Across America, hardly anyone is thinking about work right now. How could they with March Madness here? Fans have pressing questions when it comes to crafting the perfect bracket, and Michael Beller is the one to answer them. The Northwestern graduate/lead fantasy columnist for Sports Illustrated/bracketologist spoke to RedEye about the best—and worst—the NCAA tournament has to offer.
Give the committee a grade for this bracket.
I would give it a B-plus. The only reason I would downgrade it is because of the inclusion of UCLA [20-13, the 11-seed in the South]. That just doesn’t seem to make any sort of sense at all. But I think too much attention gets paid to the bubble in general. Those teams have all proven that they can lose and none of them should be too upset about not being left in. I think the more important thing is there’s a lot of balance among the top four or five teams in each region. I think that’s where they really knocked this one out of the park.
More Top Picks Best Cooling Caps For Migraines
What’s the scariest team other than Kentucky?
I think the two best teams in the country are Kentucky and Wisconsin, so my answer would be the Badgers. I think we’re going to see a rematch of that great Final Four game from a year ago, and I think whichever team wins that game is going to ultimately be the one that cuts down the nets in Indianapolis. There’s so much to like about this team. From Frank Kaminsky … Sam Dekker, Josh Gasser—they really shoot it well. Nigel Hayes, he gives the Badgers even more on the interior. I think this is a very dangerous team.
What’s the least predictable region?
I would say the East Region, with Villanova and Virginia. I think those are two very good teams. I think you [also] could see some more upsets out of the East than you would see in some of the others. I think that is the one that is going to cause the most havoc and the one if you’re filling out a bracket, the one where if you nail the Final Four team, it could end up being the difference for you [in your office pool].
Which No. 1 seed is most likely to lose?
I would say Duke would be the most vulnerable out of the four. We’ve seen them start slow and have some trouble with some of the lesser teams in the ACC. They lost to Miami, they lost to North Carolina State, who are fine teams but nothing special. They struggled with Georgia Tech, so they are the sort of team that has shown us they can struggle with teams they should beat. We’ve have not seen that from Kentucky, Villanova or Wisconsin.
Which team got royally screwed by the committee?
I think that would go to Dayton, one of the last four teams that got into the field. That just does not add up to me at all. This is a team that had seven Top-100 wins, no bad losses on the resume. They were right there in the Atlantic 10 all season long. They wake up [Sunday] and they’re playing for the A-10 championship. They lose that and they barely make the field. I don’t think that that was a proper seed for them at all.
If Kentucky runs the table, is that good for college basketball?
Yes. We’ve been talking about Kentucky all season long. … Kentucky going 40-0 would be a great sports story. It would be the right team, the best team being crowned champion, and I don’t think there’s ever anything wrong with that.
Better Final Four: All No. 1 seeds or all double-digit seeds?
Absolutely all No. 1 seeds. In terms of that, I am not a fan of the upset. I want to see the best teams playing for the championship. An 11-seed getting there would not be the best team, it would just be a team that got hot.
Worst advice you’ve heard for filling out brackets?
One thing I saw today … was a lot of people picking Arizona to come out of the West Region. I think that’s very bad advice right there. I don’t think they got out of there. I think they have a tough road with Baylor and Xavier down in their bottom part of the region, and of course Wisconsin on top. I do not think Arizona makes it out.
Another one is “you need to know college basketball up and down to win a pool.” That’s just quite simply not the case. It’s such an unpredictable tournament. It’s part of the reason why we love it so much, and the person who’s never watched a college basketball game in their life is almost as likely to win it as someone like you or me.
Underdog team that’s just plain fun to watch?
One team that I think is going to win at least a game is Stephen F. Austin. That team actually won a game last year and returned a lot of the guys that beat VCU in the first round last year. They can really shoot it, they can go up and down, they can really score the basketball, couple really good shooters on that team. They draw Utah in the first round which is a team, while good, their best win all season was against Wichita State, and the bloom’s off that rose a little bit. I just think that Stephen F. Austin is a 12-seed that’s going to be very dangerous, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see them matched up with Duke in the Sweet 16.
What player is under the radar but extremely fun to watch?
Seth Tuttle from Northern Iowa. He’s the reason why they won the Valley this year and why they’re definitely a better team than Wichita State. He’s also the reason why they could be a very dangerous team in this tournament. He’s very similar to Frank Kaminsky. If you’ve watched a lot of Big Ten basketball this year and you’re familiar with Kaminsky, you watch Tuttle and you see a lot of similarities in your game. He’s gonna be a dangerous guy for sure. I like them in Wyoming against that first game, and then we’ll see what happens from there.
What advice would you give someone who wants to become a bracketologist?
[Laughs.] Watch a lot of college basketball and embrace the numbers, as they mean a whole lot as I think we saw again this year no matter what you look at. RPI, strength of schedule, Ken Pomeroy numbers, Jeff Sagarin numbers, embrace them because they end up driving a lot of this conversation in March.No Illinois team made the tournament. Again. Any comforting words for basketball fans in this state?
Hey, Illinois, don’t overlook the NIT. Illinois’ going to be there, Illinois State should be there as well. They could both make some noise in the NIT. DePaul, they had some nice wins in a tough Big East. Maybe they’re turning things around a little bit. Other than that, no, another really sad season in state of Illinois for college basketball. It’s really unfortunate. The Illini should be a year-in, year-out powerhouse really with the recruiting base they have in Chicago. It’s another unfortunate season for fans here in Illinois.
Want more from Michael Beller? Visit SI.com More Top Picks Best Walking Shoes For Seniors
Want more RedEye sports? Click here.