Okay, this year's selection show was terrible from the get-go. Let me start by pointing out that the "live crowd" was almost definitely a stage bunched, which you can tell, since almost all the apparel looked brand new, all the signs were overly generic, and every "fan" had their team in the bracket. Crowd aside, the reveal was just poorly executed. Revealing which teams are in the field before you say where in the bracket they are is idiotic. Going alphabetically made it obvious who did not make it right away and it made it almost boring when they did reveal the matchups. They took the fun out of the fun beginning to the best month in sports.
One final note before we get into the categories is that once again, Head In The Game is doing a bracket challenge over at ESPN. Find our group by either following this link or by searching for us on the Tournament Challenge under the name Head In The Game. Now for the preview.
Preview Category Run-Down
Wait Them? - The team that was the most surprising inclusion in the tournament.
Wait Not Them? - This is the opposite of the previous category. It is given to the team the committee left out for reasons unknown.
First Four Team To Fear - This category is to highlight the team playing in the first four games (Tuesday and Wednesday) that can win multiple games in the tournament.
Upset Alert - You can't have a preview without saying who will pull off an upset, which is why we're giving you the team seeded 11 or lower that can pull off the upset in the first round.
Cinderella Story - Cinderella always seems to find her slipper in March, so we'll give you the team seeded four or lower that can make a run to the Final Four, or even win it all.
Early Exit - On the other hand, there are the teams that go home earlier than everyone thinks they will. We will predict what team seeded three or higher will go home during the first weekend.
Best Team Name - Since there are so many teams with generic-sounding names, *cough* "Wildcats" *cough* *cough*, we're going to highlight a team with a unique team name.
Toughest Region - The selection committee, bless their hearts, tries their darndest to allocate teams evenly, but every year there's a region that's much harder than the others.
Final Four Matchups and Champions - Of course. What's a preview without a champ?
Wait, Them?
Troy - How do I say this lightly? The selection committee done elfed up. I've narrowed it down to three teams for this category: Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Syracuse. The first two teams fall into the same boat for me; they had strong starts to the year, but were bad for the better part of the end of the season. Both teams ended up finishing 9th in their respective conference; Oklahoma finished 9th out of 10 teams and Arizona State somehow made it finishing 9th when only three teams in its conference made it. But the team that takes the cake is Syracuse. The Orange beat six tournament teams, but three of them are automatic qualifiers from lower conferences and only one of them (Clemson) got a fifth seed or better. Not to mention the fact that they barely got to 20 wins and finished ELEVENTH in their conference.
Grant - The selection committee made some... interesting decisions, to say the least. Many people are confused by the inclusion of Oklahoma, which got off to a hot start behind NBA prospect Trae Young, but has lost 11 of its last 15 games. Arizona State also started off the season on fire (the Sun Devils were the last remaining unbeaten), but has lost seven of its last 14. Both teams had questionable resumes (both finished 8-10 in conference play), but I'm going to have to go with the Orange of Syracuse. They also finished 8-10 in conference play, and didn't have the big wins that Oklahoma (Kansas, Wichita State, TCU) and Arizona State (Kansas, Xavier) boast. Jim Boeheim's team has found itself on the bubble multiple times in recent years, and the Orange are on the inside once again.
Langston - I am one of the biggest Trae Young fans in the country, but there is no way his Oklahoma Sooners should be in the NCAA Tournament. They started the season off playing extremely well and beat some very good teams, but since the conference season started, they have been a completely different team that does not deserve to be in the tournament. The Sooners have not won a single away game since mid-December, and the NCAA tournament is basically all away games. In my opinion, the committee knew that Trae Young would draw viewers and draw more TV ratings, but there were plenty of other teams that were much more deserving than this team. Big miss for the committee this year.
Wait, Not Them?
Troy - There are a couple of teams I think deserved to make the tournament but didn't. If you count teams that deserved it more than Syracuse, the number's closer to fifteen than a couple. The team that I feel definitely should have been in, though, is USC. I will agree that they don't have too many quality wins, but I have three factors as to why they should be in. First is just the eye test, because they look like a tournament caliber team. Next is that they were the runner-up in a power conference, both regular season and tournament. Finally, they have 23 wins, three more than Syracuse and four more than Texas, which both got at-large bids.
