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<\/p>\nThis year\u2019s men\u2019s NCAA Tournament might not feel like it has one clear favorite, with Duke, Arizona and Michigan all enjoying dominant regular seasons.<\/p>\n
But a preferred choice emerged in\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s annual staff survey. Arizona was the national championship pick for 14 of the 28 writers and editors we surveyed this week.<\/p>\n
Naturally, an aggregated bracket of 28 staff picks tends to ultimately lead toward favorites advancing. But our staff bracket this year did feature a few surprises: Two 11-seeds advancing over their sixth-seeded opponents, a 10th-seeded mid-major knocking out a blue blood, and one No. 2 seed \u2014 Houston \u2014 preventing us from mocking all 1-seeds to the Final Four.<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n
BEAT OUR EXPERTS<\/p>\n
Predict how you think the tournament will
play out. Can you beat one of our experts?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at which teams got the most votes to advance, along with round-by-round voting tallies and some of our staff\u2019s boldest predictions for this year\u2019s madness.<\/p>\n
First
Round<\/p>\n
Second
Round<\/p>\n
Sweet 16<\/p>\n
Elite
Eight<\/p>\n
Final
Four<\/p>\n
Final
Four<\/p>\n
Elite
Eight<\/p>\n
Sweet 16<\/p>\n
Second
Round<\/p>\n
First
Round<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll go round-by-round and highlight some of our biggest takeaways.<\/p>\n
First-round picks<\/p>\n
Seed<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Team<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Votes<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Opponent<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Votes<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
16 Siena<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
16 Prairie View A&M\/Lehigh<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
16 Howard\/UMBC<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
16 Long Island<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
15 Idaho<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
15 Tennessee State<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
15 Furman<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
14 North Dakota State<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
14 Wright State<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
12 Northern Iowa<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
15 Queens<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
14 Penn<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
14 Kennesaw State<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
13 Hawaii<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
13 Cal Baptist<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
24<\/p>\n
8 Villanova<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
12 McNeese<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
10<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
7 Kentucky<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
11<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
6 Louisville<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
22<\/p>\n
13 Troy<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
21<\/p>\n
8 Clemson<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
20<\/p>\n
13 Hofstra<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
20<\/p>\n
12 High Point<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
20<\/p>\n
9 TCU<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
11 Texas\/NC State<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
11 Miami (OH)\/SMU<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
10 UCF<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
8 Georgia<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
18<\/p>\n
10 Texas A&M<\/p>\n
10<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
17<\/p>\n
10 Missouri<\/p>\n
11<\/p>\n
11<\/p>\n
17<\/p>\n
6 North Carolina<\/p>\n
11<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
16<\/p>\n
12 Akron<\/p>\n
12<\/p>\n
\u2022 Three double-digit seeds got enough votes to advance to the second round: No. 10 Santa Clara (against No. 7 Kentucky), No. 11 South Florida (against No. 6 Louisville), and No. 11 VCU (against No. 6 North Carolina). Interestingly, our staff picked overwhelmingly in favor of Santa Clara and USF against the two schools from Kentucky.<\/p>\n
\u2022 While there were no 12-over-5s, 13-over-4s or even larger upsets that got a majority vote, there were a number of individual longshot picks. Akron \u2014 facing a short-handed Texas Tech team without star JT Toppin \u2014 was the most popular No. 12 seed pick. Hofstra, facing Alabama, was the most popular 13-over-4. Two 14-seeds \u2014 Penn (playing Illinois) and Kennesaw State (playing Gonzaga) \u2014 and one 15-seed (Queens against Purdue) received one vote from the most daring in our group.<\/p>\n
