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For many, many years, former News & Observer sports columnist Caulton Tudor reviewed the bracket in his own inimitable way, scrambling to get it done Sunday night for the Monday paper. He had his own phrases, his own slang and his own way of doing it. In honor of Tudor, who passed away in November 2017, we revived the format. It’s back by popular demand (?) a day later and many quips shorter.
Illinois faces rough road in Midwest
REGIONAL RATING: First
FAVORITE: Illinois (1) emerged victorious from the brutal Big Ten and has the best guard in the country in Ayo Dosumnu.
GOING SWEET: Illinois (1), Houston (2), Tennessee (5), San Diego State (6)
DARK HORSES: San Diego State (6) has quietly been on a roll for months. Loyola-Chicago (8) is a no-doubt top 25 team that got penalized for being from a smaller conference. Ritchie McKay has built a Virginia Lite program at Liberty (13).
MIGHT FLOP: West Virginia (3) has been an enigma all season. Oklahoma State (4) has the likely national freshman of the year in Cade Cunningham but not much experience in these situations.
SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE: Sister Jean is back from Loyola’s Final Four run and with Georgia Tech (9) in the first round, we’ll get to hear how relentlessly positive GT coach Josh Pastner thinks Sister Jean should be in the Hall of Fame.
SYNOPSIS: By far the strongest and deepest bracket, Illinois is going to have to beat some combination of Loyola, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, San Diego State, West Virginia and Houston to get to the Final Four. Illinois is probably good enough to get through, but it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see Houston or even San Diego State at the end instead.
East is a beast, but Longhorns will ride high
REGIONAL RATING: Second
FAVORITE: Texas (3) looked like a Final Four team in December, then lost its way. It found it at the Big 12 tournament.
GOING SWEET: Michigan (1), Alabama (2), Texas (3), Colorado (6)
DARK HORSES: It feels odd to call big-time, title-winning programs like Georgetown (12), Michigan State (11), UCLA (11) or Maryland (10) dark horses, but they all have a chance to recapture past glory as underdogs and disrupt the region.
MIGHT FLOP: Florida State (4) will face questions about its ball-handling against pressure. Michigan (1) will have its hands full in a potential second-round matchup with St. Bonaventure (9) and faces really tough games after that.
SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE: Rick Pitino is back in the tournament with Iona (15), his record-tying fifth tourney team and the school where Jim Valvano got his start many, many years ago. The Gaels barely got their season in because of COVID, then won the MAAC tournament.
SYNOPSIS: There are strong top seeds and underachieving power-conference teams in this regional, which may make it the strongest in terms of raw talent. Michigan, Alabama and Texas are all capable of winning it all, Colorado has been one of the country’s most underrated teams all season and the winner of the Michigan State-UCLA play-in game is going to be a beast. A slugfest.
Is Baylor vulnerable in the South?
REGIONAL RATING: Third
FAVORITE: Baylor (1) suddenly looks vulnerable thanks in part to a COVID pause, but the Bears are still the team to beat.
GOING SWEET: Baylor (1), Ohio State (2), Arkansas (3), Purdue (4)
DARK HORSES: Impeccably coached by Mike Young, Virginia Tech (10) will give Florida (7) and maybe Ohio State (2) everything they can handle. Colgate (14) is the second-best 3-point shooting team in the field, behind only Baylor. Winthrop (12) is going to be everyone’s upset pick, which is probably bad news for them. Max Abmas was the nation’s leading scorer at Oral Roberts (15).
MIGHT FLOP: It’s never a good idea to bet against Villanova (5) in March but the Wildcats have serious injury issues this time with Colin Gillespie out and Justin Moore limping. Even if Nova has enough to get past Winthrop, Jay Wright won’t need his third suit.
SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE: They celebrate wins at Hartford (16) by playing “Brass Bonanza.”
SYNOPSIS: The chalkiest of the Sweet 16s, but there’s real potential for first-weekend chaos here. Baylor faces a tough second-round game against North Carolina (8) or Wisconsin (9) while Virginia Tech, Colgate and Winthrop are lurking. But the top four seeds should still have enough to safely advance.
It’s all Gonzaga out West, as it has been all year
REGIONAL RATING: Fourth
FAVORITE: Gonzaga (1) hasn’t lost yet.
GOING SWEET: Gonzaga (1), Iowa (2), Southern Cal (6), UC Santa Barbara (12).
DARK HORSES: UCSB (12) has won at least 20 games in four straight seasons, is one of the most experienced teams in the field and draws a Creighton (5) team in disarray after coach Greg McDermott’s inexcusable “plantation” comments. The Gauchos have a chance to make a deep run because they face a potential second-round game against Ohio (13) or Virginia (4), the latter coming off a COVID pause.
MIGHT FLOP: Beyond Virginia and Creighton for obvious reasons, Kansas (3) is also coming off a COVID shutdown and even dropped out of the top 25 at one point before that. Seems like boom or bust with all three.
SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE: Gonzaga (1) has been knocking on the door for so many years. With stars like Corey Kispert, Drew Timme and sensational freshman Jalen Suggs, along with instant-help Florida transfer Andrew Nembhard, it just feels like the Zags’ time has come. Finally.
SYNOPSIS: Gonzaga and Iowa (2) are pretty far out front in this quadrant, and a regional final between the two would be a heavyweight rematch of a December battle. Things could get a little weird beyond that, with teams like UCSB, Southern Cal (6), Oregon (7) and Virginia Commonwealth (10) all threatening.
MY PICKS: Gonzaga, Texas, Baylor, Illinois
CHAMPION: Gonzaga
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