Grant - There are a few teams you could make an argument for as tournament snubs. Notre Dame would've been in had Davidson not stolen a bid on Sunday, but the "Bonzie Colson Factor" wasn't enough to get the Irish in. Middle Tennessee State and Saint Mary's were hoping to get at-large bids as mid-majors, but just didn't have strong enough resumes. Marquette and Oklahoma State, two other teams on the bubble, didn't have enough quality wins. But USC, which made it to the Pac-12 championship game, is probably the biggest snub. The 23-10 Trojans just didn't have the quality wins to get in ahead of Oklahoma, Arizona State and Syracuse (in the eyes of the committee).
Langston - 19-14 isn't necessarily a record that gets you in the NCAA Tournament, but Oklahoma State was well deserving of it and had some quality wins to show for that. The Cowboys notched TWO wins against number one seed Kansas, won a game AT four seed West Virginia, and beat Oklahoma TWICE this year. They also notched a key win against four seed Texas Tech. In my eyes, Oklahoma beating out Oklahoma State is the biggest miss the committee had for this year's tournament.
First Four Team To Fear
Troy - After I just spent two categories ragging on the Orange, they are my pick for this category. Syracuse got gifted two matchups that should get it to the round of 32. In the First Four, the Orange play Arizona State, which has been a bad basketball team in 2018. Then they would play TCU, a team I would think Syracuse can handle.
Grant - Once again, I'm going to echo Troy. Even though I bashed Syracuse, the Orange have the ingredients to get through the first weekend. Arizona State isn't a great team and TCU is a weak six seed. Plus, the 2-3 zone can cause enough problems to fuel an upset.
Langston - These two seem to just be mimicking each other, but I am going to take a different route. My team to watch is the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure. While they did not have the same strength of schedule as the Orange, fortunately for me, they have quality wins against a Rhode Island team that played extremely well this year, a Davidson team that made the tournament, and Syracuse.
Upset Alert
Troy - I have four games that I'm looking at, but I'm only going to highlight two. West Virginia got matched up against Murray State in the first round, which is tough, since the Racers play a style where if they get hot from deep they could be dangerous. My actual pick, though, is Loyola-Chicago taking down Miami. The Hurricanes haven't been overly impressive and the Ramblers are tough defensively.
Grant - I have quite a few upsets in the first round (probably too many). Hot-shooting Murray State and Davidson are both prime upset candidates, New Mexico State has a potential path to the Sweet 16, and a few 11 seeds could make some noise. But my biggest upset pick is Stephen F. Austin over Texas Tech. The Lumberjacks have done it before, and SFA forces more turnovers than any other team in the nation. I could see a Texas-over-Texas upset in Texas.
Langston - My upset alert is completely different than the other two, like normal, as I have the Purdue Boilermakers possibly dropping to Cal State Fullerton. I do not necessarily have the pick because Cal State is just that good. More like, as of late, Purdue has been the most inconsistent team in the country and are due for an upset if they can't get it together very quickly.
Cinderella Story
Troy - The Cinderella category is always a tough pick. I think the winner of an Arizona and Kentucky matchup has a good shot, but my pick is Gonzaga. The Zags are talented offensively, which is something to keep an eye on in the tournament, and I think they match up well against potentially Xavier in the Sweet Sixteen.
Grant - I have Gonzaga in the National Championship, but I don't consider the Zags a Cinderella team. I'll go with New Mexico State, a 12 seed I have in the Sweet Sixteen. The 28-5 Aggies are highly-talented, especially given their seed, and Clemson and Auburn don't impress me much.
Langston - I have to go with New Mexico State as my Cinderella team for this tournament. The Aggies are a 12 seed and have to face 5 seed Clemson. After that, they would have to play a 4 seed in Auburn, which is playing well, but as my Cinderella choice, I think New Mexico State could shock some people this year.
