It is that time again. March Madness is the most exciting part of the college basketball season. With ranked teams slipping up left and right and no dominant powerhouse, this tournament is shaping up to be one for the ages.
With the unpredictability of college play, there are still a few favorites in this year’s big dance.
From the Big 10, Indiana and Michigan along with this year’s Big Ten champs, Ohio State should be considered favorites. From the ACC, watch out for Duke and newly crowned ACC champs Miami. The Big East brings conference champions Louisville, along with Georgetown, and Syracuse.
UCLA is the favorite coming out of the Pac-12. Although, they lost to one of the tournament sleepers in Oregon. Big 12 champ Kansas are also highly favored. Representing the WAC conference, Gonzaga looks to be a promising team in the tournament. Even though these teams are highly capable of making it deep into the tournament, everyone knows that after tip-off anything is possible.
Perhaps this may be the year we get to witness Cinderella stories unfold like George Mason’s unlikely run in 2006, Butler’s championship appearance in 2010, or Shaka Smart and VCU’s improbable journey two years ago. Sleepers to pay attention to this year are Michigan State, Temple, Wisconsin, Butler and VCU.
Michigan State may have performed sporadically throughout the season, but Head Coach Tom Izzo has a rather impressive track record in the tournament, making the Final Four six times since being crowned champs in 2000.
Temple is also a special case because they are a bubble watch team, but they have defeated some quality teams. A win in the first round versus NC State will not only prove that they belong but it could give them the necessary momentum to make a run in the tournament.
Wisconsin has a good chance to make some noise in the tournament as well. Beating Indiana for a second time displays some serious potential. With Butler and VCU being “Cinderella’s,” many fans may call what they did a stroke of luck. Fans planning their brackets should beware of the teams listed above. During March Madness it only takes one loss to ruin it all.
Maryland, Baylor and Kentucky did not make the tournament. Maryland and Baylor were inconsistent this season, but also played quality basketball, even defeating highly regarded teams such as Duke and Kansas. I thought those wins would put them over the hump, but the tournament committee thought otherwise.
Kentucky, simply because, as the defending champions, you think the team would come into this season with a swagger that would give them a competitive edge. Unfortunately, their play deteriorated after star forward, Nerlens Noel’s devastating knee injury a little past the halfway point of the season.
My final four picks are as follows: Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Georgetown. I have Indiana coming from the East Region because they played consistently all season and the talent they have is good enough to win the title this year.
Michigan State will represent the Midwest because they have been playing well lately. Even though Louisville is in the same region Duke, I belive the Spartans will come out on top.
I chose Ohio State to represent the West region even though Gonzaga is the number one overall seed.
Finally, I have Georgetown representing the South region. The Hoyas are playing good ball at the moment and have flown under the radar all year.
As a DMV native, Georgetown has always generated a great deal of hype, but has disappointed many with several early round exits. 2013 is their year to take it back to the glory days of John Thompson and Patrick Ewing.
March Madness will be insane as expected. Especially now that the Aggies have sealed an automatic bid in the big dance for the first time since NBA legend Tim Duncan and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons defeated A&T 79-47 back in 1995.
Get your popcorn ready. Consider my two cents, and tune in to see who survives the madness.
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- Jerrell Leeper, Contributor