March Madness Predictions

Early Upsets, Cinderella Picks In The Ncaa Tournament

... The Shockers are a balanced team with five players averaging between 9.2 and 11.8 points per game, led by sophomore forward Markis Mc Duffie. No. 13 Winthrop vs. No. 4 Butler: Winthrop finished the regular season 26-6, winning the Big South title for the first time since 2010. The Eagles won a Division I-best 12 road games. This is their first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years. Butler is coming off a first-round loss in the Big East tournament against Xavier. 3 EARLY UPSETS. No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast University over No. 3 Florida State: The Eagles' high- flying 2013 team crashed the Sweet 16, and this Dunk City squad could be better. The Seminoles' size will be problematic, but Florida Gulf Coast can still soar if it gets running, able to rely on its 50.2 percent shooting from the field. No. 12 Princeton over No. 5 Notre Dame : The Tigers have won 19 games in a row and went unbeaten in the Ivy League, including in the conference's first-ever postseason tournament. They have balanced scoring, led by guard Devin Cannady (13.7 points per game) and forward Steven Cook (13.7 ...

March Madness Picks, Based On Football

... football region, but I still don’t think it’s the worst. FSU gets only one serious challenge while parading into the Final Four, letting the Noles rest up for tougher opponents. [Spoiler.]. Notre Dame went 4-8 (and wouldn’t be too big of an underdog against 10-3 West Virginia if they actually played, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it). Subscribe to The Read Option. A daily-ish mini-column on the college football thing of the day, with some other stuff too. Your email address. By signing up you agree to our terms of use. This region is despicable. Things are so bad, 4-8 Oregon and 3-9 Iowa State reach the Sweet 16. A handful of teams here don’t even have football, including Kansas. That was a joke among friends. Michigan scrubbing out Louisville in the second round leaves us with only two FBS programs of note from there on out. Mainly, let’s imagine how roof-spacklingly furious Jim ...

Predicting The First Four

... of the ball and ranks 66 th in turnover margin. The two squads are very similar, but New Orleans' size advantage in the frontcourt is enough to earn the Privateers the nod by a slim margin. The winner advances to face defending champion Villanova, so whichever team comes out on top should soak in the glory while it lasts. 11 Kansas State vs. 11 Wake Forest. Bing Predicts winner: Wake Forest (58 percent). Location: Dayton, Ohio. Opening line: KSU -1. Tipoff time: 9:10 p.m. EST (Tuesday). Bruce Weber has Kansas State back in the NCAA tournament after a two-year hiatus in which the Wildcats went a combined 32-33. Kansas State was the last team selected in the field by the committee, ranking as the lowest at-large bid (No. 46). An upset over Baylor in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinal gave the Wildcats' resume a much-needed boost, and their hard-fought loss to West Virginia in the semifinal didn't hurt either. Kansas State features four players averaging between 11.2 and 12.5 points per ...

March Madness Predictions 2017

... favor Wisconsin despite Virginia Tech’s ability to shoot. UNC Wilmington comes into the tournament on a hot streak and face a Virginia team that struggled down the stretch. The guards for UNC Wilmington will be the difference despite Virginia’s suffocating defense. SMU is one of the analytic darlings to advance to the Sweet 16. The concern for the ponies is their lack of experience and poise in close games. Keep in mind SMU was banned from the tournament last season. Florida and Baylor should be on upset-alert with their poor play down the stretch, but we like both teams to advance in the first round. The Gators play what will essentially be a home game in Orlando. Here is a full rundown of the first round of the East Region. The teams in bold are the schools we predict to advance. 1 Villanova. 16 Mt. St. Mary’s/New Orleans. 8 Wisconsin. Round of 32. Villanova faces plenty of talent in the East region. (Getty). UNC Wilmington is the one surprise pick. The Gators lost big man John Egbunu in mid-February and have been in a slump since. Florida ...

Best Value Picks To Win Your March Madness Bracket Pool

... Cardinals have the sixth-highest adjusted net point differential (plus-26.7) entering the tournament with strong guard play by Donovan Mitchell, an all-ACC first-team member who had a breakout season with a team-high 15.7 points per game with 2.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, a better reflection of his capabilities than the poor performance against Duke in the ACC tournament. Mitchell was also selected to the ACC all-defensive team, solidifying Louisville's sixth-best defense (90.4 adjusted points allowed per 100 possessions) this season. Is it easy to pull the trigger on this type of bracket? No, but it is the best way to maximize your value throughout March Madness. Winning the Big Ten regular season got Purdue a No. 4 seed. Ouch. Winning the Big Ten tournament "earned" Michigan a 7 seed. Double ouch. And Wisconsin, which finished second in both the ...

Every First-round Game Analyzed

... in fewest turnovers. Oklahoma State went from 0-6 in the Big 12 to turning up the defense and getting a a tournament bid, but comes in on a three-game losing streak. The Cowboys’ Phil Forte III has taken 85 free throws this season and missed four of them. Hence, the nation-leading 95.3 percentage. Louisville vs. Jacksonville State: Louisville beat champions from four different conferences during the season, usually with a lot of defense. That list of victims, as every person with a drop of Cardinal blood knows, included Kentucky. Minus last season’s self-imposed tournament ban, know the last time Louisville didn’t get to the Sweet 16? Try 2011. And now the Cardinals aim to rain on the Cinderella parade of Jacksonville State, which is in Alabama, not the northeast corner of Florida. The Gamecocks were picked to finish 12 th in the Ohio Valley Conference and went from 8-23 to 20-14 in one year. FIRST ROUND SOUTH. North Carolina vs. Texas Southern: OK Tar Heels, time ...

