NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks & Advice
March 13th, 2011 by | Posted in NCAA Basketball
March Madness betting action commences this coming week, and here at Bankroll Sports, we’ve got all of the best tips for filling out brackets on the internet! Today, we’ve got our picks for all of the regions and all of the best potential upsets, all the way through the NCAA Tournament!
We’ll start in the East Region, where the Ohio State Buckeyes really shouldn’t have all that many problems. This isn’t the year that a No. 16 seed is beating a No. 1, especially not in this region. The George Mason Patriots might be a bit tough, but when push comes to shove, but the Pats and the Villanova Wildcats shouldn’t be able to hold a candle to this team.
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A prospective second round match between the Kentucky Wildcats and West Virginia Mountaineers should be relatively interesting, but this looks like a draw that is very, very favorable for the Cats. Don’t be shocked though, to see Ohio State just bull over all of these teams to get into the Elite 8 with no hassles.
On the other side of the bracket, the upstart team might be the Xavier Musketeers. Thinking that the X-Men could upset the Syracuse Orange in the second round of the dance would be an option, but we also wouldn’t be all that surprised if the ‘Cuse got downed by a rock solid Indiana State Sycamores team. The Washington Huskies can run with anyone in the country, and that includes the North Carolina Tar Heels. We like Xavier and North Carolina in this bracket, but UNC getting through to face Ohio State in the regional finals. From there, you probably would have a great argument either way, but we’ll take the Buckeyes to advance into the Final Four.
The Duke Blue Devils are the kings of the West region this year, which is great from the standpoint that their tournament starts in Charlotte, but terrible that it has to go on to Anaheim the very next week. No one is knocking off Duke before heading West, but at that point, you’d better look out! The Arizona Wildcats are really the team that we think could shine in this bracket. Derrick Williams is the real deal, and if this team’s guards can keep up at a high level, everyone in this bracket might be in some real trouble. The Cats are the only team from West of the Mississippi in this half of the draw, and we think that they’ll get into the Elite 8 with this home court advantage.
On the bottom half, the only team that is basically playing at home the whole way are the San Diego State Aztecs. The Aztecs have never won a game in the NCAA Tournament before, but they really shouldn’t have too many problems unless all of a sudden, the Penn State Nittany Lions keep this tear up from the start of the Big Ten Tournament. Kemba Walker is a stud and could put a lot of a teams in a lot of trouble, but the Missouri Tigers could make things really, really interesting if they can get past the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first round. Don’t be surprised to see SDSU and Mizzou battling it out in Anaheim, and at that point, the ‘Zou could be the team that comes out.
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Still, this is a bracket that is set up perfectly for Arizona. Go with the Cats as the upset winner in the West, but when push comes to shove, Ohio State will be the team in the NCAA Tournament final of these two.
On the other half of the draw, the Kansas Jayhawks are the No. 1 seed in the Southwest, a bracket that really sets up quite well for them. The first round draw between the Illinois Fighting Illini and UNLV Runnin’ Rebels is interesting because it is UNLV Head Coach Lon Kruger going against his old team. Neither should be able to tame the Jayhawks, though. The 5/12 and 4/13 games could both be rather interesting in this bracket, as the Richmond Spiders and Morehead State Eagles both have the ability to pull upsets. Still, with an intense defense and some budding stars, we tend to think that Louisville is the team that ultimately heads to San Antonio of this bunch. Louisville might stick around in that game against the Jayhawks, but the determined KU side should get into the Elite 8.
On the bottom half of the draw, the Texas A&M Aggies have to like their chances. They’ve got a first round 7/10 game against the Florida State Seminoles, another very defensive minded team, and then a Notre Dame Fighting Irish squad that has been overrated all season long. The Purdue Boilermakers are going to try to avoid a very bad upset against a stingy bunch of St. Peter’s Peacocks, and if they get the job done there, they could end up getting the winner of the USC Trojans/VCU Rams battle from Dayton on Tuesday. The Georgetown Hoyas look like paper tigers to us as a No. 6 seed. It’ll be Purdue against Texas A&M in this Sweet 16 showdown, with the nod going to the Boilers, who really need to get back in the saddle after those back to back losses to end their season.
Again, this is Kansas’ draw though, as the Jayhawks just have too much depth for a Purdue team that is just not all that great.
If Cinderella is wearing a glass slipper, it is in this bracket. The Old Dominion Monarchs will surely be in for a fight against the Butler Bulldogs, last year’s Cinderella, but they really could be the team that bounces the No. 1 seed prior to the Sweet 16. This isn’t the only place that upsets could lie in this bracket though, as the Utah State Aggies and Belmont Bruins could both be heading into the second round as well. Belmont stayed very, very competitive this season in games against Tennessee and Vandy, and it could very well spring a couple of upsets in a row. Could it be Belmont and ODU meeting in the Sweet 16? You betcha. Go with the Monarchs at that point.
The bottom half of the draw might be upset plentiful as well. The whole country knows about Jimmer Fredette, but they don’t know about Noah Dahlman and the Wofford Terriers. These dogs have some massive bite, and they nearly took out the Wisconsin Badgers in last year’s tourney. Don’t be shocked if it’s No. 11 against No. 14 in the Round of 32, as the St. John’s Red Storm have to be running out of gas, while the Gonzaga Bulldogs are playing their best ball of the year. Could Wofford become a No. 14 in the Sweet 16? Don’t be all that surprised.
Assuming that the Florida Gators can take out the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the first round of the tournament, they’ll have to face either a team they once beat for a National Championship (the UCLA Bruins) or one in which they lost to for a title (the Michigan State Spartans). The Spartans are a dangerous, dangerous team, and they might push UF for quite awhile. But we have to remember that this regional is played in Tampa Bay, FL, right in the Gators’ backyard. UF should not only romp into the Sweet 16, but into the Final Four with ease as well. Wofford and ODU aren’t stopping this team.
The finale will ultimately be between Ohio State and Kansas though, as these have been the top two teams in the nation all season long. This is a season that is about redemption for the Jayhawks after last year’s dud. The team is playing really well right now, and it is just finding ways to win games that are close late on. Head Coach Bill Self will be cutting down the nets in Houston with a slight home court advantage over Ohio State to win the National Championship.






