We are at the end of March, which means the greatest sports tournament in the world, the NCAA Tournament, has begun. This year’s tournament, more than any season in the past few years, is more wide open than ever, as there is no clear-cut favorite. I would not be surprised if no No. 1 seeds made the championship game.
The Big Ten is the best conference in basketball this year. It had seven teams from its conference make the Big Dance, the most of any conference. Of those seven teams, five of them have a legitimate chance to make the final four. Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin are all good enough to make the final four.
The Big Ten will have the most teams in the sweet 16, and six of the seven Big Ten teams in the tournament will make the sweet 16. The five teams above and Minnesota, who despite being an 11 seed, will upset No. 6 UCLA and then upset No. 3 Florida. Minnesota was once ranked in the top 10 this season. The Golden Gophers just happened to play in the toughest conference in basketball. This past season, the Big Ten was pretty much equivalent to what the SEC is in football.
All of the Big Ten teams I have in the sweet 16 will advance to the elite eight except Michigan State who will lose to Duke. Minnesota also pulls off a huge upset over No. 2 Georgetown, whom I just don’t trust.
Ultimately, three Big Ten schools will make the final four. Ohio State will win the West region, Michigan will win the South region and Indiana will win the East region. The only non-Big Ten School making the final four is Duke, who will be the second best overall team in the nation behind Indiana. Duke only lost one game this season when Ryan Kelly played, and the Blue Devils are the biggest threat not in the Big Ten to win it all. Ultimately, the best two teams in the nation in the championship game, as I have Duke beating Ohio State and Indiana beating Michigan in the final four. It will be a great game, but the Indiana Hoosiers will cut down the nets in 2013.
The Hoosiers are the most complete team in college basketball. They are led by Cody Zeller, who is the best big man in college basketball and can affect the game at both ends of the floor, and Victor Oladipo, who is starting to blossom as a player, drawing comparisons to Dwayne Wade. With him on the perimeter and Zeller on the inside plus the competition Indiana has faced in the toughest conference in basketball, Indiana has the best chance of anyone to win the whole thing.