March, the most exciting month in all of basketball, is coming up soon. With college basketball heating up, and many teams in running for the top spot, this year is shaping up to be a competitive post-season. A few teams stand out as favorites to win it all: the Arizona Wildcats, Michigan Wolverines, Duke Blue Devils, UConn Huskies, and the Houston Cougars.
March Madness is the biggest college basketball tournament of the year that decides the Division I champions. It is a 64-team tournament with seven rounds. Every round half of the competition is eliminated. The final two teams will play to decide who will become the National Collegiate Athletic Association champions.
Arizona is currently ranked as the best team in the country. They are 23-1 and were undefeated until Feb. 9 when they lost to Kansas by four points. They’ve had a very strong season so far, with their biggest win coming Feb. 7 when they played Oklahoma State at home beating them 84-47. They also had a crucial rivalry win at Arizona State on Jan. 31. The Wildcats are entering the hardest part of their schedule with seven games left with five of those being against ranked opponents.
Michigan is currently ranked second in the country with a 23-1 record. They’ve been on a roll recently winning nine games in a row. Their one loss comes from Wisconsin where they lost 91-88. They defeated The Wolverines have seven games remaining with four of those coming against ranked opponents.
Duke is ranked fourth in the country with a 22-2 record. They won 11 straight before falling to Texas Tech. They’ve had crucial wins coming against highly ranked teams, including a 66-60 road win over seventh ranked Michigan State. On Feb. 7 the Blue Devils played their rivals, the UNC Tarheels, where they suffered a devastating road loss. The Blue Devils have seven games left with four of those being against ranked opponents.
UConn is currently ranked sixth in the country with a 23-2 record. Both of the Huskies lost came to ranked teams in a close matchup. The Huskies have defeated four ranked teams this year. The Huskies have a chance to get payback on Big East rivals St. John’s on Feb 25.
Houston is currently ranked third in the country at 22-2. The Cougars have fallen to a highly talented Tennessee team and a ranked Texas Tech team. The Cougars have defeated three ranked teams so far. They have seven games left with three coming against teams ranked in the top ten.
Although these teams have a high chance of winning, basketball is a game of upsets, and no tournament has more upsets than March Madness. Rarely does the final four have all the best teams, this year with so many great teams there’s a high chance some lower ranked teams sneak into a national championship.
Based on a poll sent to the student body, students predicted University of North Carolina as the most likely team to win it all, with eight votes. UNC isn’t a bad team, but they would need to play extremely well to have a chance. UNC is most students’ favorite team so this makes sense. Next, was Arizona with six votes, Arizona being the number one ranked team led to them getting a lot of votes. Another fan favorite, Duke was tied for second with six votes, they’re looking good this year and they have a lot of fans at this school, so it makes sense that they placed this high.
Our predictions follow a similar trajectory with Arizona and Michigan being favorites of ours to win the national championship. However, things are looking extremely tight moving into March, and any team has a chance for the trophy.
If you’re interested in reading more about March Madness see reporter Rowe Carter’s article; Is a perfect March Madness bracket achievable? for more.
