NCAA MBB Power-6 conference tournament

With the start the women’s basketball conference tournaments last weekend, m arch m adness entered full swing. Prior to spring break, it’s time for my Annual e xtremely Accurate d efinitely Won’t b e Wrong m arch m adness Predictions (trademark pending). Let’s start with a look at the Power-6 conference tournament brackets, where teams seek conference glory, higher seeds or even nc AA Tournament bids, depending on their bubble status.

ACC t ournament my lone quarterfinal upset belongs to n c state, who will secure their spot in the round of 64 by toppling third-seeded c lemson. m iami, v irginia and d uke hold serve as the higher seeds and advance to the semifinals. From there, v irginia will handle the Wolfpack and advance to the Acc c hampionship. They’ll meet m iami, the Acc ’s top seed, in the championship after the hurricanes edge out a d uke team that’s peaking at the right time. The c avaliers, a top-10 team for portions of the season, will return to form in time to claim the Acc c hampionship. my pick: v irginia over m iami o ther s emifinalists: nc state, d uke

I’m picking only a couple of very ‘minor’ upsets in the early going. In the prequarterfinals, I have the ninth seed, Wake Forest, advancing past syracuse. however, beyond that, it’ll be a lot of chalk, ending seasons for many teams that needed significant tournament runs to challenge the bubble.

Big 12 t ournament

The big 12 features a whole bunch of nc AA Tournamentcaliber teams, and it should be a very entertaining week. That being said, while I anticipate a lot of interesting games, I’m not picking much in the way of upsets.

I believe Kansas is the best team, albeit narrowly, in the conference, and that’ll make itself apparent over three tournament victories. my biggest “upset” is Kansas state narrowly edging out Texas in the semifinals. The Wildcats have been one of my preferred underdog teams all year to make a run in march, and I think they’ll set up an entertaining instate big 12 championship clash. my pick: Kansas over Kansas state o ther s emifinalists: Texas, baylor

Big t en my pick: Purdue over maryland o ther s emifinalists: m ichigan state, Illinois

When northwestern played rutgers to end the regular season, the Wildcats secured the second seed with a win. With a loss, they would have fallen to the ninth seed. That epitomizes the parity on display in the big Ten Tournament this week. I think we’ll see some chalk in the preliminary rounds, pushing the best teams forward into the quarterfinals. There, I’ve got some upsets (based on seed) sharpied in on my bracket. That starts with seventhseeded Illinois pushing forward into the semifinals over northwestern, and sixth-seeded maryland triumphing over Indiana in the quarterfinals. Purdue and m ichigan state hold, serve and move into the semifinals over m ichigan and Iowa, respectively.

In the semifinals, maryland beats Illinois to get to the championship round, and Purdue cruises past m ichigan state. Indiana is Purdue’s true kryptonite in the conference, and with the hoosiers gone, the boilermakers triumph in the championship game.

Big East

The big e ast features some very bad Power-6 teams, and as such, I see most of the top seeds cruising into the semifinals. The Uc onnProvidence quarterfinal is an interesting game, but I think the huskies advance, putting all top four seeds into the semis. From there, I’ll take Uc onn to advance over top-seeded marquette. The huskies have won nine of 11 games, with the two losses by a combined six points. They’re very dangerous and will advance to the championship to meet secondseeded Xavier. The huskies, who sat second in the AP Poll earlier this season, will beat the musketeers in the championship. my pick: Uc onn over Xavier o ther s emifinalists: marquette, c reighton p ac 12 my pick: Uc LA over Arizona o ther s emifinalists: Usc , o regon however, ultimately the c rimson Tide will topple fifth-seeded Tennessee in the semifinals, and they will then avenge a regular season loss to Texas A& m in the sec c hampionship. Kentucky is the other semifinalist, drawing a vanderbilt team that is far worse than their sixth seed in the quarterfinals. my pick: Alabama over Texas A& m o ther s emifinalists: Kentucky, Tennessee

This is going to be my most boring pick. I haven’t filled out my march madness bracket yet (obviously), but Uc LA is definitely in the camp of my favorite national title picks. Arizona is the only other team I see being close to Final Four quality. As such I see those two meeting in the championship with not too much craziness happening in the middle. Give me straight chalk in the semifinals and championship, and I’ll let a mediocre conference with one or two elite teams prove me wrong.

SEC I don’t think Alabama has the ability to go all the way in march. however, I think they’ll be dangerous in the sec Tournament and take home a conference title before faltering in the nc AA Tournament. I’ll take some small upsets in the early going, including 10th-seeded Arkansas making it to the quarterfinals.

Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Bella Laufenberg

at ilaufenb@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.