Selection Sunday is creeping up on us! I don’t speak for everyone when I say this but who isn’t excited for the best sports event this year?

What I am looking forward to the most however is that games are being played in Buffalo this year and I am able to go. I hope to see Duke play but if not I hope to see a crazy upset.

This year in the tournament there are no teams that stand out ahead of everyone else. There are about 5-8 teams that most could see winning it all, (Gonzaga, Arizona, Duke, Kentucky, Auburn, Purdue, Baylor and Kansas), are the teams most people expect to come out on top.

There are a lot of stories going into this year: Coach K’s last run. Who the best player in college basketball is and who the sleepers of the tournament will be.

Even this week heading into the tournament will be chaotic with all of the teams on the bubble but also with teams who could shock us to win their conference championship to punch their tickets and eliminate the chances of teams on the bubble.

It seems like every conference is up for grabs and no one is a guaranteed winner this time around. No one will be surprised with the outcomes of the tournament. 

Let’s dive into the bracket as a whole.

68 teams make the tournament overall (4 play-in games to make it down to 64) to battle it out for the championship.

I expect this to be one of the best tournaments of all time with all the uncertainty going in. Of course I say all of this and it will turn out to be the most boring one in recent history.

This year I anticipate there to be an abundance of upsets and an unexpected winner. 

Some bold predictions I have without even seeing the bracket yet are:

• Gonzaga eliminated in the round of 32
• A 9-13 seed will all have a victory
• 2 unexpected teams win their conference championship to deny bubble teams
• A 16 seed keeps it close, but won’t win
• Duke makes the championship in Coach K’s final game, but loses
• A “bubble” team makes the sweet 16
• 3 games end at the buzzer
• An SEC team wins it all for the first time in a decade 

Of course with all my predictions they could all change once I see the official bracket but I remain confident that I’ll be right. 

All in all, I hope for another great, action packed tournament. Once the bracket becomes released check back for another piece where I break down the bracket, or maybe even a podcast with a special guest!