Man this feels good! After the year that shall not be named took it away from us, the NCAA Tournament is finally back. Frankly, we live in a different world than we did on April 8th, 2019, when Virginia won the last national title. March Madness is obviously going to look different this year. Everything will be played in either Indianapolis or nearby, and while there will be fans in the stands, it'll be nowhere close to the sold-out crowds we're used it. Still. there is the same amount of teams and just like in the gym in downtown Hickory, the rims are ten feet from the floor.
Per tradition, we will be going through some categories and giving you our thoughts on the topic at hand. Also as per usual, we will have a bracket challenge. You can sign up to compete in it by following this link. Heads up: the brackets are locked in at Noon on Friday, so don't wait too long.
Region Rename
The team over at Head in the Game was extremely disappointed when it was announced that they were keeping the same traditional region names. Not only did it not make much sense given that everyone is playing in the same place, but it was a huge missed opportunity to have some fun. Being the generous souls that we are, we renamed the regions after famous fictional characters from the state of Indiana. If we refer to a region after this, it will be by these names. Below is the renamed regions and the reasoning behind the names:
Ron Swanson ("Parks and Rec") - Formerly the South Region - This stems from the one seed in the region, Baylor. Waco, Texas is of course the hometown of the HGTV megahit Fixer Upper. Ron Swanson once renovated an entire floor of the Pawnee, Indiana city hall just because he wanted to.
Garfield ("Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties") - Formerly the Midwest Region - As a lifelong Hoosier, I can tell you that no fictional character has had a bigger cultural impact on the state than this lasagna loving cat. 37.5% of the teams in this region are orange, so this feels like the natural fit.
Jean-Ralphio ("Parks and Rec") - Formerly the West Region - Yes, we included two characters from the same show. No, we don't regret it, it's the most rewatchable show in human history. Did I, Troy, push for this to make the people who have watched the Office exclusively for the last 8 years mad? Maybe. Did I, Troy, do this because Jean-Ralphio looks like he could be related to the character that the last region is named after? More likely.
Steve Harrington ("Stranger Things") - Formerly the East Region - We needed to include a character from the latest major hit to come from the Crossroads of America. Out of all the regions, this felt like the one that would grow a glorious mane of hair and carry around a baseball bat with nails sticking out of it. Also, as I mentioned before, Steve and Jean-Ralphio look a lot alike, so there's a conspiracy theory that Steve is Jean-Ralphio's father, as discussed in this beautiful interview.
Category Run-Down
First Round Must-Watch - The first two days of the NCAA Tournament put the "Madness" in March Madness. Here, we'll highlight the most intriguing first-round game.
Player to Watch - The NCAA Tournament has this magic about it that can turn good players into legends and even jump start their pro career, see Steph Curry and Kemba Walker. We'll say who has the potential to do the same thing.
First Four Team To Fear - This category is to highlight the team playing in the first four games 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 sixth 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* *cough* "Wildcats" *cough* *cough* "Eagles" *cough* *cough*, we're going to highlight a team with a unique nickname.
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 Champion - Of course. What's a preview without a champ?
First Round Must-Watch
Troy - You are going to want to tune in to TNT on Friday night just before 10 pm to watch Villanova battle Winthrop. Villanova is still trying to find their footing after Colin Gillespie's season was ended by injury. Winthrop has lost exactly once all year and it was by a single bucket. Both these teams like to score the ball and it should be an interesting enough game to not make you want to go to bed.
Grant - You could categorize any number of first-round games as "must-watch", but I'll go with the 8-9 matchup in the Garfield Region: Loyola-Chicago vs. Georgia Tech. First off, these are two hot teams that might be better than their seeds suggest. According to many analysts, The Ramblers of Loyola are the most under-seeded team in the field. KenPom rates them as the ninth-best team in the country. Meanwhile, the aggressive Yellow Jackets just swarmed to an ACC Tournament Championship. But the best reasons to watch may be GT coach Josh Pastnor and Loyola chaplain Sister Jean.
Player to Watch
Troy - If you're a fan of our This B1G Week series, p.s. you can read our Big Ten specific March Madness preview by clicking here, you know that it is our belief that Ayo Dosunmu is the rightful Big Ten player of the year, if not national player of the year. Having a guard that can get you a bucket whenever they want is a huge plus, and Ayo's ability to close out close games will come in clutch, pun, as always, intended.
Grant - There are many sensational players in this tournament, but only one of them will be the number one pick in this year's NBA draft, and that player is likely to be Oklahoma State freshman Cade Cunningham. Cunningham became just the fourth player to win both Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year in the same season. The other three were Michael Beasley, Kevin Durant, and Marcus Smart, who are pretty well-known basketball names. Cunningham was able to help carry the Pokes far in the Big 12 Tournament, and he could do the same in the NCAA Tourney.
