Preseason 2022 March Madness Bracket
I admit it, I may have gotten too excited about this college basketball season too early, and shot my wad in terms of previewing the season with my Super-Mega preview coming out weeks before the season started. So, while that included picking the 68 teams that would make the field, in this blog I’m going to construct the beautiful bracket and pick every matchup all the way up to a national champion. It is worth noting that since my preview blog came out, two teams that I had in my 68 team field have been ruled ineligible for postseason play, that being Oklahoma State as an at-large and James Madison as my projected CAA champion. So I had to do a hair bit of moving and shaking with my field, but I’ve got the full bracket ready to roll. Here she is below, in all her glory, in order of how the four 1 seeds stack up:
So there it is. Pretty attractive TBH. And while it’s fun to look at, I’m going to pick every matchup with a brief analysis of those that require it (if you want my insights on a hypothetical Villanova Northeastern matchup, I’m sorry). Not trying to make this blog go too long so no more talking about it, let’s get into it.
West Regional:
First Round:
1 Gonzaga vs 16 Iona/Bryant: Gonzaga
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Auburn: Auburn will have Allen Flanigan back healthy by this point so I’ll take Auburn
5 North Carolina vs 12 Liberty: Roy’s career ended with a first round exit, Hubert Davis’ will not begin with one, give me North Carolina
4 Oregon vs 13 Louisiana Tech: Oregon
6 Wichita State vs 11 LSU: The season-ending injury to Adam Miller limits the ceiling on LSU, so I’ll be a homer and take Wichita State
3 Baylor vs 14 Wright State: Baylor
7 Colorado State vs 10 Mississippi State: The Bulldogs aren’t a Final Four team, but Iverson Molinar is a good enough player to snag one upset win, I’ll take Mississippi State
2 Michigan vs 15 Georgia State: Michigan
Second Round:
1 Gonzaga vs 9 Auburn: Chet Holmgren keeps Jabari Smith in check, Gonzaga rolls here
5 North Carolina vs 4 Oregon: Rematch of the 2017 Final Four, I think North Carolina gets the same result behind a Caleb Love masterclass
6 Wichita State vs 3 Baylor: Too much championship experience from Baylor, they’ll win a tight one
10 Mississippi State vs 2 Michigan: Too much talent for Michigan for the Bulldogs to overcome
Sweet 16:
1 Gonzaga vs 5 North Carolina: Drew Timme gets a tough matchup with Armando Bacot, but the rest of Gonzaga chips in to get the win here
3 Baylor vs 2 Michigan: As delightful as a rematch from the 2021 title game would be, I think Hunter Dickinson feasts in this game and propels Michigan to a close win
Elite 8:
1 Gonzaga vs 2 Michigan: This will be a fun one, but I trust Gonzaga’s young talent more than Michigan’s and I trust Mark Few as a coach more than Juwan Howard
East Regional:
First Round:
1 Villanova vs 16 Northeastern: Villanova
8 Arizona vs 9 BYU: Two coaches very familiar with each other, I think Tommy Lloyd’s first season ends with a loss at the hands of BYU
5 Florida State vs 12 West Virginia/Richmond: Huggins get it done in the First Four, but Florida State out-athletes them in the first round
4 Alabama vs 13 UC Irvine: Alabama
6 Tennessee vs 11 Texas Tech: Kennedy Chandler is the real deal and I like their surrounding pieces, Tennessee win in a rout
3 Memphis vs 14 Chattanooga: Memphis
7 Indiana vs 10 St John’s: Trayce Jackson-Davis vs Julian Champagnie would be an awesome matchup, I’ll take Indiana because I think they have more depth behind him.
2 Texas vs 15 South Dakota State: Texas
Second Round:
1 Villanova vs 9 BYU: Too good of coaching from Jay Wright and too good of leadership from Collin Gillespie for the Cougars to overcome, Villanova cruises here
5 Florida State vs 4 Alabama: The Tide clamp down on stud freshman Matthew Cleveland and shoots their way to back to back Sweet 16s for Alabama
6 Tennessee vs 3 Memphis: As high as we are on Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates, the best player in this game could be Kennedy Chandler. Tennessee wins this one and we start to question Penny Hardaway’s in-game coaching abilities.
