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As February is drawing to an end, the NCAA Tournament is set to start in just a few weeks. Year after year people try to fill out brackets, but if there is one thing we all know, expect the unexpected during March Madness. While teams like Syracuse and Wichita State are all but guaranteed to receive number one seeds in the tournament, are they really the teams to beat? According to SportBet.com, Syracuse and Florida have the best odds to bet on before March Madness.
However, it is very rare that all goes according to plan, so what about the rest of the brackets? USA Today Sports is predicting that Duke, Creighton, Villanova, and Kansas will receive number two seeds. Creighton has not had a lot of hype going into the season, but are definitely a team to watch. Doug McDermott is averaging 25.9 points per game and is climbing up the all-time leading scorers list.
Last year’s NCAA Champions, Louisville, has also had a productive year ranked eleventh in the nation. The Cardinals will have a big game this weekend against Cincinnati. If the Cardinals can come away with a win, they would be tied with Cincinnati for four losses overall and two in their conference, AAC. However, it is unlikely that they may even get a single digit seed in the tournament, according to CBS Sports.
Speaking of last year’s tournament, one of the biggest surprises when number one seed Gonzaga lost in the first round to… Wichita State! Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis points out that nobody should be surprised by their success as they made it to the Final Four with the same core of players. Many argue that they had a very easy schedule compared to other teams, but this team is still a legit threat to make some noise in the tournament.
It is likely the number one over all seed will come down to Wichita State and Syracuse. Syracuse suffered its first loss this week to Boston College, but has played a major tougher schedule than Wichita State which could push them over the unbeaten Shockers. At the beginning of the season, Arizona looked like the team to beat, but their best player Brandon Ashley has been sidelined and the team has suffered. The final predicted number one seed is Florida, who is undefeated in the SEC surviving a scare this week in a game against Auburn. The Gators had been very hot recently, but had a lackluster showing against the Tigers. Their center Partric Young hit two late free throws to clinch the win for them. Young was not even expected to play in the game, but says he has practiced for moments like the one he found himself in.
There is still a lot of basketball left to be played including a huge rematch between Syracuse and Duke, both teams coming off losses. A lot of things can change, especially the lower seeds in the tournament with team looking to make late pushes and other teams falling off.