Jon Greenberg on Akron over Texas Tech: \u201cLike everyone else, I\u2019m skittish on big upsets in the NIL era, but why not Akron? John Groce is money in March and the No. 12 Zips have size, experience and talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian O\u2019Connor on Penn over Illinois: \u201cPenn, a 14 seed, coming off an incredible victory over Yale, has a player (TJ Power) good enough to score 44 points in a sudden-death game and a team confident enough to upset Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 We\u2019ll learn Wednesday whether Miami (Ohio) can advance out of the First Four and enter the main bracket at 32-1. The RedHawks got seven of 28 votes to advance past Tennessee (SMU, Miami\u2019s opponent Wednesday, got two).<\/p>\n
Who will advance to the Sweet 16?<\/p>\n
\u2022 A total of 36 teams received at least one vote to make the Sweet 16, including 14th-seeded Penn and 13th-seeded Troy. Only Arizona, Michigan, Florida and Houston were unanimous choices to get to the second weekend. (One voter chose Ohio State to beat Duke.)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Are the No. 5 seeds better than the No. 4s this year? They might be in better March form, at least. Fifth-seeded St. John\u2019s took 27 of 28 votes from its pod, leaving just one for No. 4 Kansas. Our staff likes Vanderbilt to advance out of a pod with Nebraska, and Texas Tech to get out of one featuring Alabama, too.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The most vulnerable No. 3 seed? Gonzaga, which might have to face BYU in the second round. No. 2 seed? UConn, which is coming off a loss to St. John\u2019s in the Big East championship and could face a red-hot UCLA squad in the second round.<\/p>\n
Who got an Elite Eight vote?<\/p>\n
\u2022 Now we\u2019re whittling it down. Nineteen teams got votes to each the Elite Eight. Only Michigan was unanimous. And no seed worse than a No. 7 got a vote.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The most difficult decision came in the West, where we actually had a tie between No. 2 Purdue and No. 3 Gonzaga. We broke the tie by looking at how many Final Four votes each got \u2014 Gonzaga got the only one that didn\u2019t go to No. 1 Arizona, so the Zags move on.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Once again, the quality of the No. 4 seeds comes into question. Kansas, Nebraska and Alabama didn\u2019t receive any votes to reach the Elite Eight, and Arkansas received only one. Meanwhile, St. John\u2019s and Vanderbilt both received multiple votes.<\/p>\n
Our Final Four picks<\/p>\n
Name<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Champ<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
East<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
South<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
West<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midwest<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matt Baker<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Matt Brown<\/p>\n
St. John’s<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Scott Dochterman<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Iowa State<\/p>\n
Seth Emerson<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Bruce Feldman<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Ira Gorawara<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Austin Green<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Vanderbilt<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Iowa State<\/p>\n
Jon Greenberg<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
John Hollinger<\/p>\n
Michigan State<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Mike Hume<\/p>\n
Michigan State<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Christopher Kamrani<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Mitch Light<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Illinois<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Virginia<\/p>\n
Brendan Marks<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
CJ Moore<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Illinois<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Ian O’Connor<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Grace Raynor<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Iowa State<\/p>\n
Joe Rexrode<\/p>\n
St. John’s<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Jim Root<\/p>\n
St. John’s<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Ralph D. Russo<\/p>\n
St. John’s<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Lindsay Schnell<\/p>\n
Connecticut<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Dan Shanoff<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Mitch Sherman<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Daniel Shirley<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Gonzaga<\/p>\n
Virginia<\/p>\n
Eric Single<\/p>\n
Michigan State<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Virginia<\/p>\n
