The 2015 NCAA men’s basketball tournament begins with the first four on March 17^th-18^th and then the round of 64 begins on March 19^th-20^th.

The toughest region in the tournament is the Midwest region because there are so many good teams in that region like the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats, Maryland, Notre Dame, and Kansas. The easiest region is the East because Villanova has probably the easiest path of any of the number #1 seeds in the tournament. Something about Villanova that many people don’t know is that they play a very unselfish game because all 5 guys touch the basketball on each trip. Final Four teams are going to be Kentucky, Wisconsin, Villanova, and Iowa. St. The reason I say those teams is because Kentucky has length that nobody in the tournament has as all 5 starters for Kentucky are 6’ 5” or taller, so this team has length. In the West, I picked Wisconsin because of their experience.  They start two seniors in Kimenisky and Gasser, which means that the Badgers have senior leadership, which will get you far in March. In the East, I picked Villanova because Villanova in the hottest team in the country heading into the tournament and they have a good point guard in Ryan Arcidiacono, a guy who averages 10.7 points per game and 3.6 assists a game. Iowa. St is my sleeper pick to go to the final four because they have a good point guard in Monte Morris, a player who just does not turn the basketball over. Morris did not have a single turnover in the Big 12 tournament, which is amazing. All 5 starters for Iowa. St average in double figures so Iowa. St is going to be a tough team to beat in the east region.

In the Midwest, everybody knows Kentucky is the team to beat, but there is a team that can beat them: Notre Dame. This team can shoot the basketball as they rank second in the nation in shooting percentage at 51% from the field.  Also, this team has seniors, including Connaugahton, who  are good leaders.  If this team shoots like they did in the ACC tournament, I think Notre Dame can beat Kentucky. The upset in the region has to be 11 seed Texas over 6 seed Butler because of Texas’ size. Texas is first in the Big 12 in blocks and rebounds and when you lead in those categories you are going to win a lot of games in March. Texas has unachieved but they haven’t beaten anybody other than North Carolina and that was in early November in the Bahamas. Maryland’s Melo Trimble is the player to watch in this region, because the guy can take over a game by himself when he is hot. Trimble scored 13 in the first 10 minutes against Michigan State in the Big 10 semi-final until he got cold the rest of the game.  However, when he is playing well there is no stopping this guy.

In the west, the two best teams in the region are clearly Wisconsin and Arizona, but a team that can challenge them is Baylor because of their size and Rico Gathers, who is averaging 11.7 rebounds a game. The player to watch in this region is Joseph Young of Oregon. This guy is a baller who averages 19.8 points per game and won the Pac 12 player of the year award. The upset in the region is 11 seed BYU over 6 seed Xavier because BYU has probably the best backcourt in this region with Tyler Haws and Kyle Collinsworth.

The East region is going to be an easy path for Villanova.  In this region, there will be a lot of surprises, including Providence, who is an Elite 8  team because of their duo of Kris Dunn and LaDonate Henton. This is the best duo in the tournament because both of those guys average more than 10 points per game. The player to watch in this region is Seth Turtle of Northern Iowa because he is the best player in the region that nobody talks about. The guy averages 15.3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game.  He could lead the Panthers deep into the tournament if he has a big run. The region should be upset-free because there will not be many upsets.

In the south region, there are some question marks.  One is on why 16 seed North Florida has to play in the first four game when they won the regular season and the tournament title in their league.  In addition, Georgetown is seeded a 4 but finished the season 21-10, which is not 4 seed material. Duke is the team that has the talent to go to the final four but they do not have the experience to get there and that is the key in March. The upset in this region is 13 seed Eastern Washington over 4 seed Georgetown. Eastern Washington has the second leading scorer in Tyler Harvey and this team went to Assembly Hall and beat Indiana, which means that this team is no joke. Georgetown is up and down and really overrated.

The team I have winning the national championship is Wisconsin because they are so balanced with 3 players averaging in double figures and senior leadership.