I haven't really watched much, if any, D-I hoops this year, but brackets are brackets. I have to do this.
Once again though, I won't be alone in this quest. Adam Quinn, who joins me every fall for Pigskin Pick 'Em, will join me again for NCAA Tournament picks. As we've done the past couple years, we're going to go region by region and make our Final Four picks, plus a few other things. Then to round it out, we'll make our title game predictions.
East Region
Winner
Lucas: Michigan State. I really want to go with Duke... but I've been burned too many times.
Adam: Michigan State. Taking the Big 10 Championship late from the solid Michigan Wolverines shows grit and determination. I really like this team and see them making all the way.
Dark Horse
Lucas: Liberty. I could have gone with Belmont/Temple here, since I have both in the Sweet 16, but Liberty is the lower seed, so they get Dark Horse status.
Adam: Minnesota. This region has a few possible dark horses, but none that will get past the opening weekend. I have Minnesota as my only double-digit team in the 2nd round. Though I think Yale and others could have some chance, but the Gophers are the only team who could even think about second weekend, and even that is dim.
Disappointment
Lucas: LSU. Going by similar logic, I have both LSU and Virginia Tech losing in the second round. The higher seed gets the dishonor.
Adam: Duke. Anything but a title will be considered a disappointment in my book. I like Zion; everyone likes Zion. But one bad game and wham bam boom out.
Best Matchup
Lucas: Elite 8- (2) Michigan State vs (1) Duke. I mean... the top two seeds, and the matchup a lot of people were up in arms about in terms of how the region was built. I look forward to both of these teams getting bounced this weekend to spite me.
Adam: Elite 8- (2) Michigan Staet vs (1) Duke. This may be the championship matchup. Michigan State got a little bit of the shaft by being put in Duke’s bracket, but they power through, shut down Zion and old Sparty dances.
South Region
Winner
Lucas: Tennessee. I really didn't want to pick the Volunteers, but I'm not thrilled by this region as a whole. They were kind of a "screw it" pick.
Adam: Purdue. The Big 10 is beating up on each other this season, and in a region that features three Big 10 teams, it only seems right to pick the best one from that bracket.
Dark Horse
Lucas: Oregon. I heard rumblings on the radio on Monday of the Ducks being kind of the hot team to watch out for, so I have them pegged for a Sweet 16 run.
Adam: Oklahoma. My adopted Big 12 team (Horns Down!) I don’t think I could get away with anything else. I do believe St. Mary’s and Iowa will put up good matches, but I see the Sooners knocking off last year’s Edsel in Virginia and only making it one round further than last year.
Disappointment
Lucas: Villanova. This was a hard one to peg; I have the 4, 5, and 6 seeds in this region all losing, and Villanova is the lowest of these seeds. But they're the defending national champs (albeit not the same team as last year) and that has to count for something.
Adam: Tennessee. They were in the conversation for a while for a #1 seed, but fell off late in the season, including a big loss in the SEC championship game to Auburn. I do have them into the sweet 16, but could easily see them as a one and done.
Best Matchup
Lucas: Second Round- (11) St. Mary's vs (3) Purdue. Not a ton of options here, so I wanted to include a couple teams I hadn't yet, including a St. Mary's team that just knocked off Gonzaga. I have Purdue winning this game, but it should be a pretty good one.
Adam: Second Round- (5) Wisconsin vs (4) Kansas State. K-State won the Big 12, and Wisconsin had some troubles in the stacked big 10. Will be a barn burner.
Midwest Region
Winner
Lucas: North Carolina. I have to have at least one top seed advancing to Minneapolis. Might as well make it the team that handed Duke a pair of defeats (even if they were 99 percent without Zion Williamson).
Adam: North Carolina. Avenging their loss to Duke from the ACC tourney, UNC represents the ACC in the Final Four.
Dark Horse
Lucas: Iowa State. Not sure why I'm high on the Cyclones, but I'm not sold on Ohio State or Houston, and I even have them knocking off Kentucky in the Sweet 16 before falling to the Heels. Just a little chaos.
Adam: Iowa State. Not much of a dark horse pick per se, but winning the Big 12 tourney in a rock solid Big 12 says something. Their overall record keeps them down in the 6 line, but could easily argue for a 5 or even a 4. I have Iowa St. in the Elite 8.
Disappointment
Lucas: Kentucky. I went with a fair amount of chalk in this region, so the question arose: is the 4 seed losing to the top seed in the Sweet 16 worse than the number 2 losing to number 6? No. No, it is not.
Adam: Kentucky. Falters to Iowa St. and fails to make it to the Elite 8.
Best Matchup
Lucas: Sweet 16- (4) Kansas vs (1) North Carolina. Just a couple of blue bloods going at it; no big deal.
Adam: Either Sweet 16 games will be awesome. UNC vs Kansas or Iowa St. vs Kentucky. Yes please.
West Region
Winner
Lucas: Michigan. The Wolverines make it a number one and three number two's. Maybe I just like the B1G.
Adam: Gonzaga. There really isn’t much challenge here. If Michigan gets knocked off any time before meeting them, they will coast to the Final Four.
Dark Horse
Lucas: Syracuse. This region was the chaotic one, and this pick causes the most chaos. I could have also gone with Vermont or Murray State, but neither one gets beyond the Sweet 16 like the Orange do.
Adam: Murray State. An elite team amongst the mid majors this year. Solid shooting and solid team with a possible NBA top 10 draft pick. They will upset Marquette in round one in a breeze and beat Florida St. in a closer but still relatively easy win.
Disappointment
Lucas: Gonzaga. Yeah, they're a top seed. But apparently they were poised to be moved down if Tennessee had won the SEC auto bid? I dunno; I've got them out the first weekend to the Orange.
Adam: Marquette. A 5 seed with a first round exit is never the way you want to go in. But the Golden Eagles are on a downward slide and probably only got the 5 seed due to their early season resume.
Best Matchup
Lucas: Second Round- (13) Vermont vs (12) Murray State. Just a couple Cinderella's looking to see whose slipper still fits. Can we get T.J. Sorrentine to come back and hit one from the parking lot for old time's sake?
Adam: First Round- (13) Vermont vs (4) Florida State. Maybe because VU is called the Catamounts, but maybe because Florida is a bit over ranked here. But they do have 6 wins vs top 25, but also 4 losses. The wins is what give them the edge.
Championship Game
Lucas: North Carolina 76, Michigan State 71
Adam: Gonzaga 75, North Carolina 71
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