The greatest month of the sports calendar is finally upon us, March is here.

The NCAA madness is just beginning.

March Madness is a 68-team college basketball tournament. Teams are seeded 1-16 in four different regions and as the tournament winds down, a team from each region will advance to the Final Four in New Orleans. 

Every year around 70 million brackets are filled out by basketball enthusiasts and newbies.

Plenty of people who don’t pay attention to college basketball are bitten by bracket fever come March.

One student admits she has won in the past based on “cool names and places I’ve been.”

The Tournament begins with four additional play-in games played between March 15 and 16. These games are necessary as they narrow the final bracket to 64 teams. 

I play basketball for LHS, and you think that would give me an advantage. However, Luck, strategy, and upsets make all of us equals when filling out brackets.

College Basketball has been insanely unpredictable this season. On February 27 2022 for the first time in college basketball history, the top 6 ranked teams in the country lost on the same day. I only expect this madness to continue; however, one team must remain at the end of the tournament.

Here are my top contenders to cut down the nets at the end of March. My top two choices are consistent with the rest of betting America. 

1 Seed Gonzaga Bulldogs: Gonzaga is led by freshman phenom Chet Holgrem and all-American Drew Timme. The Bulldogs finished the regular season 26-3 topped with a WCC tournament championship. Gonzaga is looking for vengeance after losing last year’s championship 86-70 to the Baylor Bears. Gonzaga’s star power and pure dominance make them my top dog in this year’s tournament.

1 Seed Arizona Wildcats: Arizona is headed into March Madness riding high. The 1 seeded Wildcats are currently holding a six-game winning streak on top of coasting through a Pac 12 tournament championship. Arizona is led by projected NBA lottery pick Bennedict Mathurin who is currently averaging 17.4 points per game and first-year coach Tommy Lloyd. Arizona can beat anyone in the entire country, and I believe they will reach their first final four since 2001.

Other Teams I believe can make a deep run in the tournament. I’m counting on these teams to continue their great play from the regular season as they enter the tournament. 

3 Seed Texas Tech: The Red Raiders finished the season 25-9 led by senior Bryson Williams and the star of last year’s cinderella Oral Roberts, Kevin Obanor. Texas Techs’ number one ranked defense is no mistake as their aggressive style of play is what makes them so dominant. As march madness looms and the stakes raise, few teams will be able to overcome this as they are being pressured by the nation’s number one defense. Texas Techs’ experience and game planning by Mark Adams make them very hard to pick against in this year’s bracket. 

3 Seed Tennesee Volunteers: The Volunteers are scorching hot at the right time as they go into the tournament coming off a Sec Tournament Championship and seven-game winning streak. Tennessee is led by the electric freshman backcourt of Kenny Chandler, projected first-round pick, and all-sec defensive first team member, Zakai Zeigler.  Similar to Texas Tech, Tennessee thrives on defense, and I’m expecting them to continue their regular-season dominance.

Despite it being highly unlikely that I fill out a perfect bracket, one in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to be exact, I still have a very fun time strategizing to fill out the perfect bracket.

With that being said on April 4, The Texas Tech Red Raiders will cut down the nets and win the team’s much anticipated first-ever national championship.