It’s that magical time of year again. The time of year where fans from around the country come together in celebration of one of sports most iconic events. It’s a time when upsets, buzzer-beaters and absolute madness endure. It’s March again, and the NCAA tournament is underway.
People of all ages print off their brackets, scribble in their picks and watch the television intently for three weeks, praying for a years worth of bragging rights. Some, if lucky, have a chance to watch their college compete for one of basketball’s highest honors, but only one team will leave “The Big Dance” victorious.
The 2016-2017 college basketball season has been everything a sports fan could dream of. There have been higher seeds knocked off their pedestals by small town schools, freshman phenoms emerging left and right and down to the wire games played by the most prestigious schools in the sport. So who is walking out of Glendale, Arizona with the trophy this year?
There doesn’t seem to be a clear cut favorite at this point. The sweet-sixteen is the next round underway and here are some teams looking like championship contenders up to this point.
Gonzaga entered the tournament with an impressive 32-1 record and #2 ranking in the AP Polls. Led by their star big man Przemek Karnowski, the Bulldogs showed the country why they belong in the premier program conversation. Success is not new for Gonzaga, who has made the tournament an astonishing 18 seasons in a row. However, the Bulldogs have never been able to get to a Final Four, losing in the Elite Eight twice. Nevertheless, this could be the year that gets them over the hump.
Kansas hasn’t miss The Big Dance in 28 years, and with senior guard and player of the year candidate Frank Mason III at the helm, the Jayhawks are major contenders for a championship this year. Coming off of blowout wins over UC-Davis and Michigan St. in the first two rounds, they are as hot as any team right now.
North Carolina has potentially the toughest road for any one seed in the tournament, but with an impressive win over a good Arkansas team in the round of 32, they show they could make consecutive championship appearances. Don’t believe for a second that UNC has forgotten about Villanova’s buzzer-beater that stole the trophy right out of their hands last year, they’re out for revenge.
Enough with the one seeds, the most anticipated game of the tournament is the no. 3 UCLA- no. 2 Kentucky matchup. Both teams met in the regular season, with UCLA coming out with the win. Kentucky clawed out a narrow victory over Wichita St. in the last round, while UCLA has cruised thus far, defeating both their opponents by double-digits. Bruins star freshman, Lonzo Ball, barely missed a triple-double against Cincinnati, and the UCLA offense is arguably the best in the country right now, making them a serious threat. Kentucky’s freshman star Malik Monk had a slow start to the tournament, so watch for him to have a breakout game.
One of the hottest teams in college basketball the last month is the no. 7 seed Michigan Wolverines. Coming off an impressive Big Ten championship and an upset win over 2-seeded Louisville in the round of 32, they are a force at the moment. Could this be a Cinderella storybook ending for the Wolverines? It is called March Madness after all.
Purdue is the dark horse coming out of the Midwest bracket, and Kansas is going to have their hands full with the Boilermaker’s player of the year candidate Caleb Swanigan. Swanigan is averaging a double-double in points and rebounds this season and is extremely difficult to contain at 6’9”, 250 lbs. They have the size and skill to make a deep run in the tournament.
With all the commotion that surrounds March Madness, making brackets, placing bets in Vegas, and the hundreds of ESPN analysts telling the country who will win, the greatest part about the event is the unpredictability. Student-athletes are competing for something they have dreamt of their entire lives and playing for the pure love of the game. Who knows whom the next George Mason, Florida Gulf Coast, or Davidson will be. That’s what makes this time of year so special.