First Four Team to Fear
Troy - Only one of these teams has beaten half of the one seeds and one of the two seeds. The Michigan State Spartans not only will win their first four game but will win their game against BYU.
Upset Alert
Troy - There's multiple factors surrounding my pick of Ohio beating Virginia at 7:15 Saturday on TruTV. My first two reasons do with the Hoos. Virginia had to withdraw from the ACC Tournament due to a positive test in their program and won't be able to practice until at least Thursday or travel to Indianapolis until Friday. Second is that Virginia's style of play caters to an upset. They like to play slow and limit the number of possessions. The less possessions, the more likely the less talented team is to win (that probability class I took in college is really paying off). Ohio has something that will help them win in a stud guard named Jason Preston. If you haven't heard of him, you'll want to remember his name, because his Bobcats are about to make some noise.
Cinderella Story
Troy - Beware the fact horses. I am a believer that the USC Trojans are a team that could lose in the first round or make a deep run in the tournament. USC has a potential top-five pick in the next NBA Draft with big man Evan Mobley. Let's see if coach Andy Enfield can recreate the legendary run from his time in Dunk City USA with Florida Gulf Coast.
Grant - I've already mentioned the MSU Spartans, who are a threat to make a run every year. I also have my eye on a couple of seven seeds who could bust brackets. One is UConn, which won a National Title the last time it was a seven seed and is dangerous as long as star James Bouknight is healthy. The other is the Oregon Ducks, a team that, like Michigan State, I've forecasted to make the Elite Eight. The Ducks shoot the three well and are led by veteran guards, which are two indicators of a team that can make a run in March.
Early Exit
Troy - You should always be wary of momentum in the NCAA Tournament. Often all the positive or negative momentum a team has going in just hits a wall right away, with some exceptions like Kemba Walker's UConn team. That being said, West Virginia has shown serious problems as of late that doesn't make you too optimistic. It was a shock to a lot of people that they were rated this high. Their first-round game against Morehead State won't be easy in the slightest and in the second round you have to face a tough, tough San Diego State team or an orange team in the Garfield region.
Grant - The most volatile teams in the NCAA tournament are the ones who can put up points but don't play much defense. They could shoot their way to the Final Four, but they could also find themselves going home early if the shots just aren't falling that day. One team that fits that description well is Iowa. The Hawkeyes have Final Four talent on the offensive end (including National Player of the Year Luka Garza), but their defensive woes could befall them, and in a tough part of the bracket, I think they will.
Best Team Name
Troy - While they did beat my beloved UC Irvine Anteaters, p.s. please check out the incredible shirt for the Anteaters over at Homefield Apparel, I am picking the University of California Santa Barbara Gauchos. For starters, they do play in the murder capital of the world, home to the best show about a psychic detective. Next is how cool and weird their nickname is. Gauchos are skilled horsemen known for their bravery and unruliness. This term used mainly in Argentina and Uruguay somehow made it up to California.
Grant - Ah, finally, the category I really care about. There are some solid team names in this field, including Gauchos, Mean Green, Dragons, and Vikings. But the silliest team name has to be the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. They literally just took part of the university's name and added an "ies" to the end of it (and an extra n, to make it work). More teams should do that. Imagine the "Gonzaga Zaggies", or the "Baylor Baylies", or the "Michigan Michies", or the...
Toughest Region
Troy - Three of these regions, with the exception of the Jean-Ralphio Region, are fairly equal, but the Steve Harrington Region stands out from the rest. Maybe the toughest 2 and 3 seed, Alabama and Texas, are located in this region. Add in matchups like LSU/St. Bonaventure, UConn/Maryland, and BYU vs Michigan State/UCLA. This is going to be an interesting and a hard to predict region.
Grant: I have to concur with Troy here. The Steve Harrington Region looks like it may be the toughest and most competitive region. Unlike its namesake, the region may not be very top-heavy (Michigan, pending the health of Isaiah Livers, is probably the weakest one seed), but it is deep. I could conceivably see any of the top 12 seeds in this region making a run. Seriously.
Final Four Matchups/Champion
Troy - This may seem like a cop-out but this year has three of the better 1 seeds we've seen in a long time, which is why I picked three of them to the Final Four. Gonzaga vs Alabama and Baylor vs Illinois are my matchups. All this will ultimately end with Gonzaga capping off the first undefeated season since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers, the greatest March Madness team of all time.
Grant - I didn't want to put three number one seed in the Final Four (and I seriously debated excluding Baylor), but as Troy said, these are some of the strongest top seeds this tournament has seen. My matchups (as seen in the nice little graphic Troy put together) are Gonzaga vs. Florida State and Baylor vs. Illinois. I ultimately have Illinois holding off Gonzaga to secure its first National Title.
To stay up to date on the newest Head in the Game articles (and general sports commentary), follow @headingameblog on Twitter. You can also find us on Twitter @T_RoyStory (Troy) and @G_Tingley (Grant)
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