Early Exit
Troy - This may sound odd, but I feel like the upper seed that can be watching the Final Four from home may be Duke. I don't love the Blue Devils' possible matchup in the second round against Rhode Island. Young teams can have trouble against aggressive defenses like the Rams'.
Grant - Don't get me wrong. I think Xavier is an elite team. However, the Musketeers are the weakest number one seed, and they are in a tough region. They could have problems in a potential second round matchup against a Michael Porter Jr.-led Missouri team, and, if they make it past that, will probably face a tough test against Ohio State or Gonzaga.
Langston - Like a previously said, I have Purdue as my early exit team this season. While they got off to an amazing start to the season, the losses to Ohio State and Michigan State seemed to start some bad problems for the Boilermakers, which has me debating how far they will go. Inconsistent play will determine how far this team goes, and my guess is not very far.
Best Team Name
Troy - I'm trying really hard not to repeat last year's preview and select the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, which is why instead I'm going for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. Do I know what a Bonnie is? No. Do I love the name regardless? Yes.
Grant - The Bonnies of St. Bonaventure are always a fun one, and we should never overlook the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (who doesn't love rabbits?) and UMBC Retrievers (who doesn't love dogs?), but I just want to highlight the weirdness of the Lipscomb Bisons. No, that's not a typo. They are not the Bison. They are the Bisons. The blatant disregard for the correct plural form of Bison is wonderful.
Langston - The other two wanted to be original and I completely respect that, but I just have to go with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits because I mean come on, who does not like Jackrabbits??
Toughest Region
Troy - I'll be honest: I think this year this category is maybe the most subjective it can ever be. The regions are actually very even. By the slimmest of margins over the Midwest, I am going to give this to the South. I believe that the Midwest has a tougher 1, 2, 3 line, but the committee didn't do number one overall Virginia any favors. The second round game of Kentucky and Arizona is lethal, and the Sweet Sixteen matchup of Tennessee and Cincinnati is sneakily good.
Grant - Every region is tough. This is the NCAA Tournament. There are no easy paths. However, when determining which might be the toughest, my eyes stray out to the West. Yes, Xavier is the weakest number one seed, but the region also includes North Carolina (the defending champion), Gonzaga (the defending runner-up), Michigan (Big Ten tournament champion), Ohio State (led by national player of the year candidate Keita Bates-Diop), and Missouri (led by potential top 10 pick Michael Porter Jr.). And I didn't even mention teams like Providence (which took Villanova to overtime in the Big East championship game) and Houston (which almost beat Cincinnati in the American championship game). It will be interesting to see who makes it out of this region.
Langston - I have to agree with Troy here and say that my pick for the toughest region has to be the South region. Virginia definitely has the toughest road to the final four out of all the one seeds, in my opinion. They would have to go through an Arizona team that most are picking to go to the Final Four and are peaking at the perfect time, a Kentucky team that played phenomenal during the SEC tournament, a Cincinnati team that has played extremely solid all year, and two teams in Miami and Tennessee that can play with anybody.
Final Four Matchups and Champions
Troy - For the Final Four, I picture Virginia vs. North Carolina in a rematch of the ACC championship game and Villanova vs Michigan State in a battle of great coach's suits vs terrible coach's suits. The national championship game, in my eyes, will be a battle of the V-named schools, as Virginia and their pack-line defense will finally reign supreme over Villanova.
Grant - I originally had Virginia winning it all, but then it was announced that De'Andre Hunter (the ACC Sixth Man of the Year) would miss the tournament with a broken wrist. The loss of an impact player for the Cavs caused me to change my bracket. My new Final Four is Cincinnati vs. Gonzaga and Villanova vs. Michigan State. I foresee the Zags advancing to their second straight National Championship game, but I foresee them falling short again, this time to Villanova.
Langston - For my Final Four, I have to go with Arizona vs North Carolina and Michigan State and Villanova. This was kind of a tough choice for me, but I have Arizona and Villanova in my championship game and Arizona as my 2018 National Champions.
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