And so the Madness strikes again. A No. 1 (Villanova), two No. 2’s (Kansas and Virginia), and two No. 3’s (Iowa State and Baylor) are all gone by the first weekend as brackets everywhere have inevitably gone to flames. Don’t be so hard on yourself, though; even the so-called “experts” got a lot of things so very wrong.
But they did get most other things right through to the Sweet 16. Let’s check in with how these experts’ predictions have fared amid the chaos and see what new picks they’ll come up with going forward.
We’ve already gotten the ball rolling with revised picks from the Sweet 16 onwards. Check out our new (and hopefully, improved) picks here.
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2015 March Madness Sweet 16 Expert Predictions
CBS Sports
Expert
Elite Eight
Gary Parrish
Kentucky vs Wichita St, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
Villanova vs Virginia, Duke vs Gonzaga
Jerry Palm
Kentucky vs Kansas, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
Villanova vs Virginia, Duke vs Iowa St
Matt Norlander
Kentucky vs Notre Dame, North Carolina vs Arizona,
Villanova vs Providence, Duke vs Iowa St
Sam Vecenie
Kentucky vs Notre Dame, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
Villanova vs Virginia, Duke vs Gonzaga
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]CBSSports.com’s writers didn’t have much in the way of variety with their picks, which is why their brackets more or less went down in flames in just about the same way. All four were spectacularly wrong with Providence, Baylor, Stephen F. Austin and Iowa State making it to the Sweet 16 after all four were bounced in the second round.
Garry Parrish’s prediction of a Kentucky-Wichita State rematch is very much alive, though, as the Shockers face a Notre Dame team that was so close to getting eliminated in each of the first two rounds. His two colleagues are going the other way, with the luck (and shooting) of the Irish holding strong.
Meanwhile, Matt Norlander’s bold pick of North Carolina crashing the almost universally accepted Wisconsin vs Arizona collision course is also still very much in play.
Sports Illustrated
Expert
Elite Eight
Pete Thamel
Kentucky vs Notre Dame, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
Villanova vs Virginia, Duke vs Iowa St
Luke Winn
Kentucky vs Wichita State, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
Villanova vs Virginia, Duke vs Gonzaga
Seth Davis
Kentucky vs Notre Dame, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
UNI vs Virginia, Duke vs SMU
Big props to Sports Illustrated‘s Luke Winn for thinking outside the box with his picks this year. Some may not have panned out (Butler and UNI) but his inspired picks of West Virginia, Oklahoma and Utah reaching the Sweet 16 all hit the mark. He’s hit on 10 of the 16 teams left standing, including Gonzaga, which his other two colleagues had falling to Iowa and SMU. Whoops.
But he doesn’t see any of those teams getting through to the Elite Eight, though. No. 1’s Duke and Kentucky are favored in their matchups with Utah and West Virginia, respectively. Oklahoma may stand the best chance of the three to go through, but it’ll have to overcome No. 7 Michigan State after Sparty knocked out No. 2 Virginia.
ESPN
Expert
Elite Eight
Jay Bilas
Kentucky vs Notre Dame, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
Villanova vs Virginia, Duke vs Gonzaga
Even ESPN lead college hoops analyst Jay Bilas is human after all as he fell to the same trap essentially the entire country fell into with Villanova vs Virginia in the East Region. Most of Bilas’ Elite Eight bets are still alive, though, with Arizona, Gonzaga and Notre Dame facing No. 6 seeds or lower.
But Bilas sees a final eight dominated by the higher seeds, particularly in the West and South, with two No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups. But he – and a whole heck of a lot of people – had that in the East, too, and just look how that one panned out.
Top Bet
Expert
Elite Eight (Revised Picks)
Top Bet sportsbook
Kentucky vs Notre Dame, Wisconsin vs Arizona,
Duke vs Gonzaga, Louisville vs Michigan St
It’s time for a mulligan on our Elite Eight picks after Iowa State, Villanova and Virginia all fell by the wayside before the tournament’s second week. In goes Gonzaga to face Duke as the Zags face arguably the easiest Sweet 16 assignment against upstart UCLA, an 11-seed.
Meanwhile, Louisville and Michigan State will face tricky opposition in NC State and Oklahoma, but the superior coaching know-how of Rick Pitino and Tom Izzo have taken them this far, so it would be wise to stick with them, right?
Choosing to stick with these experts’ March Madness picks? Create a betting account now and allow their college hoops expertise to pay off for you in a big way.
