No one said picking safely in March Madness is sexy, but what would happen if you were to go with an all-chalk bracket in your pool this year?
A lot of the fun in filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket is figuring out where the upsets are going to come from. It feels great to be the one guy in the office who nailed that No. 13 over a No. 4 in the pool, but a lot of times those long-shot picks end up busting.
Here at FanSided, we decided to try something different. Instead of looking for the perfect upset, this bracket features none at all. That’s right, this bracket will be all chalk, and there’s a method to the madness.
Even though upsets happen every year, the selection committee seeds teams for a reason. The better teams end up with the higher seeds, and those teams end up at the top of the oddsmakers’ lists because they’re, you know, really good.
Let’s get started with a look at how the chalk will impact the first round action.
East Regional, first round
No. 1 Duke over No. 16 North Carolina Central/North Dakota State winner Let’s be real, it doesn’t matter who wins this First Four game. Neither team has the athleticism or talent to contain Duke’s fabulous freshmen.
No. 8 VCU over No. 9 UCF The Rams’ outstanding defense, which limits opponents to just 61.6 points per game, will shut down the Knights.
No. 5 Mississippi State over No. 12 Liberty The Flames are taking a big step up in weight class against Mississippi State, which has solid wins over tournament teams like Cincinnati and Wofford on its resume.
No. 4 Virginia Tech over No. 13 Saint Louis The Billikens took advantage of VCU getting upset in the Atlantic 10 Tournament to get here, but they haven’t run into a team as talented as Virginia Tech yet.
No. 6 Maryland over No. 11 Belmont/Temple This is a sexy upset pick, but travel will get the victor of the first four matchup here. Belmont and Temple tip-off after 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, then have to get from Dayton to Jacksonville for a 3 p.m. game on Thursday. That’s not enough time to recover and beat a quality Terrapins squad.
No. 3 LSU over No. 14 Yale Despite the fact that head coach Will Wade is still suspended, the Tigers maintain the roster that won the SEC in the regular season. That should be plenty to top the Ivy League champions.
No. 7 Louisville over No. 10 Minnesota While Richard Pitino would love to win this game against his dad’s former school, Louisville is battle-tested from a rugged year in the ACC, giving them enough experience to take down the Golden Gophers.
No. 2 Michigan State over No. 15 Bradley The Spartans lost to a 15-seed in 2016, but that Middle Tennessee State team was simply unstoppable from the perimeter. There’s no chance Bradley can get that hot against a talented Michigan State defense.