TEMPLE, Texas — It's one of college basketball's grandest traditions: predicting the entire NCAA Tournament bracket just to crumple it up and toss it in the trash when, inevitably, Cinderella crashes the ball.
Millions upon millions of brackets will be formed heading in to the 2022 NCAA Men's & Women's Basketball Tournaments which start Tuesday and get in to full swing on Thursday.
I took a swing at predicting both tournaments. Let's start with the men's tourney.
It's been 15 years since men's college basketball has seen a repeat champion (Florida 2006 & 2007). I don't think that streak ends this season.
Don't get me wrong, if Baylor had its full roster, I'd have the Bears penciled in for a trip to New Orleans to compete in the program's fourth Final Four. But injuries have plagued the Bears all season, with LJ Cryer's status entering the dance still listed, officially, as "day-to-day."
Gonzaga is, once again, the top overall seed but has more jagged a path to the Final Four than it seemed to last season. And, this season has proven the Bulldogs are mortal this season as they head to Portland with three losses: Duke, Alabama and Saint Mary's, two of which are in their region.
Will the basketball Gods allow Coach K to retire from Duke without a Final Four run? I don't believe so. Spoiler alert, I have the Blue Devils playing on the final night of the season.
It's a historic bracket for the Big 12 Conference, with two No. 1 seeds from the league. Kansas sits on the top line in the Midwest Region in Chicago.
Below is a look at my NCAA Men's Tournament bracket. I've put an asterisk (*) next to games where, although I didn't pick it to happen, I could realistically see an upset happening:
West Region
1st Round
(1) Gonzaga over (16) Georgia State
(9) Memphis over (8) Boise State
(5) UConn over (12) New Mexico State
(4) Arkansas over (13) Vermont*
(6) Alabama over (11) Rutgers or Notre Dame
(3) Texas Tech over (14) Montana State
(10) Davidson over (7) Michigan State
(2) Duke over (15) Cal State-Fullerton
2nd Round
(1) Gonzaga over (9) Memphis
(5) UConn over (4) Arkansas
(3) Texas Tech over (6) Alabama*
(2) Duke over (10) Davidson
Sweet 16
(1) Gonzaga over (5) UConn
(2) Duke over (3) Texas Tech
Elite 8
(2) Duke over (1) Gonzaga
The West is tricky, but I think there's a clearer divide between the four teams I have traveling to San Francisco and the other 13 (remember the play-in for the No. 11 seed) in the region.
East Region
1st Round
(1) Baylor over (16) Norfolk State
(8) North Carolina over (9) Marquette
(5) Saint Mary's over (12) Wyoming or Indiana
(4) UCLA over (13) Akron
(6) Texas over (11) Virginia Tech*
(3) Purdue over (14) Yale
(7) Murray State over (10) San Francisco*
(2) Kentucky over (15) St. Peter's
2nd Round
(1) Baylor over (8) North Carolina
(4) UCLA over (5) Saint Mary's
(6) Texas over (3) Purdue
(2) Kentucky over (7) Murray State
Sweet 16
(4) UCLA over (1) Baylor
(2) Kentucky over (6) Texas
Elite 8
(4) UCLA over (2) Kentucky
I think UCLA's seeding is a by-product of playing in front of an empty or mostly empty Pauley Pavilion most of the season because of COVID precautions in Los Angeles. The Bruins returned a vast amount of experience from last year's Final Four run.
South Region
1st Round
(1) Arizona over (16) Wright State or Bryant
(9) TCU over (8) Seton Hall
(5) Houston over (12) UAB
(4) Illinois over (13) Chattanooga
(6) Colorado State over (11) Michigan*
(3) Tennessee over (14) Longwood
(10) Loyola Chicago over (7) Ohio State
(2) Villanova over (15) Delaware
2nd Round
(1) Arizona over (9) TCU
(4) Illinois over (5) Houston
(3) Tennessee over (6) Colorado State
(2) Villanova over (10) Loyola Chicago
Sweet 16
(1) Arizona over (4) Illinois
(3) Tennessee over (2) Villanova
Elite 8
(3) Tennessee over (1) Arizona
Tennessee was the high seed which was widely considered to be under-seeded on the bracket. I can't think of eight resumes better than the Vols and I think they have more experience than Arizona, which could help them in a potential Elite 8 showdown in San Antonio.
Midwest Region
1st Round
(1) Kansas over (16) Texas Southern or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
(8) San Diego State over (9) Creighton
(5) Iowa over (12) Richmond
(4) Providence over (13) South Dakota State*
(11) Iowa State over (6) LSU
(3) Wisconsin over (14) Colgate
(10) Miami (FL) over (7) USC
(2) Auburn over (15) Jacksonville State
2nd Round
(1) Kansas over (8) San Diego State
(4) Providence over (5) Iowa
(3) Wisconsin over (11) Iowa State
(2) Auburn over (10) Miami (FL)
Sweet 16
(1) Kansas over (4) Providence
(3) Wisconsin over (2) Auburn
Elite 8
(1) Kansas over (3) Wisconsin
Everyone in the sport seems to agree Kansas has the clearest path to the Final Four. The bottom half of the region is very mediocre and the Jayhawks have been great most of the season.
