by Jack Skolnik Well, it's finally here. The time that everyone has been waiting for. Every basketball fan's dream. Yup, March Madness is upon us. This blog is being written the day after Selection Sunday, everyone's first taste as to what this year's tournament will look like. There were some interesting seeding situations, but for the most part I think the NCAA did a nice job. The four #1 seeds for this year's tournament are Kansas, Xavier, Villanova and Virginia, with Virginia being the #1 overall team in the country and the tournament. Speaking of Virginia, I do have to give a major shout-out to their first round matchup, the #16 seed UMBC Retrievers. As a Baltimore native it is great to see UMBC back in the tournament after a ten year hiatus. A major congratulations to Coach Ryan Odom, star player Jarius Lyles, and the rest of the team. As for the rest of the tournament there will be no shortage of must-see games in the first round. As I sit here filling out my bracket, there is a lot of thought that must go into this. It's hard for me not to fall in love with Oklahoma and Trae Young as a #10 seed in the Midwest. With player of year material written all over him I actually took Young and Oklahoma as the team to take down Duke in the second round (as much as I love coach K you have to root against Duke as a Maryland native, right?). For me, there were a few no brainers. Such as Virginia and Kansas making it to the final four. However, there were a couple tough choices I had to make besides the Oklahoma/Duke matchup. Although I have them making it to the elite eight, it's still a struggle for me to see Xavier making a lot of noise past that, as I have them losing to UNC. Another one was in the sweet sixteen where I have Villanova and West Virginia in the East region. I am a huge fan of Coach Bob Huggins so it was very difficult for me to pick Villanova, even with their #1 seed. But I do have faith in Coach Jay Wright and the Wildcats. All in all it was as tough a bracket to fill out. After a long afternoon I came out with my picks, a few upsets, a few non-upsets and everything in between. I came out with a final four of Virginia, UNC, Texas Tech, and Kansas. I then have Virginia advancing to the championship over UNC and in the other game I have Texas Tech advancing over Kansas to avenge a loss just a few weeks ago. It was a tough decision in the champion game, but my choice for the 2018 NCAA champion is... TEXAS TECH!! I am sure that is not the choice you were expecting, as Tech has struggled a bit as of recent, with key injuries to star player Kenan Evans. However I feel like if Evans and the Red Raiders can get back into form with a first and second round win, they will get back to early season form and make a serious run. Besides, who doesn't love a feel-good Cinderella story? Team comes out playing really well in the beginning of the season, then some key players get hurt and they struggle for a while, but then they get it together to win a National Championship? The Red Raiders are all in! Everybody who loves college basketball loves upsets and loves Cinderella stories, and I feel like this year will be no different. With the first few games looming it's going to be a great year for March Madness. Put on your seat belt folks, because it's going to be another wild ride in March! March Madness
by Jack Skolnik Well, it's finally here. The time that everyone has been waiting for. Every basketball fan's dream. Yup, March Madness is upon us. This blog is being written the day after Selection Sunday, everyone's first taste as to what this year's tournament will look like. There were some interesting seeding situations, but for the most part I think the NCAA did a nice job. The four #1 seeds for this year's tournament are Kansas, Xavier, Villanova and Virginia, with Virginia being the #1 overall team in the country and the tournament. Speaking of Virginia, I do have to give a major shout-out to their first round matchup, the #16 seed UMBC Retrievers. As a Baltimore native it is great to see UMBC back in the tournament after a ten year hiatus. A major congratulations to Coach Ryan Odom, star player Jarius Lyles, and the rest of the team. As for the rest of the tournament there will be no shortage of must-see games in the first round. As I sit here filling out my bracket, there is a lot of thought that must go into this. It's hard for me not to fall in love with Oklahoma and Trae Young as a #10 seed in the Midwest. With player of year material written all over him I actually took Young and Oklahoma as the team to take down Duke in the second round (as much as I love coach K you have to root against Duke as a Maryland native, right?). For me, there were a few no brainers. Such as Virginia and Kansas making it to the final four. However, there were a couple tough choices I had to make besides the Oklahoma/Duke matchup. Although I have them making it to the elite eight, it's still a struggle for me to see Xavier making a lot of noise past that, as I have them losing to UNC. Another one was in the sweet sixteen where I have Villanova and West Virginia in the East region. I am a huge fan of Coach Bob Huggins so it was very difficult for me to pick Villanova, even with their #1 seed. But I do have faith in Coach Jay Wright and the Wildcats. All in all it was as tough a bracket to fill out. After a long afternoon I came out with my picks, a few upsets, a few non-upsets and everything in between. I came out with a final four of Virginia, UNC, Texas Tech, and Kansas. I then have Virginia advancing to the championship over UNC and in the other game I have Texas Tech advancing over Kansas to avenge a loss just a few weeks ago. It was a tough decision in the champion game, but my choice for the 2018 NCAA champion is... TEXAS TECH!! I am sure that is not the choice you were expecting, as Tech has struggled a bit as of recent, with key injuries to star player Kenan Evans. However I feel like if Evans and the Red Raiders can get back into form with a first and second round win, they will get back to early season form and make a serious run. Besides, who doesn't love a feel-good Cinderella story? Team comes out playing really well in the beginning of the season, then some key players get hurt and they struggle for a while, but then they get it together to win a National Championship? The Red Raiders are all in! Everybody who loves college basketball loves upsets and loves Cinderella stories, and I feel like this year will be no different. With the first few games looming it's going to be a great year for March Madness. Put on your seat belt folks, because it's going to be another wild ride in March!