There is nothing predictable about the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. The phrase “March Madness” is officially trademarked by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for extremely good rationale. Since the 1985 expansion to a sixty-four-team field, nobody has been able to successfully predict every outcome of the individual tournament games, and the truth of the matter is that nobody ever will.
This year’s edition of the competition will be no exception as we will watch the madness ensue before our very own eyes. Much like predicting specific matchups, predicting the winner of the tournament also carries a high level of difficulty. In order to do this the field of sixty-four teams must be narrowed down with the use of statistics. Since the year 2002 every single national champion has been rated both top twenty-two in Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency list and top forty in his offensive efficiency list. This narrows the field of sixty-four down to seven teams: #1 seeded Houston, #1 seeded Alabama, #1 seeded Kansas, #2 seeded Texas, #2 seeded UCLA, #4 seeded UCONN, and #6 seeded Creighton. Out of these seven teams, Alabama, led by freshman forward, Brandon Miller, looks the most promising.
Coming out of the regular season, Alabama boasts an extremely impressive 29-5 record while playing in the grueling Southeastern Conference and holding the fourth most difficult schedule in the nation. The Crimson Tide fought their way through the season and against all odds, finished on top of the AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll. The stardom and depth of this team is nothing to look past. Freshman forward Brandon Miller is currently averaging 19.1 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 2.1 assists per game. On top of that, he is shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 85.6 percent from the free throw line. Although these numbers are very impressive, this team is much more than just Brandon Miller. The likes of Mark Sears, Noah Clowney, Jahvon Quinerly, Jaden Bradley, Charles Bediako, and Noah Gurley will lead this team to a National Championship.
In conclusion, I am predicting that you will see the Alabama Crimson Tide cut down the nets in a sold-out NRG Stadium (located in Houston, Texas) on April 3, 2023.