7 Indiana vs 2 Texas: Two first year coaches that loaded up on transfers, I trust Chris Beard and his roster a little more so give me Texas
Sweet 16:
1 Villanova vs 4 Alabama: First real shocker here, I think the Tide get hot from 3 with Shackelford and Quinerly and a number 1 seed goes down at the hands of Alabama
6 Tennessee vs 2 Texas: This is the game where Marcus Carr turns into erratic, 5-for-22-from-the-field Marcus Carr and Tennessee does enough to prevail and get to the Elite 8
Elite 8:
4 Alabama vs 6 Tennessee: It’s an old SEC football rivalry, and in this one I think, like they’ve done so much on the gridiron this century, Alabama wins behind a great defensive performance against Kennedy Chandler
South Regional:
First Round:
1 UCLA vs 16 New Orleans: UCLA
8 UCONN vs 9 Michigan State: I just can’t picture Izzo going out before the Round of 32 in back to back years, I’ll take Michigan State
5 St Bonaventure vs 12 Buffalo: The most experienced team in the country wins big here, give me St Bonaventure
4 Duke vs 13 Yale: As funny as it would be for Duke to get bounced by an Ivy League team in Coach K’s final year, I can’t do it in good conscience, Duke wins comfortably
6 Maryland vs 11 San Diego State: The gauntlet of the Big Ten catches up to a Maryland team whose depth I question, I’ll take San Diego State in an upset
3 Arkansas vs 14 Winthrop: Arkansas
7 Xavier vs 10 Loyola Chicago: The Ramblers lose their coach and best player but return everyone else, I don’t think I can stomach another March with Sister Jean being forced down my throat so give me Xavier
2 Illinois vs Southern Utah: Illinois
Second Round:
1 UCLA vs 9 Michigan State: Rematch of last year’s First Four game, same result here, UCLA wins big
5 St Bonaventure vs 4 Duke: Another “it would be funny” that I can’t quite get there with, the Bonnies have no answer for Paolo Banchero and Duke keeps rolling
11 San Diego State vs 3 Arkansas: Does Eric Musselman take his shirt off after this win for Arkansas?
7 Xavier vs 2 Illinois: Getting to the tournament as a 7 seed and winning a game will be enough for Travis Steele to secure his job, and it ends here with a comfortable win for Illinois
Sweet 16:
1 UCLA vs 4 Duke: Paolo does it again in this one, and UCLA has no answer for him. Duke onto the Elite 8
3 Arkansas vs 2 Illinois: This is a tough game to pick where ultimately the team with the best player wins, and that’s Illinois with Kofi Cockburn.
Elite 8:
4 Duke vs 2 Illinois: The miracle Coach K Farewell Tour Extravaganza Featuring Paolo Banchero ends here with a Kofi Cockburn bully-ball masterpiece. Illinois wins a tight one
Midwest Regional:
First Round:
1 Purdue vs 16 Texas Southern/Morgan State: Purdue
8 Virginia vs 9 Belmont: Similar to Izzo, I can’t picture Tony Bennett losing in back to back first rounds, I’ll take Virginia
5 Ohio State vs 12 Louisville/Colorado: Buffalos get it done against Louisville behind a strong performance from Evan Battey, but come up short after a balanced attack from the Buckeyes, Ohio State onto the next round
4 Houston vs 13 New Mexico State: Houston
6 Virginia Tech vs 11 Seton Hall: Keve Aluma gets going and Virginia Tech cruises in round 1
3 Kentucky vs 14 Vermont: Kentucky
7 USC vs 10 Rutgers: Rutgers could be a better team than they were a year ago even if the regular season doesn’t show it, but they show it here and upset USC, Rutgers gets to back to back round of 32’s
2 Kansas vs 15 Colgate: Kansas
Second Round:
1 Purdue vs 8 Virginia: The Cavaliers don’t have the offense to keep up here, Purdue wins comfortably
5 Ohio State vs 4 Houston: The Buckeyes end up with more guys who can go get a bucket, and that ends up being the difference as Ohio State takes down Houston
6 Virginia Tech vs 3 Kentucky: Another strong game from Aluma and a shooting clinic from Storm Murphy powers Virginia Tech to an upset and to the Sweet 16
10 Rutgers vs 2 Kansas: Kansas has too much firepower here and win comfortably
Sweet 16:
1 Purdue vs 5 Ohio State: Jaden Ivey takes over this game and Ohio State has no comeback for him, Purdue wins a fun one
6 Virginia Tech vs 2 Kansas: Similar to my Marcus Carr and Texas analysis earlier, this is the game where Remy Martin plays hero ball and jacks up bad shots and it ultimately costs them the game against a hot Virginia Tech team
Elite 8:
1 Purdue vs 6 Virginia Tech: The dream for the Hokies ends as Trevion Williams out-physicals their bigs and Purdue advances to the Final Four that has eluded them for so long
Final Four:
1 Gonzaga vs 1 Purdue: The front court battle of Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren vs Trevion Williams and Zach Eady is very fascinating, and frankly I think it’s very even. So beyond that, it comes down to Jaden Ivey vs the depth of Gonzaga between Andrew Nembhard, Hunter Sallis, Nolan Hickman, and on and on. I think Gonzaga has more staying power and prevails in a tight one.
4 Alabama vs 2 Illinois: I like Alabama’s depth a little more than Illinois’ between their talented freshmen and key transfers. However, Illinois has the best player in the game by far, and there’s a world where Andre Curbelo makes a big enough jump for the Illini to have the two best. I think that ends up being the difference, Kofi plays a whale of a game and Illinois goes to their second title game of the century.
1 Gonzaga vs 2 Illinois: The battle many thought we’d get a year ago before Illinois fell apart and Baylor asserted themselves as one of the best teams in recent history. The key here is that the Zags have two guys to throw at Kofi Cockburn, and not necessarily shut him down but at least get him out of his rhythm and have extra fouls for him. Gonzaga ends up exercising the demons from a year ago, finally get over the hump, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs cut down the nets for the first time in program history.