The 2021-22 NCAAB season is bound to produce a lot of surprises when the Division I men’s tournament bracket is released on March 14. Giving out March Madness betting tips will be difficult because the field is so congested this season. Many conferences that are traditionally stacked — the Atlantic Coast Conference — are down this year and may not have many representatives.
So what does this mean for betting on March Madness? Expect to be frustrated. Count on players and teams having off nights and taking some bumps along the way. Expect to be overloaded with so much useless information it is difficult to parse through. But, overall, expect it to be an entertaining tournament where a few favorites spoil March Madness bets made by the masses.
Here are the selection sunday 2022 preview for what the final bracket reveal will show and what to make of the month ahead.
Selection Sunday 2022 Preview
The Big Ten’s banner
The Big Ten has been a strong basketball conference year-in and year-out for a long time. However, when it comes to March, the conference as a whole has had a bizarrely long drought without winning a national title. Michigan State last carried the flag for the conference by winning the title in 2000.
Maryland won in 2003, but that doesn’t count for the Big Ten, as the Terrapins were members of the ACC at the time and defeated a Big Ten team, Indiana, in the final. Can this be the year the conference breaks through? Early projections featured the conference having as many as nine qualifiers.
Not all of those teams are finals caliber, but Illinois and Purdue both seem like teams that could make waves if they could find a way to be consistent. Even though the Big Ten appears like one of the deepest leagues, it’s fair to question if a title contender is among them.
West Coast Conference rises?
The WCC has long been derided as a weak conference that Gonzaga smashes through every year on its way to the tournament. While the top-ranked Bulldogs did win the conference again to grab the automatic bid, it is unlikely Gonzaga will be the only team from the group to get invited to the Big Dance. Saint Mary’s, which split with Gonzaga in the regular season, beat Notre Dame and Oregon in non-conference play.
The Gaels will likely land in the field without much question. San Francisco, which last made the tournament in 1998 and has a rich basketball history, may finally find a way back as an at-large. Santa Clara is another borderline team that has a victory over TCU to its name.
Sorting out the Mountain West
Having a deep conference isn’t always great for mid-majors. While yes, it does make for entertaining league games on a night-to-night basis, it can hurt those teams when tournament times come around and they have losses on their resume from beating up on each other. The conference that may suffer from that this year is Mountain West.
Colorado State and Boise State will likely be in the field. Wyoming and San Diego State are also likely contenders to grab bids. The Cowboys and Aztecs will both have difficult cases to make if they don’t win the conference tournament. Both teams have taken seven losses on the year and have been impacted by inconsistent non-conference schedules.
San Diego State lost to BYU and USC and claimed victories over usually strong programs that have struggled this season in Arizona State and Georgetown. Wyoming has a non-conference win over a mediocre Washington program while taking losses to Arizona and Stanford. The Mountain West will get three times in, but the Cowboys will likely be left on the sidelines.
Pac 12 will see regression
Last season, the Pac 12 was lightly regarded headed into March Madness. Then once the tournament started, the west coast teams started wiping everyone out. Oregon State, UCLA, USC, and Oregon all reached the Sweet 16 last season. The Bruins would march on to the Final Four, while the Trojans and Beavers bowed out in the Elite 8.
Seeing a repeat of that this season is unlikely. Arizona is a legitimate national title contender and will be an easy choice as a No. 1 seed by the committee. UCLA’s also has a lineup that could easily find a way back to the Final Four, but a lot of that will be determined by if star guard Johnny Juzang can rebound from a late-season ankle injury. Beyond that, the conference doesn’t have a lot of consistent teams that are serious threats to make noise.
ACC will find a lot of teams watching on TV
Duke, with freshman sensation Paolo Banchero, is a shoo-in for the tournament and a high seed. The Blue Devils will likely be a contender for the national championship. Beyond that, it is likely the ACC may not get more than four teams to the big dance. North Carolina closed the game on a five-game winning streak and is looking like a strong program again.
Beyond that, Notre Dame and Miami may have the best cases to march on. Virginia Tech has played strong in the ACC Tournament, but unless it wins the crown, that may not be enough for the Hokies. The Fighting Irish took several tough losses at the end of the season that dinged their resume. Wake Forest was another team on the borderline, but the Demon Deacons were upset in the first round of the ACC Tournament by 12-20 Boston College. Wake Forest didn’t leave the committee with a positive impression.
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