Winners Club: Breaking Down the March Madness Bracket
Happy Monday! What a stacked day, week and time for sports.
March Madness. NFL free agency. Oh yeah, and Tom Brady’s short-lived retirement has come to a close.
As they say, “This is March.”
There’s lots to get to today, including an analysis of the entire tournament. Let’s dive in.
Bracket Breakdown
The Field of 68 was revealed Sunday night. By that point, there weren’t too many surprises left for the weekend—other than Brady’s news dump. But the college basketball world is still reeling from the committee’s surprising decision to put 17-14 Michigan in the tournament over perceived snubs like Texas A&M, which beat Auburn and Arkansas on its way to a loss in the SEC Championship.
Beyond that, the field is set, barring any last-minute replacements.
Here is the First Four schedule, complete with times and spreads. Click here for the entire first round schedule and here for spreads for the Round of 64, which begins Thursday afternoon. And if you’re anything like me and you want a printed bracket to pin up and fill out, click here for your SI 2022 Men’s NCAA Tournament Bracket.
March 15:
6:40 p.m.: No. 16 Texas Southern (-3) vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
9:10 p.m.: No. 12 Indiana (-3.5) vs. No. 12 Wyoming
March 16:
6:40 p.m.: No. 16 Bryant vs. No. 16 Wright State (-1.5)
9:10 p.m.: No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Rutgers (‘PK)
Scouting the Regions
There are no easy paths to the Final Four, but some journeys to the tournament’s peak are easier than others.
Before filling out your bracket, consult our experts’ region-by-region breakdown of the East, West, South and Midwest. They’ll tip you off to which teams can bust your bracket, which players to watch and offer their picks to make it out of each region.
No. 1 Gonzaga’s path back to the Final Four won’t be easy. No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 4 Arkansas can all pose reasonable challenges to the No. 1 Bulldogs. And No. 8 Boise State might be a sleeper capable of busting a few brackets.
John Locher/AP
Kansas earned its No. 1 seed by winning its final five games, including the Big 12 championship against Texas Tech. Standing in its way could be No. 2 Auburn, outfitted with the projected first overall pick in the NBA Draft in Jabari Smith, or No. 5 Iowa, which won the Big Ten, a conference that sent nine teams to the tournament.
No. 1 Arizona shares a region with No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Illinois and No. 5 Houston. And you can’t forget No. 10 Loyola Chicago. The Wildcats certainly earned the top seed in their region, winning 31 games en route to a Pac-12 title, but their draw pits them against the Volunteers, one of just three teams to beat them this season.
Baylor is back in the dance as a No. 1 seed after winning the national championship as a top seed in 2021. The Bears share a region with No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Purdue and No. 4 UCLA. And lower seeds like No. 7 Murray State or No. 8 North Carolina are fully capable of making runs. Baylor is the team to beat, despite its many injury concerns.
How to Bet the Tourney
So now you know who is in the tourney, when it starts, the works. Now for what you came for: How to bet on it.
Jen Piacenti put together a handy betting guide to familiarize bettors new and old with some of the common terms when placing bets and how to fill out your March Madness bracket.
“The most important thing to remember in betting March Madness is that it’s called madness for a reason,” Piacenti writes.
That means lots and lots of upsets, but stay away from No. 16 seeds, Frankie Taddeo advises. He also has some advice for filling out the men’s and women’s brackets.
- Use the spread as your guide to finding potential upsets.
- One of the biggest mistakes you can make is simply advancing your alma mater or favorite team to win it all.
- Be sure to look at the Futures market at SI Sportsbook, as it is often the best indication of which teams oddsmakers believe have the best path to a Final Four or national title.
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
For a look into some of the upsets that our writers are expecting, consult their brackets before you fill out yours. And for more wall-to-wall coverage of March Madness, subscribe to Kevin Sweeney’s newsletter, Morning Madness.
Our betting team made their picks to win it all before the bracket was released Sunday evening. Some odds have shifted slightly, but the justification for each pick still holds true. Visit SI Sportsbook for updated March Madness odds. Below are the five teams with the best odds to win it all on April 4 in New Orleans.
- Gonzaga (+300)
- Arizona (+600)
- Kentucky (+850)
- Baylor (+1200)
- Kansas (+1200)
Guess Who’s Back
Okay, you probably didn’t have to guess. It’s Tom Brady. The 44-year-old future Hall of Famer took to social media to let the world know he’s coming back for (at least) one more crack at a Super Bowl 40 days after announcing his retirement.
As you would expect, the announcement sent the sports world into a frenzy, and what timing–right after brackets were finalized.
Mark LoMoglio/AP
Michael Fabiano offered his take on what Brady staying on as a Buc means for fantasy football.
“The implications are simple. Brady, who threw for a league-high 5,316 yards with 43 touchdowns and finished as the No. 3 quarterback based on fantasy points, will be a Top-8 option at the position entering his age 45 season," writes Fabiano.
That's everything for today. I'll talk to you on Wednesday, the second day of the First Four and the day before the dance begins.
