FOLIO
Words by Mallorie Aldrich
Ah, March, the month of its almost-spring or what the ancient Romans liked to call the month of war. March is also known for some pretty big sports events, first the PGA tournament Jacksonville knows and loves, The Players Championship, and the next one is the NCAA’s biggest tournament and biggest money maker for the collegiate sport governing body, the March Madness Basketball tournaments. It’s that time of year again for college basketball’s biggest dance, and with the tournaments only a few short weeks away here are some predictions on who will be a part of the lucky 64 teams that take part in the tournaments and information on how to make your bracket.
First some information on the brackets. If you like to print your own bracket or take part in your own bracket pool, you can print out brackets by going to the NCAA’s website under their March Madness information and click the official bracket tab. Keep in mind selection day for the tournaments is not until March 17, so if you fill out your bracket before then you may not have all the correct teams in the tournament.
As for submitting your bracket for the March Madness bracket challenge, you can do it with the NCAA, ESPN or any sports betting platform such as DraftKings. No matter which one you submit your bracket to, it will be counted toward the number for the amount of brackets filled out. Now be aware ESPN’s bracket challenge has not started yet and the challenge’s sign up page is not live yet as well. But as we get closer to the big dance the site will be set up and ready to go. And I can’t stress this enough: Some of the bracket challenges might be open, but I would wait until March 18 to fill yours out to ensure you have the correct teams.
Now for the tournament predictions. For the men’s tournament inserting a “Mean Girls” reference, you got your plastics — Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Perdue, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Wisconsin, etc. — essentially the teams that always make the tournament. Although some of the plastics are ranked, a No. 1 ranking doesn’t necessarily mean you really are the best. Just ask Kentucky who lost in the first round in 2022 to the Cinderella story of that year’s tournament, Saint Peter’s University. And that year Saint Peters, the little school out of Jersey City, New Jersey, made it all the way to the Elite Eight. Let’s just think about that for a second, there’s a reason the tournament has “madness” in the name because you never know what’s going to happen. Speaking of Cinderella stories, here are some that I think are going to happen this year. One being UC Irvine: although they are a small school in California, they have been doing pretty well this season, and I think they have a good shot of getting past the first couple rounds in the tournament to the Sweet 16. The next surprise of the tournament being the University of South Florida Bulls. They’ve had a great season, and I think that they have a great shot going far with the amazing talent they have down in Tampa. Maybe UNF can get some pointers from them on how to win. Well that’s enough about the men … how about the ladies?
Don’t worry the basics will be there: UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame, South Carolina, FGCU. And let’s not forget Caitlin Clarkand and Iowa Hawkeyes teammates will be there too. Now for their Cinderella stories, the first one that I think is going to shake things up in the tournament is University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Phoenix. They’ve been killing it this season with a record of 23-5, and I really think they can make it to the Sweet 16. And then there’s Sacred Heart. Like Green Bay, they’ve had an impressive season and I think they have a good shot in the tournament. Even if they don’t, I still think they will cause some madness with some brackets.
Well, those are my predictions for this year’s March Madness tournaments. The men’s tournament starts March 19 and runs through April 8, and the women’s tournament starts March 20 and runs through April 7. Now may the best dancer win.
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