While it is hard to predict what will happen during March Madness, the one thing we do know is that there are countless college basketball players who will make the case for why they deserve to eventually hear their name called in the NBA draft.
We don’t know how the brackets are going to shape up, but we know the matchups for the opening round. With that in mind, here are the games you have to watch if you want to see as many future pros as possible.
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But allow me to show you what a bracket would look like if we based it entirely on what would be the best-case scenario for NBA draft scouting. If you want to take a closer look and zoom in, you can click here.
The goal here was to get as many lottery picks playing as many games as possible. Here are some takeaways:
Arkansas is the No. 8 seed in the West and they have a tough first-round opponent with Illinois. But they also have two likely lottery picks, Nick Smith Jr. and Anthony Black, and two other potential first-rounders with Ricky Council IV and Jordan Walsh. Let me see them play as many games as possible!
Over the last few days, we’ve heard a buzz that Alabama’s Brandon Miller has “closed the gap” on projected No. 2 overall pick Scoot Henderson. If he continues to dominate during the Big Dance, we could see actual movement at the top of the draft.
Duke is a No. 5 seed in the East and they have one of the toughest roads to the Final Four, especially with a challenging opening game against Oral Roberts. But they have three likely first-rounders here (Dariq Whitehead, Kyle Filipowski, and Dereck Lively II) and two more draftable prospects (Tyrese Proctor and Mark Mitchell) as well.
Jarace Walker (Houston), Keyonte George (Baylor), Cason Wallace (Kentucky), Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana), Colby Jones (Xavier), Jordan Hawkins (UConn), Kris Murray (Iowa), Terquavion Smith (NC State), and Julian Phillips (Tennessee) are additionally notable prospects who will be dancing.
My best advice when you’re filling out a bracket is that the eventual winner who will tear down the nets is almost definitely going to be one of these eight teams.
But if you’re an NBA fan and just want to see as many future NBA players play as often as possible, this is the way you need to fill out your bracket instead.
Here are our picks for the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
On April 3, one team will hoist the coveted NCAA men’s basketball tournament trophy in Houston, Texas. This season has felt more wide open than any other, and — in looking at the bracket — there are several teams that have a legitimate shot at a title.
Helpful information and hints to make it easier to fill out a bracket.
The time has come. You have your printed out bracket and a pen. Oh, right sorry, it’s 2023. More realistically, you have your computer and a tab open to whatever your bracket challenge of choice is. It’s officially March Madness, and it’s time to fill out your men’s NCAA tournament bracket.
Before you put pen to paper — or keystroke to keyboard — there are some things to know. Which teams are dealing with injuries at the worst time? Who is playing close to home? Which team is riding a hot (or worse, cold) streak in March?
Let’s take a look at some things you should take into consideration before hitting submit on your bracket.
The last four teams in and the first four teams out being announced always means heartbreak for some teams.
Every year, there’s a robust discussion around the bubble for the men’s NCAA tournament, and 2023 was no different. While the bubble felt a little less tenuous this year — there were not a lot of teams that had a huge argument to get into the field and very few bid-stealers from conference tournaments — there are still those that will question or praise the committee’s choices.
After announcing the entire bracket for March Madness, CBS shared the committee’s eight teams that made up the last four in and the first four out. Three ACC teams landed in that octet, the only conference with more than one representative in that grouping.
Pitt fell on the good side of the line, despite having a net ranking lower than three of the four teams left out. Preseason No. 1 North Carolina is the first to go from that expectation before any games are played to not making the tournament, and Clemson’s bad losses (South Carolina, Louisville and Loyola Chicago) kept the Tigers out.
Oklahoma State was the first team left out of the Big Dance, with Nevada being the last to sneak in.
Two of the last four in — Mississippi State and Pitt — play Tuesday evening in the First Four in Dayton for a chance to face off against 6-seed Iowa State in the Midwest.
But that didn’t spoil any feelings of enthusiasm the Owls’ players, coaches and fans felt when they heard their name on Selection Sunday for the first time.
The Owls – champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference – were given a No. 14 seed and will face No. 3 Xavier in the first round on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina And when the folks packed inside the KSU Convocation Center saw their school’s name in yellow and black flash on the big screen, they erupted with joy.
The moment @KSUOwlNation found out they’d be playing Xavier this Friday in Greensboro.
Kennesaw State punched its ticket to the tournament by beating Liberty in the ASUN title game on March 5. The Owls are 26-8 this season, which is their best record since joining Division I in 2005.
The Owls are coached by Amir Abdur-Rahim, brother of former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
Ahead of the tournament, basketball fans should familiarize themselves with KSU guard Chris Youngblood, who averages 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
Should the Owls upset Xavier, they’ll play the winner of Iowa State and a First Four game between Pitt and Mississippi State.
Kennesaw isn’t that far from Atlanta, so if you’re rooting for them, do your best OutKast impression and give a Hootie Hoo shoutout.
Get your bracket for the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament!
Happy March Madness season, everyone!
Selection Sunday has officially come and gone, which means March Madness is set to begin in full in just a few days. We now know all of the 68 teams set to take the field ahead of the first round on March 16 and 17, so now it’s time to fill out those ever-important March Madness brackets!
If you’re looking to fill out one of your own, we’ve put together a printable blank bracket for you to use as you see fit! You can download the blank PDF file here.
