UNITED STATES—I seriously love the month of March for several reasons. For those of us who live in that part of the country where we actual see all four seasons, March is a sign that spring and warm weather is right around the corner. In addition to that, March kicks off March Madness. It is the craziest, most unpredictable time in the sports atmosphere, especially when it comes to basketball people. Why? It is simple: you win or you go home. There is no wildcards or surprises (well we can talk about the NCAA seeding and how some teams with stronger records than others, still fail to make the big dance).
It still baffles my mind how smaller schools who may not have the same name recognition as Big Ten, SEC and other leagues can never catch a break in the NCAA tourney, however, you see teams who have lackluster records and are on the bubble actually make the tournament, when they shouldn’t. Look, I know name recognition matters, but at the same time, if a team doesn’t have a strong record and you have a team that does, the team with the better record should make the cut, the other team, as sad as it sounds, they are unfortunately out people.
If you take a look at the four divisions (West, East, South and Midwest). The top four ranking teams are Arizona, Baylor, Kansas and Gonzaga. I mean when hasn’t Gonzaga been ranked pretty damn high in the NCAA Tournament. Many are predicting them to go all the way this year, but many said the same thing in 2021 people. In the West region, Gonzaga’s chances look strong, but contenders to look out for include Arkansas and Duke. Duke could be a dark horse, but that all depends on that battle they have with the Michigan State Spartans.
So you’re talking about another matchup between college titans Mike Kryzyenski and Tom Izzo. Does Duke look like the favorite? Yeah, they are a #2 seed. However, MSU is no slouch either people. The season has been up and down for the Spartans. In the South, look out for Arizona, Villanova, Tennessee (which could be a major dark horse people) and Colorado State, while Colorado is a sixth seed, they have a strong team which will be a challenge for the Michigan Wolverines in the first round people.
In the Midwest, I don’t see much competition, and expect a battle between Kansas and Auburn, but I’m hoping a dark horse emerges in the tourney. Predictability is never good in my opinion I like to see upsets, and I think this region might have some upsets people. Looking at the East, Baylor seems like the favorite, but look out for Saint Mary’s, UCLA (strong team for 2022), Texas, Purdue and Kentucky. Out of all the regions, the East looks like the most hard fought battle people to reach the NCAA Final Four.
I haven’t quite completed my bracket in its entirety yet, I actually don’t think I’m going to complete one because why? I don’t want to be disappointed. I’m someone who doesn’t really do that because tell me when was the last time someone completed a bracket that was near perfection. It rarely and I mean rarely happens and if it does, it’s a complete fluke people, but anyway it goes March Madness is upon us people and I’m excited to see what else transpires.
Written By Davy Jones
