March Madness Breakdown

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As March nears, the sports world is preparing for NCAA college basketball’s biggest moment. With 2022 March Madness looming, now is a perfect time to look over the teams that could potentially make this year’s men’s tournament one of the most exciting ever. Will last year’s champion, the Baylor Bears, take the title again? What shocks and surprises do we have in store? Read on for some expert breakdowns and analysis from Eskridge Lexus.

Experts’ Brackets

Although the teams participating in March Madness have not yet been announced, some experts have already released predictions about who is making the cut and who is playing who in the first rounds. Here is one expert bracket prediction from NCAA.com correspondent Andy Katz:

Here’s another expert bracket prediction from ESPN contributor Joe Lunardi:

First Seeds

In Katz’s bracket, defending champion, Baylor, is the overall top seed of the tournament. Even throughout a season made unpredictable by pandemic concerns, the Bears started strong with an undefeated streak and then remained consistent throughout. The team is currently 19-3 with big wins over major competitors Michigan State, Villanova, and Oregon. Lunardi disagrees on this pick, though, predicting that the Auburn Tigers will be the overall number one. The 21-1 team has also beaten its fair share of strong opponents, with its only loss on the season coming to major contender UConn.

For Katz, the ranking for other first seeds has been less stable. Although finally landing on Arizona, Duke, and Purdue, this expert originally predicted that UCLA, Kansas, and Gonzaga would take the top spots along with Purdue. Lunardi seems to agree with some of Katz’s previous predictions, adding Gonzaga, Purdue, and Baylor to his remaining top spots. Both experts seem to bet on a top seed for the defending champs Baylor, though. Only time will tell how accurate their predictions are.

Conference Bids

In Katz’s predicted tournament roster, the Big Ten conference has the most bids, with 10 teams representing it in tournament play. For the other conferences, the SEC and Big 12 have seven bids, the Big East has six, ACC and WCC have four, Pac-12 has three, and the OVC and A-10 each have two.

For Lunardi, tournament bids are more evenly spread across the major conferences, with the Big 12, Big 10, Big East, and SEC all enjoying seven bids. In his projected bracket, the ACC, WCC, and Mountain West conferences have four bids, while the Pac-12 has three, and Missouri Valley has two.

In both cases, many of the largest conferences unsurprisingly have the most projected bids. However, some notable shocks in this distribution include the lesser-known West Coast Conference and Mountain West having more bids than the Pac-12. The West Coast Conference has already had a strong season, though, and with strong possible contenders like Boise State and Wyoming representing the Mountain West, it’s possible that this year’s tournament could favor the western part of the country more than ever before.

Bubble Teams

Since these brackets are only predictions and can change at any moment based on any particular game or result, it can also be important to think about the teams that are just on the cusp of making the cut. For Katz, Saint Mary’s, St. Bonaventure, Arkansas, and Belmont are the last four in, meaning that they should be the last teams selected for the final bracket, although they need to win a First Four game first. For Lunardi, the last four teams in are San Diego State, Florida, Creighton, and Wyoming.

The first four out, on the other hand, are the teams that just missed the cut for this year’s tournament. As we get closer to official reveal time, these teams are ones to watch for a potential upset. For Katz, the first four out are Marquette, Memphis, DePaul, and UCF. For Lunardi, it’s West Virginia, Oregon, Mississippi State, and Florida State just on the outside.

Important Dates and Locations

On Sunday, March 13, the official selection for the tournament will be made. From there, the First Four weekend takes place on March 15 and 16 in Dayton, Ohio. First- and second-round games take place from March 17-20 in various locations across the country. The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games will be played from March 24-27 in various venues across the country. The Final Four games will then run from April 2-4 in New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome. For more information about March Madness dates and locations, you can check out the NCAA’s website.

If you’re as excited about this year’s March Madness as we are, you can’t wait to see who will make the tournament and, ultimately, who will take home the big prize. Do you have a bracket of your own? Contact us today to share your thoughts. We can’t wait to see what our favorite month has in store.