We are just a few weeks out from the end of the NCAA basketball regular season, and that means that we are on the cusp of the NCAA Tournament, a.k.a. March Madness, a.k.a. The greatest time of the year besides Christmas.
As we are getting closer, Joe Lunardi, the bracket guru of ESPN, will be talking more and more about which teams will be making the tournament, who will be left out, and who is on the verge and needs to fight for a spot.
Today’s update has quite a few changes, though the top teams are still the same. Baylor holds the top spot, with the other #1 seeds being filled out by Kansas, Gonzaga, and the still-undefeated San Diego State. These four teams are likely going to stay where they are but there could be quite a bit of movement elsewhere. As of now, Arizona State, Virginia, CIncinnati, and USC are the four teams right now just out of having to participate in a play-in game. This is interesting since Virginia is the reigning champion from last year, so it’s a surprising dip from teh best to just in it. Indiana, Utah State, Richmond, and NC State are the last four teams to be in the tournament, and there are some notable teams sitting on the outside like Stanford and Alabama. Stanford started out looking like the team-to-beat in the PAC-12 but has struggled for a few weeks now, dropping quite a bit in standings.
Overall, we can’t really think of a team to beat right now. The top four are obviously the ones who are favored and Baylor is looking really good. But we have seen some crazy upsets this year with usually-dominant teams like Duke losing to unranked schools, and mainstay names like North Carolina not even being in the conversation. It’s a weird year for college basketball and that’s honestly really fun! This tournament could be a huge surprise and the road is wide open for a lot of teams to get to the championship. Rankings aren’t going to matter as much; it’s going to be about who gets hot at the right time.
I, for one, am absolutely excited for it!
