March Madness Preview

Springtime is in the air, but more importantly, for 68 of the best men’s college basketball teams, madness is in the air.

The 78th edition of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament starts on Tuesday, March 15, and here at Watauga, a lot of fans have caught tournament fever. Many students have already filled out their brackets and predicted the winner of each matchup. There is a good chance though that their brackets will be wrong, as a few upsets are bound to happen in the first few rounds. And it’s also a good chance that a #1 seed will win the whole tournament; it’s happened 19 times in the last 31 years. But if you pick all #1 seeds to go to the Final Four, your prediction might not be true because it’s only happened once in 2008.

Four teams from North Carolina made it into the field, two of them are the usual suspects. For Roy Williams and the Tar Heels, it’s been seven years since the last championship, but this year’s team might have the best chance yet. The Tar Heels grabbed the #1 seed in the East Region, and they will face the winner of one of the play-in games on Tuesday night. As for Duke, they had a dramatic turnaround mid season, going from unranked to in the conversation for the ACC title, including beating UNC at the Dean Smith Center. The Tar Heels had the last laugh though, winning both the regular season and tournament championship. Duke was rewarded with a #4 seed in the West region, and they drew in-state foe UNC-Wilmington in the first round. UNC-Asheville rounds out the four in-state teams, facing #2 seed Villanova in the South region.

The team that UNC beat in the ACC title game, Virginia, also received a #1 seed. Fellow ACC rivals Miami, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh also made the cut. Three SEC teams made the tournament, as Vanderbilt is playing a play-in game, Kentucky is back to avenge last year’s Final Four loss, and Texas A&M has a strong veteran core. Oregon is another #1 seed, winning a Pac-12 conference that was overlooked. This year, the Big 12 was where the action happened, as Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield is a major candidate for National Player of the Year, West Virginia comes in with a stifling defense, while Texas and Texas Tech represent the Lone Star State.

But this year’s overall #1 seed is the Kansas Jayhawks, who once again have come out of the Big 12 triumphant. The team already has a storied history, winning five national titles (two of which came before the NCAA Tournament was introduced in 1939) and hungry for a sixth. Coach Bill Self has seen many great moments in his tenure, including winning in ‘08, and this year he has set up a lineup that is a challenge to face. Senior forward Perry Ellis brings veteran leadership to the frontcourt along with junior Wayne Selden, while guards Frank Mason and Devante Graham are a two-headed monster in the backcourt.