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When the college basketball season began in November, 350 college basketball teams had one goal: to reach the Final Four in New Orleans with a shot in the National Championship game on the line. Sunday’s selection came and went, as did the first four games. The field is down to the traditional 64-team count as the first round is set to begin Thursday, so time is running out to make your picks.
Our experts have spent months preparing for this very moment. We’ve split the bar, seen the best players and have all the information needed to help guide you through your arc in the teams from the first seeds all the way to the sixteen seeds.
Time is running out for Brackets! Fill in your brackets Pools for a chance to win a trip to the 2023 Men’s Quartet Final.
Below, our team has filled out their own expert categories, so think of this as a cheat sheet to help you win your deck. Copy whatever you want, we won’t judge. We are here to serve you, our knowledge is your knowledge. Just know if we were right and made the right choices, we are totally responsible and want credit, and if not, we are absolutely not to blame. They are the rules.
Well, to the brackets.
Gary Parish
Yes, once again, I chose Gonzaga to win the national title. Yes, I know, I’ve done that many times before – and it never worked. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong or stupid to go with the Zags again this season. The fact that they haven’t done so yet doesn’t mean they can’t. It just means they haven’t yet – but I honestly think that will change early next month. Gonzaga is the offensive elite, the defensive elite, and full of top-notch talent. This is the year the zigzag is accomplished.
Matt Norlander
Where will we see chaos this year? It’s inevitable, you know. An impressive collection of 68 teams with near-infinite possibilities. And here I put Murray State and Vermont on the second weekend. Call me romantic. But these two teams won a combined 58-7 and won 41 of the last 42 games. I’m going to ride a hot hand, and yes, that means Murray State will play and defeat Kentucky in the second round, a Loyola Chicago squad that was doing the same in Illinois a year ago. (Obviously, both companies are in the middle of a major can’t get Big Brother in the state to make their appointment.) This is a default choice. All season I’ve kept teams as low as the fourth streak are good enough to get to New Orleans.
I’ll stick with that and go with the regular season Big Ten in Illinois, which is one of the top 4 seeds in recent memory. On the left side of the arc, the Gonzaga-Duke Final in San Francisco will be spectacular. Gonzaga ranks as the best team in the sport, so I’ll pick 1-2 from Tim Drew and Chet Holmgren to get that done, then stick with my pick for the pre-season national title, Purdue, to get out of what I expect to be a bustling and entertaining East Zone. Gonzaga is my go-to for winning the National Championship because the 7-1 Holmgren paired with Timme is the best 1-2 in college hoops. KS for the title game is more valuable, plus KU has Ochai Agbaji’s top five players.
Finally little Mark gets it done and makes history. There have been great Gonzaga teams – some are even better than this one. But this is the year at last. GU has an offensive and defensive ceiling to get there, and their experience, length, and enhanced athletic ability ends up being enough. Bulldogs writes a fascinating story about college sports after failing one game a year ago.
Kyle Boone
I wouldn’t go out by picking the No. 1 overall seed to win it all, but after Gonzaga lost to Baylor in the title match last season—especially how I lost—I feel like the Bulldogs are losing some believers. Certainly this should not be the case. This team can win everything like last year’s team that won 31-1 and finished as the national runner-up. The guarding method hasn’t been as strong as a year ago, but his front yard play is even better, led by king-footed Drew Timmy and fellow 7-foot-tall Chet Holmgren, the leader who finished first in this year’s draft.
David Cope
For a dominant team like Arizona State this season, the Wildcats have flown somewhat under the radar due to the fact that they play in the Pac-12, which returned to mid-level in 2021. However, make no mistake. Arizona is an elite college basketball team with all components of a National Championship winner. With the excellent duo of tire guards in Christian Koloko and Oumar Ballo, the Wildcats check their box of defense. However, crime is where it thrives. First-year coach Tommy Lloyd implemented the Gonzaga philosophy seamlessly, has a deep spin on quality guards and capable wingers, spearheading a potential lottery selection at Benedict Mathurin.
Chip Patterson
This isn’t one of the most talented teams Bill Self has had in Kansas, but she’s very confident and getting close to shape with full health and top-tier basketball headed for the NCAA Championship. I love their versatility in terms of how many different players can have buckets while still having a real alpha in Ochai Agbaji. Picking the Jayhawks to the Final Four was easier than pulling the trigger for the title, as I think Arizona and Kentucky are both worthy contenders to win it all. Elsewhere in the category, I had a couple of first seed surprises with Baylor an early exit for the UNC high-variance team and Gonzaga falling into the Sweet 16 for UConn team that might be the most dangerous team outside of the top 4 seed streaks on the field.
Jerry Palm
It’s time for Gonzaga to finally finish the job, and for the second season in a row, the Bulldogs are ranked #1 overall. It was built differently this time. While Drew Tim remains, electric ranger Galen Suggs has been replaced by C Chet Holmgren, an edge guard that changes the way the Zags defend. He can also record from anywhere on Earth. The road will not be easy. Winning six matches in this tournament is never going to happen. But I think the Zajs will finally have their shining moment.
Kevin Flaherty
Mark Few faces his student Tommy Lloyd, a result no one saw coming from the Wildcats before the season started. But Gonzaga is a team on a mission after they nearly turned the table a year ago and failed on the last step. In a fun game, Bulldogs have the best protection point, the best talent in the NBA, and the best college basketball player. This Gonzaga’s team isn’t last year’s team, which is a bit more flawed, but it’s definitely good enough to finish the job.
Dennis Dodd
The pressure is the big ten. Nine teams – 64% from the league and 13% from the arc – inhabit the NCAA Championship. With so many teams comes great pressure to make an impact. It wasn’t the Big Ten last year even though there were nine teams as well. This is despite the entire tournament being held in one of the conference capitals, Indianapolis. Ohio State was kicked out by Oral Roberts. Purdue lost to North Texas. Illinois beat Loyola Chicago. Here we are again with six of the top nine ranked teams in their first matches. I love Purdue and Iowa to get to New Orleans. The Boilers and Hawkeyes will make their first Final Four appearances since 1980. The Iowa team has been a resilient scoring force all season and has been the lowest-ranked in fifth. And Big Ten goalkeeper Jaden Ivey. This helps the top ten look at themselves in the mirror. It doesn’t stop Arizona from winning it all, Lotte Olson’s 25th Anniversary in 1997.
Josh Nagel
After losing to his North Carolina rival in Coach Mike Krzyewski’s last home game and failing to win the ACC Championship, the Blue Devils have only one chance left to successfully send Coach K into retirement. The opportunity lies in these erratic strikes that give the Hall of Fame coach his sixth national title, and it appears that the NCAA Championship committee has paved the way for that possibility. The Blue Devils have a relatively modest path to the Final Four with the exception of top seed Gonzaga, who already defeated 84-81 in November. If the Blue Devils find themselves in Final Four, find them to finish the job and leave the Coach K critics behind.
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