Final Four
(2) Duke over (4) UCLA
(1) Kansas over (3) Tennessee
National Championship Game
(1) Kansas over (2) Duke
Of the games I have marked as a possible upset I don't see happening, the one I struggled with most was in the Midwest Region: (4) Providence against (13) South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits haven't lost since Dec. 15th and are, by far, the best No. 13 seed in the tournament against a Providence team which has shown glimpses of weakness this season, no matter how calm it can play.
Moving toward the women's tournament, there hasn't been a repeat champion since UConn's string of titles ended with its fourth-straight in 2016. Stanford won it last year and, like the Baylor men, sits as a No. 1 seed this season.
There are no clear frontrunners in this year's women's bracket, much like the men, as the NCAA Women's Tournament embarks on a historic first: its first 68-team field.
There's a fascinating situation in the Wichita Region that I'd love to see how it plays out. No. 2 seed Baylor seemed to drop from the No. 1 seed in the region and switch with Louisville after its loss to Texas in the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game.
The Bears could see a rematch with Michigan in the Sweet 16, after the Wolverines beat the Bears 74-68 in overtime on Dec. 19th. Does depth become an issue for the Bears, who only have nine players on the roster, seven who play significant minutes? If the Bears beat Michigan, does an emotional win like that drain them before the Elite 8 against Louisville, Oregon or Tennessee?
Does South Dakota make it to the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed? These reasons are why the Wichita Region is hands down the most interesting quadrant of the 2022 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
Below is a look at my NCAA Women's Tournament bracket. I've put an asterisk (*) next to games where, although I didn't pick it to happen, I could realistically see an upset happening:
Greensboro Region
1st Round
(1) South Carolina over (16) Incarnate Word or Howard
(9) South Florida over (8) Miami (FL)
(5) North Carolina over (12) Stephen F. Austin
(4) Arizona over (13) UNLV
(6) Georgia over (11) Dayton or DePaul
(3) Iowa State over (14) UT-Arlington
(10) Creighton over (7) Colorado
(2) Iowa over (15) Illinois State
2nd Round
(1) South Carolina over (9) South Florida
(4) Arizona over (5) North Carolina
(3) Iowa State over (6) Georgia
(2) Iowa over (10) Creighton
Sweet 16
(1) South Carolina over (4) Arizona
(2) Iowa over (3) Iowa State
Elite 8
(1) South Carolina over (2) Iowa
Defense is the reason for my picking Iowa over Cy-Hawk rival Iowa State and the reason I'm giving South Carolina the edge in the Elite 8. But, if Caitlin Clark gets hot for Iowa, the Hawkeyes can hang with anybody in the sport.
Wichita Region
1st Round
(1) Louisville over (16) Albany
(9) Gonzaga over (8) Nebraska
(5) Oregon over (12) Belmont
(4) Tennessee over (13) Buffalo
(6) BYU over (11) Villanova
(3) Michigan over (14) American
(10) South Dakota over (7) Ole Miss
(2) Baylor over (15) Hawaii
2nd Round
(1) Louisville over (9) Gonzaga
(5) Oregon over (4) Tennessee
(3) Michigan over (6) BYU
(2) Baylor over (10) South Dakota
Sweet 16
(1) Louisville over (5) Oregon
(2) Baylor over (3) Michigan
Elite 8
(1) Louisville over (2) Baylor
I think Tennessee-Oregon is a Baylor-Michigan-level toss-up in the second round. Louisville is, in my opinion, the weakest of the four No. 1 seeds in this tournament.
Spokane Region
1st Round
(1) Stanford over (16) Montana State
(8) Kansas over (9) Georgia Tech
(12) Florida Gulf Coast over (5) Virginia Tech
(4) Maryland over (13) Delaware
(6) Ohio State over (11) Missouri State or Florida State
(3) LSU over (14) Jackson State
(10) Arkansas over (7) Utah
(2) Texas over (15) Fairfield
2nd Round
(1) Stanford over (8) Kansas
(12) Florida Gulf Coast over (4) Maryland
(3) LSU over (6) Ohio State
(2) Texas over (10) Arkansas
Sweet 16
(1) Stanford over (12) Florida Gulf Coast
(3) LSU over (2) Texas
Elite 8
(1) Stanford over (3) LSU
This is, to me, the region most privy to upsets. I think FGCU is wildly under-seeded as the 12, but that could simply because it's a good team playing in a bad conference. I think Kim Mulkey's LSU has a favorable draw to get to the Elite 8.
Bridgeport Region
1st Round
(1) NC State over (16) Longwood or Mount St. Mary's
(9) Kansas State over (8) Washington State
(5) Notre Dame over (12) UMass
(4) Oklahoma over (13) IUPUI
(6) Kentucky over (11) Princeton
(3) Indiana over (14) Charlotte
(7) UCF over (10) Florida
(2) UConn over (15) Mercer
2nd Round
(1) NC State over (9) Kansas State
(5) Notre Dame over (4) Oklahoma
(6) Kentucky over (3) Indiana
(2) UConn over (7) UCF
Sweet 16
(1) NC State over (5) Notre Dame
(2) UConn over (6) Kentucky
Elite 8
(2) UConn over (1) NC State
This region will be a hot ticket with UConn playing just down the road in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. The Huskies have made 13 consecutive Final Four's, a streak I think survives through 2022.
Final Four
(1) South Carolina over (1) Louisville
(2) UConn over (1) Stanford
National Championship Game
(2) UConn over (1) South Carolina
Give me UConn to win its first national championship since 2016 in its 14th consecutive Final Four appearance.