![]() 1-seeded defending national champion Baylor Bears scarcely made a ripple with ESPN's panel. 3 Purdue (6 picks) the next-most popular selections. Kentucky was the pick out of the East in 37 of 54 brackets, with No. The Kentucky Wildcats rejoined the national conversation in a major way this season, with John Calipari assembling a team that our respondents believe will end a UK Final Four drought that dates back to 2015. 4 seed Arkansas (an Elite Eight team a year ago) was not selected by any of ESPN's respondents to emerge from the West and is given just a 2.2% chance of reaching New Orleans by BPI. 5 seed UConn (5.3%) have the next-best probabilities of coming out of the West. Or both.ĮSPN's Basketball Power Index gives Mark Few's team a 56.9% chance to reach the Final Four, the best percentage in this field. 26 in Las Vegas, ESPN respondents were either scared off by Duke's shaky play over the past couple of weeks or truly impressed with the recent play of Gonzaga. Though the Blue Devils have five potential first-round NBA draft choices and beat Gonzaga way back on Nov. Gonzaga earned 48 of 54 picks to make it out of the West Regional in San Francisco, with Texas Tech (4 picks), UConn (1 pick) and Duke (1 pick) the outside-the-box choices. Our panel was not totally sold on the narrative that this is Gonzaga's year from a title-winning standpoint (more on that later), but nearly everyone in the group expects to see the Bulldogs in New Orleans. There were at least four teams picked in every region as Final Four entries in 2022, including a total of five teams in the wide-open South and East Regions.īelow we take a look at several trends among the 54 ESPN professionals who made their picks to reach Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on April 2 - and their selections for who will cut down the nets on April 4.īrackets are open! Head to Tournament Challenge and fill out your bracket now! West: It's still the Zags' world This season, ESPN's respondents have selected 10 different teams as potential champions, from a field that includes a whopping 18 selected Final Four teams. Last season, ESPN's panel identified just four teams it thought could cut down the nets on the tournament's third weekend - two of those were Gonzaga and Baylor, who met for the national championship (Illinois and Florida State were the others). And for the second straight season, the top-ranked Zags remain the consensus favorite among both ESPN's panel of men's college basketball commentators, analysts and writers - albeit by a smaller margin than in 2021 when Gonzaga entered the field at a perfect 26-0. Men's Final Four, March Madness predictions - ESPN college basketball experts' tournament picksįor the second straight season, the Gonzaga Bulldogs will open the men's NCAA tournament as the betting favorite. ![]() You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |