College Basketball tips off today -
Women’s College BB at 11 AMET
Men’s College BB at Noon
363 teams will compete in NCAA Division 1 Basketball this year. With re-classification - 350 college teams are eligible for the Field of 68 through 32 single-elimination conference tournaments starting in February . The excitement of March Madness, a sporting event that rivals the Olympics, starts today as 350 teams will work to secure one of 36 at large bids.
The first ranked match up of the season comes is in women’s basketball #21 Creighton at #23 South Dakota State but plenty of Top 25 teams are in action today and this week .
Returning stars are a huge theme in college basketball this year thanks in part to the NIL.
In women’s basketball Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks are favored to repeat in women’s basketball with returning superstar Aliyah Boston . Look out for other stars returning in women’s college basketball like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark but one superstar will be missing this year is UConn’s Paige Bueckers out for the year after tearing her ACL in the summer.
North Carolina is the preseason #1 for Men’s Basketball for a record tenth time returning 4 starters from a team that almost won the national title except for the largest ever second half comeback in NCAA Championship history by Kansas. North Carolina returns four starters from last year’s team including Caleb Love and Armando Bacot. Kentucky, Gonzaga, Houston all bring back All-Americans including Drew Timme for Gonzaga and Oscar Tshiebwe for Kentucky. Going the youth route preseason Top 10 teams Duke (where they also have a rookie coach Jon Scheyer taking over for Coach K) and Arkansas who bring in multiple 5 star recruits as freshmen as they hope for big years from Derrick Lively (Duke) and Nick Smith (Arkansas) to cut down the nets in Houston on Monday April 3.
Here is @TeamUSATracker Bracketology
2023 NCAA Tournament Preseason Prediction
Keep us with my picks and others on Bracket Project (great website that does one of the best jobs of actually getting right the Field of 68 because of the amount of brackets it collects)
Final Four April 1 Houston, TX
First Four (Dayton, OH)
Sacred Heart vs Longwood
Syracuse vs Iowa State
Texas Southern vs Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Providence vs Notre Dame
West Regional (Las Vegas, NV)
Sacramento, CA
1 Gonzaga vs 16 Sacred Heart/Longwood
8 Miami vs 9 Xavier
Des Moines, IA
5 Auburn vs 12 Furman
4 Creighton vs 13 Liberty
Denver, CO
6 Purdue vs 11 Providence/ND
3 Texas vs 14 Iona
Sacramento, CA
7 Michigan State vs 10 St. Louis
2 UCLA vs 15 Penn
East Regional (New York, NY)
Greensboro, NC
1 North Carolina vs 16 Texas Southern/ Texas A&M Corpus Christi
8 Ohio State vs 9 USC
Albany, NY
5 Michigan vs 12 Toledo
4 Villanova vs 13 Vermont
Orlando, FL
6 Illinois vs 11 Syracuse/Iowa State
3 Tennessee vs 14 Colgate
Des Moines, IA
7 Oregon vs 10 Florida State
2 Kansas vs 15 Louisiana
South Regional (Louisville, KY)
Columbus, OH
1 Kentucky vs 16 Morehead State
8 Virginia Tech vs 9 Memphis
Albany, NY
5 TCU vs 12 Drake
4 Virginia vs 13 UCSB
Columbus, OH
6 Alabama vs 11 Wisconsin
3 Indiana vs 14 Towson
Greensboro, NC
7 UConn vs 10 St. Mary’s
2 Duke vs 15 Montana State
Midwest Regional (Kansas City, MO)
Birmingham, AL
1 Baylor vs 16 Norfolk State
8 Dayton vs 9 Texas A&M
Denver, CO
5 San Diego State vs 12 UAB
4 Arizona vs 13 Grand Canyon
Orlando, FL
6 Texas Tech vs 11 Rutgers
3 Arkansas vs 14 Oral Roberts
Birmingham, AL
7 Iowa vs 10 Florida
2 Houston vs 15 Purdue Fort Wayne
Last Four Out: Oklahoma, OK State, St. John’s, BYU
Other under consideration: Seton Hall, Penn State, LSU, Wyoming
By Conference:
Big Ten: 9
ACC: 8
SEC: 7
Big 12: 6
Big East: 5
Pac 12: 4
A10: 2
AAC: 2
WCC: 2