As brackets for the NCAA tournament were unveiled Sunday night, you could smell madness in the air. Now it’s time for all of us to make predictions sure to go wrong and get ready to dive into one of the best sports weekends of the year.
I could run through the entire bracket right now, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, here are some teams sure for a deep run, others primed for an early exit and a dark horse to watch.
Let the semi-educated guessing begin. Good luck.
CONTENDERS
Florida Gators (1 seed, South Region)
Of course the No. 1 overall seed is always a legitimate threat, but in a tournament featuring the weakest crop of No. 1 seeds I can remember, the Gators are as prohibitive a favorite as there’s been in the past few seasons.
They ran roughshod through the Southeastern Conference, anchored by one of the elite defenses in the country. The SEC is weak, but the Gators are balanced, veteran and deep — all qualities conducive to avoiding upsets.
Florida isn’t in the softest region, but to me, No. 4 seed UCLA and No. 5 seed VCU are a tad over-seeded, making the Gators’ path to the Elite 8 very manageable.
Kansas could challenge Florida in the Elite 8 if freshman center Joel Embiid is healthy, but that’s a big if, and nobody besides the Jayhawks can score enough points to beat Florida.
Michigan State Spartans (4 seed, East Region)
Michigan State is a dangerous combination of a veteran team getting hot at the right time and a coach with a track record of making runs to the Final Four. I’ve never been one to jump on the Tom Izzo bandwagon, but this time around, it’s too hard to pass up.
The Spartans looked elite through the first three months of the season before struggling through an injury-riddled February.
Senior forward Adreian Payne and junior forward Branden Dawson got healthy in time for Michigan State to win the Big 10 tournament, decisively knocking off No. 2 seeds Wisconsin and Michigan along the way.
Similar to Florida, the Spartans are a veteran group that gets scoring production from a number of places. With a possible Sweet 16 matchup against No. 1 seed Virginia coming down the pipeline, having balance is a big plus in Sparty’s favor.
PRETENDERS
Villanova Wildcats (2 seed, East Region)
As an offensive-minded team lacking size along the front line, Villanova sets off major warning signs of heading straight toward an early exit this March. The Cats took down the Big East regular season title, but that doesn’t have the same cache as it did before realignment.
They allowed 96 and 101 in a pair of blowout losses against Creighton, a troubling fact that highlights Villanova’s lack of size and struggles to stop offensively inclined big men.
Villanova may be able to survive its second game against the winner of Connecticut and Saint Joseph’s, but with a red-hot Iowa State team as the No. 3 seed, the Cats aren’t going to survive the Sweet 16.
Wichita State (1 seed, Midwest Region)
Some people put a lot of stock in the Shockers’ 34-0 regular season. I do not.
With No. 10 seed BYU and No. 11 seed Tennessee arguably being Wichita State’s best wins this season, the Shockers haven’t been tested in quite some time.
Wichita State made a run to the Final Four last season, but it won’t sneak up on anybody this time around. I say the Shockers are this season’s Gonzaga and get taken out by an ultra-talented Kentucky in the Round of 32.
DARK HORSE
Oklahoma State Cowboys (9 seed, West Region)
Having a high-scoring guard who can take over a game makes a team dangerous in the NCAA tournament. With Marcus Smart and Markel Brown both playing well heading into the Big Dance, Oklahoma State has two.
The Cowboys will have to fight to get past their first two games — No. 8 seed Gonzaga and No. 1 seed Arizona — but it’s not impossible if both Smart and Brown play well.
The West is by far the weakest of the four regions, and the high-scoring duo of Smart and Brown gives Oklahoma State enough firepower to make a run if it gets through the early rounds.
James Moran is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Beacon, N.Y.