“It is the silence before the storm.” as the old adage goes. The regular season for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament has ended and teams are preparing for the conference championship. This will soon be followed by the March Madness where 68 teams will battle it out against each other in a single elimination tournament. NCAA analyst Andy Katz recently announced the probable brackets which had stunned all the fans. 

The top four AP-ranked men’s teams- the Purdue Boilermakers, the Houston Cougars, the University of Connecticut Huskies, and the Tennessee Volunteers found a place as the first-seeded team in the four different zones. For the first game, they were pitted against Central Conn./Grambling, South Dakota State, Eastern Kentucky, and Norfolk State/Little Rock.

The first game of the top teams therefore will be much anticipated since last season saw the Boilermakers being upset by the Farleigh Dickinson. This season too fans would be curious to see if an unexpected upset takes place. The next four teams in the bracket are the Arizona Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels, Iowa State, and the Marquette Golden Eagles.

This bracket, much like the the top-seeded teams, is similar to the rankings in the AP men’s basketball polls. They are expected to clash against Eastern Washington, Colgate, Quinnipiac, and Oakland respectively. 

The third-seeded teams were Duke, Creighton, Baylor, and Kansas. It deferred from the rankings in way that the Illinois couldn’t find themselves a place in the third-seeded round despite being positioned at the twelfth spot in the AP men’s basketball polls. These four teams will square off against the #14 seeded teams that as per Katz will be High Point, Charleston, Louisiana Tech, and Akron. 

The remaining teams in Andy Katz’ March Madness bracket

Illinois found a place as the fourth-seeded team along with Kentucky, Alabama and the San Diego State. They are expected to lock horns with Samford, Vermont, Appalachian State, and UC Irvine. This will again be a bracket where upsets can take over especially considering that Kentucky has not been in top form as expected. They have a 22-8 tally in the regular season. 

The fifth-ranked teams were Clemson, Auburn, BYU, and South Carolina. They as per Katz might take court against McNeese State, Richmond, South Florida, and Grand Canyon. It will be interesting to see how South Carolina fares in the NCAA tournament especially after losing their recent game against the Tennessee Volunteers. It will be a delight for Gamecocks fans if their team is able to progress through the elimination rounds.

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The sixth-seeded teams were the Washington State, Dayton, Utah State, and Wisconsin. They are pegged to contend against Princeton, Indiana State, Virginia/Seton Hall, and New Mexico/Wake Forest. Thus they will clash with the #11 seeded teams. The bracket for the teams is currently as follows:-

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