March Madness Bracket Prediction and Teams to Watch

It’s that time of year again, with conference tournaments on the horizon.  Betters across the country are closely observing the top teams, along with some sleepers as well, looking for good value picks.  Below, you will find a full bracket prediction and some teams that may be a good bet.

Bracket Prediction By Region

West Region

#1 Gonzaga vs #16 Colgate

#8 Colorado State vs #9 Davidson

#5 Alabama vs #12 San Francisco

#4 Ohio State vs #13 Chattanooga

#6 LSU vs #11 South Dakota State

#3 Texas Tech vs #14 Montana State

#7 Marquette vs #10 Murray State

#2 Duke vs #15 Yale

Midwest Region

#1 Auburn vs #16 Southern

#8 St. Mary’s vs #9 Loyola (IL)

#5 Michigan State vs #12 Davidson

#4 Villanova vs #13 Toledo

#6 Xavier vs #11 SMU

#3 UCLA vs #14 Seattle

#7 Iowa vs #10 Wake Forest

#2 Kansas vs #15 Long Beach State

East Region

#1 Kentucky vs #16 Longwood

#8 Seton Hall vs #9 Indiana

#5 Texas vs #12 North Texas

#4 Houston vs #12 Vermont

#6 Arkansas vs #11 Oklahoma

#3 Providence vs #14 Liberty

#7 Wyoming vs #10 Miami

#2 Purdue vs #15 Cleveland State

South Region

#1 Arizona vs #16 UNC Wilmington

#8 Boise State vs #9 TCU

#5 Ohio State vs #12 Creighton

#4 Tennessee vs #13 Iona

#6 UConn vs #11 Memphis

#3 Illinois vs #14 Wagner

#7 USC vs #10 North Carolina

#2 Baylor vs #15 Texas State

Teams To Watch

Every time you look over a March Madness Bracket looking to place bets, there are always a few teams that need to be highlighted.  Here are a few teams to keep your eye on once the final March Madness Bracket is released:

The Arizona Wildcats

Being a number one seed, this may be considered fairly obvious, but Arizona is arguably the best team in the entire country.  They are deep, complete, and have quality wins.  They split the season series with UCLA, they have non-conference wins over Illinois and Michigan, and have pretty much run over the rest of their conference.  They are certainly a team to watch in your March Madness Bracket, and would likely be a good play against any opponent.

The Memphis Tigers

Anybody watching college basketball knows the one word consistently used to describe this year’s Tiger basketball team: inconsistent.  Whether or not they will be a good play in your March Madness Bracket will depend on which team shows up.  Will the exciting, high-flying, in-your-face Tigers that destroyed Alabama and Houston show up?  Or, will the team that lost to Ole Miss and Georgia show up?

Granted, injuries have plagued them this season, but a few of their losses are just unacceptable for any program that wants to be taken seriously.  Regardless, should the good Memphis show up, not a ton of teams have the personnel to match up with them.  Look for freshman Jalen Duren to make a big impact, as he has been a huge factor in the recent Memphis surge which has seen them beat Houston and Cincinnati.

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits

The reason for the Jackrabbits’ presence on this list dates back to last season.  They were in nearly every mock bracket as anywhere between a 15 and 13 seed, before losing a heartbreaker to Oral Roberts in the Summit League Championship game.  That’s right, the same Max Abmas-led ORU team that upset Ohio State and Florida before barely losing to Arkansas.  ORU was the number four seed in the Summit League tournament that year.

SDSU was far and away the favorite. This year’s Jackrabbit team is even better.  Now, bear with me when you look at their quad one record.  Yes, they had several opportunities to jettison themselves up the rankings, starting with a game at Alabama.  They put up 88 points in that loss, yet only shot 9 out of 31 from three (And everyone knows that SDSU is a three-point shooting team).  IF SDSU shoots the ball from 3 like they are capable of (They average 45%), they will be a problem for anyone.  Oh, by the way, that 45% is far and away the best in the country, more than four points better than Virginia Tech, the second-place team.

Note: Bracket Predictions were adapted from ESPN BRacketology and NCAA March Madness Bracket Predictions.

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