On March 21st, 2024 the most anticipated postseason tournament in the sports calendar year tips off as the College Men’s Basketball Tournament (or otherwise known as “March Madness) is underway. This tournament sees the nation's 68 best college basketball teams face off in a single elimination competition to see which team hoists the National Championship. Today, I’ll go region by region to reveal what my Final Four teams are and my National Champion.

East Region:

Starting off in the East Region which sees reigning National Champions and the overall 1 seed in the tournament the UConn Huskies. The Huskies are led by their two All American guard Tristen Newton and Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer. UConn also brings star big man Donovan Clingan to the table as he averages 12 points and 7 rebounds a game. Other notable teams in this region include Big 12 champions and 2 seed in the region the Iowa State Cyclones who are lead National Coach of the Year frontrunner, T.J. Otzelberger. This is also the region where last year's runners up, San Diego State Aztecs, were in. In terms of how I have this region playing out, I don’t think there will be many upsets until the Sweet 16.  I believe there will be a rematch of last year's National Championship. San Diego State will be able to shock UConn and move to the Elite Eight to play Iowa State. But, I believe in a very tight defensive battle, the Cyclones will be able to prevail and move to just their second ever Final Four.

South Region:

Moving onto the South Region, their number 1 seed is the 30-4 Houston Cougars. The Cougars play a very defensive style of basketball as their star guard Jamal Shead averages over 2 steals per game. Houston is also led by L.J Cryer who collects 15 points a game. This region has one of college basketball’s blue bloods in the Duke Blue Devils. Duke is stared by sophomore Kyle Flipowski and freshman Jared Mccain who average a combined over 30 points a game. There are also the Kentucky Wildcats who, as a team, average almost 90 points a game (second in the entire nation). Their star player is 5th year senior Antonio Reeves who averages exactly 20 points a contest. Which team is gonna win the region? I think there will be one upset (12 seed James Madison to upset 5 seed Wisconsin Badgers). I believe the regional final will be Houston and Kentucky. In the battle of a high-powered offense and a blistering defense, I believe in the motto of “Defense wins championships”as I think Houston's defense will be too much for Kentucky’s offense. I have the Cougars going to their second Final Four in 4 years. 

Midwest Region:

The Midwest Region has the Purdue Boilermakers with the number 1 seed. Last year, the Boilermakers were infamous for their loss to 16th seed Farliegh Dickinson. Despite this, they are still led by 7 '4 giant and the National Player of the Year frontrunner (again) Zach Edey. This year however, Edey has a little bit better of a supporting cast around him as in the offseason Purdue was able to bring in wing Lance Jones and have another of development in their guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith. This region also includes the Tennessee Volunteers led by First Team All-American guard Dalton Knecht who is also the SEC Player of the Year. There is also the Creighton Bluejays which has a star and experienced guard and center duo in Trey Alexander and Ryan Kallkbrenner playing at Creighton since 2021. Who in this region will move to the Final Four? Besides one massive First Round upset where I see 12 seed Mcneese State shock one of the more consistent teams in the country, Gonzaga, this region will pretty much be like most of the other regions so far. In the Regional Final I think it will be Purdue and Tennessee squaring off. In an unexpectedly high scoring game, Purdue will be able to use their size advantage greatly and send the Boilermakers to their 3rd every Final Four appearance. 

West Regional: 

In the last region, the West Regional has blue blood North Carolina Tar Heels as the number 1 seed. The Tar Heels have two Seniors as their top scores in R.J. Davis and Armando Bacot. Davis averages over 20 points a game and Bacot brings in over 10 rebounds a contest. This region is wide open as there's many teams in this region that could win. Those teams include the Arizona Wildcats who are still led by Oumar Ballo. The level A defense of St. Mary’s Gaels. Even the 11th seed New Mexico Lobos, I believe, have a chance. I think they will be able to do that as my chaotic final in this region is the 5th seed St. Mary’s and the 11th seed New Mexico Lobos. Even though New Mexico has a great offense I don’t think it will be enough to get past St Mary’s and get to their first ever Final Four in program history. 

Moving onto the Final Four, these are the teams I believe will move onto the National Championship game. 

The first matchup is between the 5th seed St Mary’s Gaels and the 2nd seed Iowa State Cyclones. Both teams play a very defensive battle and really value the offensive possessions they get in a game. Although Cinderella runs are so much fun to watch I do think this is where the Gaels fall. I think with Keshown Gilbert and their defense, Iowa will be able to keep their season afloat and go to their first ever National Championship game. 

In the second matchup, it’s the battle of the two remaining 1 seeds as Houston will take on Purdue. This will probably be a fantastic game with a combination of great offense with high-quality defense as well. In the end, I  think Houston will be able to prevail and be in their 3rd National Championship game.  

For all the marbles, what team will hoist 2024 Men’s Basketball National Title? I believe there will be a Big 12 Championship Rematch between the Iowa State Cyclones and the Houston Cougars. Just like most games throughout March Madness it will be a tight defensive game with very little scoring. Unlike how the Big 12 Championship went, I think Houston will come out on top and win their 1st ever College Basketball Championship. Knowing how well the Cougars have played defense all year I think we will see Jamal Shead be able to lock up Keshown Gilbert and the Cyclones offense will be practically powerless. 

Overall, I think this tournament will not disappoint as will we see some buzzer beaters, crazy dunks and funny shenanigans. Again, I have Houston coming out on top (which I also said in a previous edition of The Spartan Sentinel). To anyone, filling out a bracket good luck and hopefully this will be the first year that someone can predict all 63 games correctly.