By: Tyler Elzholz, Jaiden Basinger, and Jose Nazario
March 15, 2022
College basketball fans, the NCAA tournament is finally here. With 63 games to be played, there is a lot to look forward to and so much that can happen. This is why it is called March Madness, right?
Here are the top four seeds per region as well as some potential dark horses.
WEST Region
With a lot of teams capable of making it to the Sweet 16 in this region, Gonzaga, who lost in the National Championship game a year ago, is the number #1 overall seed. Duke, in Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season, is the #2 seed. Texas Tech, who made a big run in 2019 as national runners-up, is the #3 seed. Lastly, Arkansas, who stunned Auburn in the regular season, is the #4 seed.
Do not sleep on Connecticut and Michigan State.
EAST Region
The East region has some familiar teams. Baylor, who defeated 31-0 Gonzaga last year for the National Championship, is the #1 seed. Kentucky, which is one of the all-time blue bloods in college basketball, has a good chance of winning it all as the #2 seed. Purdue, who was ranked number one at one point this season, is the #3 seed. Finally UCLA, who made it to the Final Four last year, is the #4 seed.
Do not sleep on Virginia Tech, Murray State, and St. Mary’s.
SOUTH Region
Arguably, the South region is the toughest of the four regions due to how loaded the first four teams are. Arizona is the #1 seed, Villanova is the #2 seed, Tennessee is the #3 seed, and Illinois is the #4 seed.
Do not sleep on Houston, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Loyola University of Chicago (You know, Sister Jean’s Ramblers.)
MIDWEST Region
With a heavy stacked, top seeded region, the Midwest is up for grabs. As expected, Kansas is the #1 seed. Auburn, who has steadily maintained its top four ranking, is the #2 seed. Wisconsin is the #3 seed, while Providence rounds out the top four seeds.
Do not sleep on Iowa, who is arguably the hottest team in the country right now.
The Return of the Eye‘s Sports Department will now make their FINAL FOUR predictions.
*Tyler Elzholz:
West – Gonzaga, East – Kentucky, South – Tennessee, Midwest – Iowa
*Jaiden Basinger:
West – Arkansas, East – Baylor, South – Arizona, Midwest – Iowa
Jose Nazario:
West – Duke, East – UCLA, South – Tennessee, Midwest – Wisconsin
Beginning this Thursday, brackets will bust, and some of the heavy weights will lose. March Madness is unpredictable, which makes it the greatest three weeks in sports.
Who are your Final Four teams? Write them in the Leave a comment section below.
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