Today marks the first day of one of the biggest sporting events of the year. According to the American Gaming Association, over $15 billion is expected to be wagered on March Madness this year, making it the country’s most-bet on sporting event. It’s easy to understand why. The number of bracket competitions online and in offices everywhere combined with an increase in states legalizing sports betting means more people have the opportunity to put their money where their mouths are this March than any March before this. Unfortunately, one team we will not be able to bet on this year is the Villanova Wildcats, which missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade. The Wildcats are clearly missing Jay Wright, who retired after last season, but I’m hoping brighter years are ahead for them.
There are still 64 teams that you can bet on, and I’ve personally had a lot of fun thinking about who might win it all this year. Though Alabama, Houston, and Purdue have looked like college basketball’s best teams and have three of the four 1 seeds for that exact reason, I think it’s wide open, even more wide open than the NCAA tournament usually is. Traditional blue bloods like UNC, Kentucky, and Nova (Yes, VIllanova is a blue blood now; deal with it) are having down years and we have a new crop of exciting teams willing to put it all on the table that could make this the most fun, most unpredictable March Madness ever. My pick to win it all right now is Bama, but I would not be shocked at all if they didn’t make it past this weekend. An 8 seed, 9 seed, or even a double-digit seed playing for a championship isn’t out of the question this year. My bracket’s submitted, so all I can do now is watch and hope it makes it into April mostly unscathed.
