It’s the best time of year: the official March Madness bracket has been revealed. Now it is time to fill out brackets before the tournament starts. Each of the four regions in the bracket has 16 teams and there are lots of possibilities of how the tournament will turn out. It’s called March Madness for a reason. No matter how well a team is seeded, no one is safe or has a guaranteed run into the Final Four. There are always unexpected upsets that happen. This article will cover specifics about each region. Lastly, I’ll answer the question we have all been wondering: can the University of Connecticut be back-to-back champions?
Midwest Region
Don’t trust Purdue. Purdue is consistently underperforming in the tournament. Last year, the Boilermakers were a No. 1 seed, yet still were eliminated during the first round to a 16 seed (the lowest seed a team can be). In 2021, they were a No. 2 seed and lost to a 15 seed. But the first two games in the Midwest region are being played in Indianapolis, so Purdue fans will easily be able to travel and support their team. Due to some improvement and a supportive atmosphere, this year Purdue will partly redeem the team, but I don’t think they will make it to the Final Four.
Kansas can’t bounce back. Kansas won the tournament in 2022 but has not been at the same elite level of play since. Kansas’ star player Hunter Dickinson has been injured and missed the whole big 12 tournament. If he does play, it will not be at the same level as before. Due to this, Kansas will probably get knocked out early in the tournament.
South region
Houston has something to prove. They lost in the Big 12 tournament to Iowa State but they will be able to bounce back from that. They have an amazing defense. They have had far runs in the championship before and they have a great head coach.
Kentucky has three great guards. Sports analysts say guards win tournament games and Kentucky has three amazing guards. Their freshman star Rees Sheppard is the national freshman of the year. The team that wins against Kentucky would have to outscore them. It’s questionable if Houston or Marquette, whose star player has been injured, can pull off a win against Kentucky.
West region
Arizona is unpredictable. Arizona relies too much on their star player Caleb Love (who transferred from UNC the No. 1 seed in the region). Last year they also lost to a 15 seed. A lot of the best-seeded teams in this region are unpredictable, but even then when it comes down to it, I don’t see Arizona in the Final Four.
Easy draw for UNC. While UNC is the weakest of the No. 1 seeds, the west is the easiest region. It seems UNC can move past their opponents in the west for a Final Four run. This is a fairly boring region, most people are taking UNC.
East region
UConn has a tough road ahead. The selection committee did not make it easy for UConn. This region has the defending national champions, the Big 10, Big 12, and Southeastern Conference (SEC) tournament champions, and three of the four Final Four teams from last year. Illinois and Iowa State have shown improvement throughout the season and pose a threat to UConn. UConn and Iowa state were the only top 10 teams to win their conference tournaments.
Can UConn repeat? Is history against them? Yes, the past 15 champions have not reached the Elite Eight the following year. Additionally, there has been no repeat champion since Florida in 2007. However, this year’s team is better than last year’s. They have won the Big East regular season and tournament. This team is used to pressure and stress. There is also a deep bench which allows Dan Hurley to switch up the game play style throughout the games. I am obviously biased, but UConn can definitely repeat. They are the best team going into the tournament and even though they have the hardest region they can come on top.
Good luck!
This next month will be action packed with basketball. Time will only tell which team can rise to the top. Hopefully these tips and insights aid you in having a successful bracket. Have fun watching the madness begin. Go Huskies!