Our Writers Fill Out Brackets And Give Their Upset Picks, Final Four And Title Winners

... a heavily pro-Arizona crowd. That sets up a classic title game that ends with Duke finally validating its preseason hype and delivering Mike Krzyzewski’s sixth national title. MALIKA ANDREWS. Malika Andrews’ bracket in the Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick-em game. Upsets: No. 11 Xavier has the potential to overpower No. 6 Maryland – especially on the defensive end. The Terps have struggled with defensive boards while the Musketeers have proven to be a good rebounding team. The Terps have lost six out of their last 10 games so unless they can get hot early and stay hot, Xavier could take that one easily. Final Four: Gonzaga beat Arizona once already this season, and with a strong smackdown over Saint Mary’s in the WCC finals en route to a 31-1 regular season. I should disclose that my younger sister is a student there, so I may ...

Here's Some Help For Your March Madness Predictions

... away here – had a satisfactory career. Wake Forest sophomores per 40. That would be Tim Duncan. The South Region is as feisty as it is glamorous – these games promise to deliver. East Region. The “Sheesh, we have to play them?” region. Villanova is the national champion that earned its No. 1 overall seed. That said, the Wildcats’ draw is a trip to the dentist, a weekend at the in-laws…. essentially, any cliché Jon Rothstein has ever tweeted that’s meant to illustrate a grueling 40 minutes applies here. West Virginia Basketball. Tougher than a long weekend at your in-laws. — Jon Rothstein (@Jon Rothstein) March 11, 2017. There’s a chance the defending champions will have to go through Wisconsin and Virginia just to get to the Elite Eight. A reminder: Wisconsin has reached the second weekend three years in a row, while Virginia has the ...

Upset Predictions, Final Four Pick In West Region

... No. 1 and earned No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeds. They’ve had a first-team All-American. They’ve had NBA lottery picks. This once-tiny program in the Pacific Northwest built itself into a national power whose success threatens so many supporters of power-conference programs: they’ve invented a narrative that suggests a team that’s been to the second weekend of the past two tournaments and is 15-3 in first-round games is somehow an underachiever. If they make the Final Four now, what’ll the haters hate on then. All-region team. Gonzaga junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss; Arizona freshman forward Lauri Markkanen; Notre Dame junior forward Bonzie Colson; Maryland junior guard Melo Trimble; Saint Mary’s junior center Jock Landale. MORE: Mike De Courcy's full March Madness bracket picks. Best first-round game. No. 8 Northwestern vs. No. ...

Predictions For Toughest 2nd-round Games

... coming into a matchup. After the final buzzer, the sports world will sing praises for that team as the Cinderella squad to reach the Final Four. We’ll highlight underappreciated programs, dive into tough matchups and provide a prediction to take to the bank. No. 5 Virginia vs. No. 12 UNC Wilmington. In the pros, coaches and players don’t celebrate near-victories. It’s very simple—wins and losses. On the collegiate level, losses still hurt whether it's one- or 31-point defeat. However, when an unknown program pushes a blue-blood school like Duke to their maximum, we should pay attention. Last year, as a No. 13 seed, UNC Wilmington didn’t back down from No. 4 Duke. In a 93-85 loss to the Blue Devils, the Seahawks gained some respect. After winning seven consecutive games and the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, they’re back in the Big Dance. This time, the Seahawks play against a lesser opponent, who’s beatable with 85 points on the scoreboard. We know Virginia’s style. The Cavaliers will grind you down into sawdust. They’re averaging fewer points per game (66.6) compared to last year ...

Every First-round Game Analyzed

... inspire confidence in Gonzaga, maybe this will: The Zags have been behind in the second half three times all year. Do we throw a blanket over South Dakota State now? Well, Mike Daum is the nation’s second leading scorer and went off for 51 points one night, and the Jackrabbits showed up in this tournament last year and lost to Maryland by only five points. So, no blanket yet. Northwestern at Vanderbilt: Ah yes, the day Northwestern waited 78 years for. Maybe the Wildcats and Vandy can exchange stories on what it’s like to be the small fry in conferences of mega-schools. Northwestern has 23 wins, but lost seven of its last 12. Vanderbilt has 15 losses, but won seven of its last nine. Watch Now. Chris Collins on Northwestern's first bid. Notre Dame at Princeton: The Ivy League has produced five NCAA tournament upsets in seven years, and here’s Princeton with a 19-game winning streak. If coach Mitch Henderson wants to have anyone give a pep talk to his Tigers with stories about Princeton’s past tournament heroics, he can always ...

Ncaa Men's Tournament Favorites And Predictions

... with 20-1 odds or better is listed) as well as some thoughts and predictions on three of those teams prior to the bracket release on Sunday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. ET on CBS. Odds information per Bet Online (h/t  Odds Shark ). The Wildcats have followed their national championship season with a 30-3 record and an appearance in the Big East title game against Creighton, which has not started as of this writing (it will take place on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET). Villanova has numerous impressive wins on its schedule, including a victory at Big Ten regular-season champion Purdue, a win against ACC title-game finalist Notre Dame on a neutral floor (the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey) and a buzzer-beating triumph over Virginia, who beat North Carolina, Notre Dame and Louisville (twice) this season. The Wildcats have a ton of experience and talent from last year's squad, returning seven of the nine leading scorers from last season. That includes the top two: senior guards Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins. Hart leads the team with 18.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and is second with 3.2 assists per contest, while the clutch Jenkins puts up 13.4 points per night. ...