Bracket RETRY

By: Tyler Elzholz, Jaiden Basinger, and Jose Nazario

March 22, 2022

“Beware the Ides of March” not only applies to Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar because, clearly, the NCAA Tournament encompasses the same themes of being aware, staying on guard, and expecting the unexpected. 

When it comes to our initial Final Four predictions, we sincerely apologize for our absolutely-awful picks. 

With totally different outcomes than what was predicted, here is a recap of last weekend’s craziness.

WEST Region

The West Region is the only region with the top four seeds making it to the Sweet 16. Gonzaga, who is the one-seed, is heavily expected to keep making noise in the tournament. However, two-seeded Duke beat Gonzaga earlier this year, three-seeded Texas Tech can lock down any team defensively, and four-seeded Arkansas beat #1 Auburn back on February 8. Look out for this region because any team could make it out. 

EAST Region

The East Region had a lot of big upsets in the first and second rounds. One of the teams that shocked the world was St. Peter’s. The 15-seeded Peacocks defeated two-seeded Kentucky in the first round and seven-seeded Murray State in the second round. The majority of the 17.35 million brackets filled out were busted from these back-to-back upsets. Another big upset was North Carolina beating one-seeded Baylor in the second round. The Tarheels were up by 25, but a late intentional foul surged a furious comeback from the Bears to force overtime. The Tarheels ended up closing off the comeback in overtime and secured a birth in the Sweet 16. The other two teams are three-seeded Purdue who beat Yale and Texas. The last team is four-seeded UCLA, who barely beat Akron but destroyed St. Mary’s.

SOUTH Region

From the South Region, Villanova (victories over Delaware and Ohio State) takes on Michigan (victories over Colorado State and Tennessee), and Houston (winners over UAB and Illinois) will battle Arizona (winners over Wright State and TCU). With Villanova being the two-seed in their region and Michigan being the 11-seed, the Wildcats should have a good chance at beating the Wolverines, but with the way the predictions have been going thus far, who knows? Five-seeded Houston is capable of beating top-dog Arizona, especially with the game being played in San Antonio, Texas, and having the “home” crowd. 

MIDWEST Region

In the Midwest Region, one-seeded Kansas is in a spot to win it, but they have some challengers.  Four-seeded Providence will get the first-crack at the Jayhawks while the other matchup consists of two, double-digit seeds.  Ten-seeded Miami punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 with upset victories over USC and two-seeded Auburn. The Hurricanes will face 11-seeded Iowa State after their two upsets against LSU and three-seeded Wisconsin. 

The Return of the Eye’s Sports Department will now make their FINAL FOUR predictions, again!

*Tyler Elzholz:

West – Gonzaga, East – Purdue, South – Villanova, Midwest – Kansas

*Jaiden Basinger:

West – Duke, East – North Carolina, South – Arizona, Midwest – Miami

*Jose Nazario:

West – Gonzaga, East – Purdue, South – Arizona, Midwest – Miami

*Mr. Holko:

West – Gonzaga, East – North Carolina, South – Michigan, Midwest – Kansas

Who are your new Final Four teams? Write them in the Leave a comment section below.