The best time of the college basketball season has arrived. This year, I’ve only done eight brackets (so far). I’ve listened, watched, and read multiple different sources to create this bracket. I used my other seven to also adjust this bracket based on matchups. Let’s begin with the best coaching region in the East.
This region is the most difficult in my opinion. There are multiple veteran coaches that know how to win, making it a very hard region to predict. Due to the great coaching, whoever comes out of this region will also make the national championship. The first upset in this region happens in the second round with St. John’s beating Kansas. However, Duke will beat St. John’s and make it to the Final Four.
The South region has Iowa over Clemson in the first round. In the second round, a hot Vanderbilt team will beat a struggling Nebraska after Nebraska wins their first NCAA tournament game ever. Illinois will beat Houston and Florida back-to-back to advance to the Final Four.
The West region features another 9-seed upset with Utah State over Villanova. I believe that High Point will give Wisconsin a run for their money, but fall short. Ultimately, a very good Arizona team will beat Purdue to advance to the Final Four.
The easiest region, which isn’t easy at all, is the Midwest. I think that Miami (Ohio) is not that great. I actually thought they were going to lose to Akron in the conference championship game, but they didn’t even make it that far. They will lose their play-in game and show that their schedule was just terrible. Santa Clara is a team to watch as they play Kentucky, but I think Kentucky can pull it off. Michigan will beat Iowa State to get to the Final Four.
Duke and Illinois meet up in the Final Four with the Blue Devils, taking care of that game to reach the National Championship game. The other game will be a fun one. Arizona and Michigan are both exciting teams to watch. Arizona’s young freshmen will take them past a Michigan team full of transfers.
Duke and Arizona have many talented freshmen on their teams. Typically, young talent doesn’t fare well in the postseason, but this year is different. Duke will beat Arizona to win their first national title since 2015.
