2022 NCAA Tournament: Expert Consensus Championship Picks (March Madness)

Who would the experts pick to take down their bracket pool? To answer that question, we’ve analyzed and compiled dozens of expert brackets to produce our own consensus tournament bracket.

Let’s take a look at who our experts predict to be in the championship game!

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Gonzaga Bulldogs

While Gonzaga the past few years has been “clear Tier 1” dominant, this year they are only “tier 1” dominant. Mark Few has led Gonzaga to another WCC title, capturing their third straight 1 seed in the tournament.

When discussing this squad, you have to start with Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme. The duo gizes Gonzaga the best frontcourt in the nation and makes it nearly impossible to stop this team down low, where the Bulldogs prefer to shoot the rock. Even if teams swarm down low, the Bulldogs have the ability to kick it out for beyond-the-arc looks (ranking 18th in the nation at 3pt%), and they captialize on missed shots (ranking seventh in second-chance conversion percentage). What isn’t discussed as much about the bulldogs is their sixth-ranked KenPom defense. Few’s squad rebounds well to eliminate potential second-chance opportunities and stays out of foul trouble to help boost their defense, which ranks first in 2pt%.

Gonzaga isn’t exactly unstoppable, however. Holmgren is still developing, and we’ve witnessed the Bulldogs put up some duds. If this team is to be upset early, it would be by a big, physical team that limits Gonzaga down low, combined with the Bulldogs being off from deep. That said, this is still a dynamic team that should be your favorite to cut down the nets in New Orleans. I would be surprised if this team doesn’t make the Final Four.

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Arizona Wildcats

With how insane this college basketball season has been, Arizona has flown under the radar as one of the bigger surprises of the year. With a first-year coach and a handful of transfers, the Wildcats were unranked in the preseason polls. Still, they managed to put together a terrific season, earning their first 1 seed since 2014.

Arizona may have the most dynamic offense in men’s college hoops. If you have not watched this team play so far, I recommend stopping whatever you’re doing now and watching their highlights.

Christian Koloko is an efficient scorer down low and a shot-blocking machine. Bennedict Mathurin has the ability to shoot the lights out, and Azulas Tubelis is the glue guy who brings it all together. We will see how the Kerr Kriisa ankle injury impacts this squad.

The size of this team is yet another reason to back the Wildcats in March, as any team would be lucky to shoot well inside against them. If you are looking for holes in this team, their inexperience is a big one. The unpredictability of March might impact Arizona, and we have seen some dud games. Arizona’s resume isn’t the most impressive, with few Quad I wins, but this team still has a good chance to make a Final Four run.

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