It is Finally here. “Champ week” as it’s called, is the ultimate appetizer for March Madness. It’s like an appetizer sampler at your favorite sports bar. Many different selections, but not enough of any one thing to make you tired of it, and not too much substance so that you still want more after it’s over. I love it. This week, the 5 Power conferences all kick off their annual tournaments, and we’ve got picks for all 5. Here we go.
ACC: Duke
The ACC has been the conference of chaos among Power conferences in recent years, with 7-seed Virginia Tech winning in 2022 and 11-seed NC State winning last year to kickstart their Cinderella run. I don’t see that being the case this year – the Blue Devils are simply too dominant. Jon Scheyer’s squad owns the highest net rating on KenPom since the year 2000, and will likely be favored by more than 15 points every night until the final game.
Big 12: Texas Tech
Yes, I know that Houston is the outright conference champion and looks dominant, but I worry about their offensive style getting them in trouble in single-elimination tournaments. It’s precisely what happened in both the Big 12 and the NCAA Tournaments last season to the Cougars. So I am picking 2-seed Texas Tech, a team that is balanced on both sides of the ball, is now fully healthy, and owns my pick for Big 12 POTY in JT Toppin.
Big East: UConn
Don’t look now, but Danny Hurley’s squad closed the season on a 4-game win streak, and we know their track record in March. A Rick Pitino vs Danny Hurley final in MSG on Saturday night would make for epic television. I just trust that in a conference where defense is king, UConn is the only team offensively that consistently generates good shots. And I trust teams that get good looks at the basket more than anyone else.
SEC: Florida
Pencil me down as a believer in this Florida team. They have everything I look for in a team that has the potential to have a magical March. They have great guard play with Walter Clayton Jr, Will Richard, and Alijah Martin. They have plenty of size down low with Condon, Haugh, Chinyelu, and Handlogten rotating in and out. They have plenty of depth with Denzel Aberdeen and more coming off the bench. And they rank top-10 in BOTH offensive and defensive efficiency, per KenPom. They haven’t lost to a team that won’t hear their name called on Selection Sunday. Yes, I know the SEC is the best conference in America and this tournament is going to be a gauntlet of epic proportions that may get the people of Nashville to care about more than just Broadway (for the record, Nashville is traditionally a horrible host site for these things because of all of the regular tourism they have that doesn’t care about basketball, but this week might be different). But I’m going to roll with the team that I think is the best built for single-elimination tournaments, and that’s Florida.
Big Ten: Maryland
I love how this bracket shaped out for the Terps. As the two-seed, I think they have some very comfortable matchups until the final game. Their two-big lineup with Derik Queen and Julian Reese poses issues to most of the conference. My only concern would be their lack of depth off the bench, but I have a ton of faith in their starting 5 and in head coach Kevin Willard, who won a Big East tournament while he was at Seton Hall.
