Complete NCAA Tournament Bracket Predictions (2022 March Madness)

It’s here. The 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket has been revealed. Not even Tom Brady can steal this joyous moment.

The last couple of weeks of basketball have confirmed my initial hypothesis on how this year’s tournament could pan out. With no truly dominant teams, the 2022 tournament could be awfully chaotic. I simply don’t think the gap is that large between the best teams and the weakest teams in this year’s field.

One of my favorite traditions each year is to fill out what I call my “gut reaction,” bracket hours after the field is revealed. Obviously, this is subject to change as I dig deeper into every matchup. But here were my initial picks using our Bracket Optimizer tool.

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Early 2022 NCAA Tournament Bracket Takeaways

• The Midwest Region was the group I had the most trouble with, particularly the bottom half. I’m not a fan of the 2-seed Auburn or the 3-seed Wisconsin, but there aren’t many viable threats to knock them off in the early rounds. Kansas seems to have a pretty manageable path to the Final Four. This region will require more digging.
• I felt queasy sending Purdue to the Sweet 16, given that they’re entirely reliant on outscoring teams. The problem is, neither Yale, Texas, or Virginia Tech scare me enough to go against the Boilermakers.
• I have eight double-digit seeds winning in the first round, with four of them getting to the Sweet Sixteen. Like I said above, what’s the difference between Miami and Auburn or Michigan and Tennessee this year? The gap is smaller than ever.
• Gonzaga’s toughest test before the Elite Eight will be Memphis. Penny Hardaway’s club is used to playing at Gonzaga’s pace but plays much better defense. I wanted to go bold and send Memphis to the Sweet Sixteen, but that’ll require some more thought first.
• The South Region seems the most conducive to a chalky bracket. Arizona’s path to the Sweet Sixteen is manageable. No. 4 seed Illinois and No. 5 seed Houston both have high ceilings and low floors. In the bottom half, Villanova has a simple path to the second weekend. Tennessee could face trouble from a Michigan team that can play with nothing to lose as the team nobody thought deserved to be in the field.
• Some teams I’m generally looking to fade or stay away from in my brackets: Marquette, Iowa State, Ohio State, and Seton Hall.
• Matt Barbato’s 2022 Complete NCAA Tournament Bracket Predictions 

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