The divination is over. Let the guessing begin!
There is so much information out there, and so many braces and braces watchers (no one better than our very own Brian Bennett, of course), that it’s getting harder for the men’s basketball committee to surprise us. They managed to do it in several ways on Sunday. Michigan’s farewell in the first round, instead of going into the top four, came as a bit of a surprise. Dayton, appointed by the first team, took me by surprise. (If Richmond hadn’t beaten Davidson, the Flyers would have been in the field, which would have meant years and years of “Who is Dayton this year” questions leading up to Qualification Sunday.) Most puzzling was all of this. the committee’s decision to give Tennessee 10th overall, leaving the Volunteers in 3rd place just hours after playing Texas A&M for the SEC Tournament Championship.
We may not like all the committee’s final answers, but at least we know them now. Now it’s time to put our guesses on what’s next.
Yes, I follow these teams more closely than most of those who will watch the tournament, but this does not mean that my assumptions are better than yours. This is the best thing about predicting the March Madness. It’s unpredictable! It only took me five minutes to complete the entire bracket. That’s because a) that’s all the time I had between being handed the bracket at the CBS studio and getting ready to go on air for the tryout show, and b) filling in the bracket longer doesn’t guarantee better accuracy. So why bother?
Here you can see all my selections. I will then take you through each region to explain what I think.