be hottest team in the nation, losing one game since Christmas. That one game came against Gonzaga, which they beat on two other separate occasions.
The defense that the Gaels play is very real. They’re ranked 2nd in OPP PPG at 58.7 PPG.
*Sidenote: What the hell is a Gael?
The team is led by 3-point sniping sophomore guard, Aiden Mahaney, Lithuanian junior point guard, Augustas Marciulionis, and prototype senior big man, Mitchell Saxen. An oddball group, sure, but it works.
My biggest concern for Saint Mary’s will be their potential matchups against some of the high-major conference teams such as Alabama and North Carolina.
*According to stmarys-ca.edu, a Gael is an Irish person.
My Bracket and Wrap-up
My Final Four is UConn, Michigan St., Marquette, and Tennessee.
I’m sorry in advance to those four teams for eliminating you from the tournament by picking you, it is what it is.
I came across an interesting stat on Twitter a few days ago that will probably change the way you pick your tournament winners from now on, so beware.
95% of NCAA Tournament winners meet the criteria of being ranked in the top 21 in adjusted offensive efficiency. 95% of winners also ranked in the top 37 in adjusted defensive efficiency margin.
The eight teams that meet both qualifications are UConn, Purdue, Duke, Arizona, Auburn, Creighton, Houston and Marquette.
Do with this information what you will. After all, history is made every year in March. Pick that 16 seed to win! You never know.
-Dom