The NCAA Tournament this year begins on March 19th, this means one of the best competitions or playoffs in all of sports starts; A full one game elimination tournament to find the Men’s Basketball division 1 championship. This year feels a lot different this year I believe is primed for an even crazier tournament than the last few have.
This year I feel that no one that gets a number 1 seed in the tournament will be safe. There is also no Kentucky or a single team where you can say for sure that they are the best country in the nation. Gonzaga is the current #1 in the nation and even they have had a weak schedule 72nd in the nation, but are simply the hottest team in the country right now, but can anyone say for sure that they are the best? I do not believe so. We have had 6 different teams hold the top ranking in the country; we also had 4 weeks in a row where there had been a different top seeded team for the week.
I believe that Indiana is the best team in the country when push comes to shove and they will most likely also get a #1 seed for the tournament. My #1 seeds as of now are Gonzaga, Indiana, Duke and Louisville only because I believe that RPI means a lot in the selection of the top seeds. However there should be a stern warning to all top seeds, this year seems like it is a bad omen to hold that top ranking. This field is wide opening and very dangerous. Many of the #2,3 and 4 seeds will be extremely evenly matched and much depth will be in this field. Always beware of everyone’s favorite Cinderella’s like Butler that has a great coach and a lot of seniors but is coming from outside the top 25!
Be wary as you fill out your bracket, this year is the year to take risks, pick the sleepers and upsets because it feels like that kind of year the big name schools seem to desperately want to avoid. Good coaches and teams with lots of seniors and experience are ones to pick that usually sneak a few upsets when they are overlooked. Also teams that win their conference tournament to get the bid are primed to make noise coming in hot. This year should redefine March Madness!