Here’s how the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament bracket looks coming out of Selection Sunday with all 68 teams filled in.
This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Robert Zeglinski.
We’re about to start March Madness in earnest, so I know there will be lots of stunning finishes ahead in the coming weeks.
But before we’re consumed by the, uh, madness, I don’t want what happened to Syracuse Men’s head coach Jim Boeheim Wednesday to get lost in the shuffle. Because not only was it perfect poetic justice for an ornery member of college basketball’s “old guard,” it was also really funny!
And I can’t overlook the comedy.
Sorry, sorry, I should say former Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. Wow, what a sentence to write after all this time.
REPORTER: So what are you saying? You’re not saying you’re retiring …
BOEHEIM: I just said it don’t know.
REPORTER: So you don’t know?
BOEHEIM: I said this is up to the university.”
If I didn’t know any better, that sounds like the 78-year-old Boeheim is bitter he didn’t have much of a choice. That he thought he somehow deserved better after all these years leading the program?
To that, I say: Sorry, Jim. Not everyone gets to take a hollow “victory lap” like Duke’s past steward Mike Krzyzewski. And let’s be honest: As annoying (and hoo boy, was it annoying) as it was last year, you’re no Coach K in terms of resume. Not even close.
In the end, though, Boeheim probably got what he deserved.
An early February interview with ESPN saw him call the current state of college basketball an “awful place.” Boeheim clearly didn’t appreciate the advent of NIL deals for players and took his critique way too far to insinuate that ACC programs like Wake Forest just flat-out bought their teams. He would later offer a weak non-apology for what he said.
The damage was done.
I would normally make a joke about Abe Simpson yelling at a cloud, but the joke was already made for me. Instead of going on one last hopeful Cinderella run, the Demon Deacons buried Boeheim with a poetic last-second shot. Essentially, one of the teams he maintained didn’t deserve their place in college basketball, got to throw roses on the coffin of his career. Amazing.
If you weren’t a believer in karma before, Wake Forest officially ending Boeheim’s time at Syracuse should change your mind. I, for one, think it’s beautiful.
Quick Hits: NFL free agent forecast … Giannis at Duke … and more.
What a poetic and ironic potential finish to Boeheim’s time with Syracuse.
What a WONDERFUL way to kick off March Madness!
During a second-round ACC tournament game Wednesday, Wake Forest and Syracuse’s Men’s basketball teams traded haymaker after haymaker. And in the final moments, the two squads found themselves knotted up at 74 points apiece.
After Syracuse bumbled around with the ball on their end, Wake Forest quickly charged up the court to get into position for a game-winning shot. A perfect pass would find Daivien Williamson open for three.
It’s the third month of the calendar year — a.k.a. March — so, c’mon now; you already know what happened next. Williamson drained his shot for an incredible 77-74 Wake Forest win.
There are a lot of consequences to what might be the first sweet moment of this year’s March Madness. Let’s focus on two.
The first is that Williamson’s game-winning shot saw Wake Forest cover a pregame -2.5 spread with DraftKings. A relatively even 55 percent of the handle was on Syracuse (+2.5), along with 63 percent of the money. Needless to say, a lot was riding on Williamson hitting nothing but the net.
More importantly for Syracuse fans, Williamson might have just ended longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s career, too. Boeheim has been at the helm of the Orange since 1976 but hasn’t provided much clarity on his future lately.
The coach didn’t really provide a concrete answer in the press room after Syracuse’s season officially ended, saying he already gave his “retirement speech”, but that he hasn’t personally decided what’s next:
"I gave my retirement speech on the court last Saturday and I gave it to the press conference afterwards." – Jim Boeheim after Syracuse's 77-74 ACC Tournament loss to Wake Forest pic.twitter.com/1Bc708vsY6
“Listen, this has been the question of the day for 15 years. This isn’t a new question. It’s just the calendar going, ‘Well, he’s 78,’” he said then. “And I’m not going to retire because it’s the calendar. Anything can happen. Anything, literally. We’ll just see what happens. I don’t say anything because I don’t know.”
Suppose Wednesday was indeed the end of Boeheim at Syracuse. This makes matters a little more poetic. In that same conversation with ESPN, Boeheim ripped the Demon Deacons, among a trio of ACC programs, for buying their team. He would later offer a weak non-apology after receiving backlash for those comments.
Just over a month later, Wake Forest may have pulled the curtains on Boeheim’s 47-year tenure on the Syracuse bench.
It being March means that one of everyone’s favorite NCAA Tournament characters, Sister Jean, is back in the spotlight.
As the Loyola-Chicago Men got set to take on Saint Joseph’s Hawks in the opening round of the Atlantic-10 tournament, their usual special guest had to find a way to make it to the game. Even with it being a down year for the 10-21 Ramblers, there was clearly just no way Sister Jean would miss this affair.
So, before the proceedings, Sister took a comfortable private plane. Predictably, she looked so happy about the opportunity to see her school compete in March again.
— Holly Strauss-OBrien (@hollysobrien) March 6, 2023
Aww. We can talk about the buzzer-beaters and ridiculous finishes, but I, for one, appreciate cherished moments like this. People like Sister Jean, who enjoy college basketball, love their school, and want to do anything to support it.
Loyola-Chicago would go on to 72-67. But I don’t think the score really mattered here.