Jillian Thaw<\/p>\n
Michigan State<\/p>\n
Illinois<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
David Ubben<\/p>\n
Michigan State<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Iowa State<\/p>\n
Chris Vannini<\/p>\n
Duke<\/p>\n
Houston<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
Justin Williams<\/p>\n
Connecticut<\/p>\n
Florida<\/p>\n
Arizona<\/p>\n
Michigan<\/p>\n
\u2022 A total of 13 teams got at least one vote to make the Final Four: Seven of the top eight seeds (all but Purdue), all four No. 3 seeds, and two No. 5 seeds in St. John\u2019s and Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n
\u2022 While Arizona is the favorite, this could be as good a year as any for the Big Ten to snap a 26-year title drought. Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois all received championship votes.<\/p>\n
Why Arizona?\u00a0\u201cArizona is the most complete in the tournament. The Big 12 has the best concentration of high-level teams and Arizona led the league in offense and was second in field-goal defense. No team is playing better or checks as many boxes as Arizona.\u201d \u2014 Scott Dochterman<\/p>\n
Why Duke? \u201cI think last year\u2019s Final Four loss was another necessary lesson in Jon Scheyer\u2019s progression. That lesson helps his talented Blue Devils get over the hump this time.\u201d \u2014 Matt Baker<\/p>\n
Why Michigan? \u201cAn huge, dominating juggernaut all three times I saw them in person.\u201d \u2014\u00a0John Hollinger<\/p>\n
Bold predictions<\/p>\n
We also asked our staff to give us some bold takes for the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2025 tournament featured only one true buzzer-beater, as in 0.0 on the clock: Derik Queen\u2019s bank shot against Colorado State to send Maryland to the Sweet 16. This year, we get four such game-winners by the end of the first weekend.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Eric Single<\/p>\n
\u201cSt. John\u2019s plays for the whole thing and falls to Arizona. History says that offensive efficiency in the 40s makes the Red Storm a non-starter, but let\u2019s not forget 12 years ago when UConn won it all. Shabazz Napier on a heater made it possible. This run will be brought to you by the forceful interior play of Zuby Ejiofor.\u201d \u2014 Joe Rexrode<\/p>\n
\u201cDarius Acuff Jr. enters the discussion as the No. 1 overall pick in the next NBA Draft.\u201d \u2014 Justin Williams<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Big 12 is going to flex in this year\u2019s tournament. I think four teams can reach the Elite Eight with three in the Final Four, with an All-Big 12 championship game between Arizona (winner) and either Houston or Iowa State.\u201d \u2014 Scott Dochterman<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami (Ohio) wins two games: the play-in against SMU and Round 1 over Tennessee.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Grace Raynor<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are even fewer first\/second round upsets than last year (11), which becomes a talking point in Congress as lawmakers keep pursuing legislation.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Matt Baker<\/p>\n
\u201cCinderella-free Sweet 16: Zero teams seeded higher than 5 make the Sweet 16.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Dan Shanoff<\/p>\n
\u201cIowa State runs the table against the top three teams in KenPom \u2014 Michigan, Arizona and Duke \u2014 to win a national title.\u201d \u2014 Austin Green<\/p>\n
\u201cHouston will lose in the title game for the second straight year.\u201d \u2014 Daniel Shirley<\/p>\n
\u201cA mid-major accuses a power-conference team of tampering during the tournament.\u201d \u2014 Chris Vannini<\/p>\n
\u201cDan Hurley is ejected in the second half of the fourth meeting of the season between UConn and St John\u2019s and complains that the regional final was officiated like a Big East game.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Ralph D. Russo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s men\u2019s NCAA Tournament might not feel like it has one clear favorite, with Duke, Arizona and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5571,5578,5587,5563,5580,3992,5600,5596,3991,5602,5567,5590,5582,5604,5599,5585,5576,8,3990,5589,5594,5592,4535,5575,5574,5565,4820,5579,5572,9,5591,1151,4530,5588,1153,5581,5601,5603,5597,5561,5569,5598,5593,5570,5583,5562,7,5568,5564,5566,5577,5595,4957,5573,4364,5584,5586],"class_list":{"0":"post-6934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-albany-great-danes","9":"tag-binghamton-bearcats","10":"tag-boston-college-eagles","11":"tag-cincinnati-bearcats","12":"tag-clemson-tigers","13":"tag-connecticut-huskies","14":"tag-davidson-wildcats","15":"tag-dayton-flyers","16":"tag-duke-blue-devils","17":"tag-duquesne-dukes","18":"tag-east-carolina-pirates","19":"tag-fgcu-eagles","20":"tag-florida-state-seminoles","21":"tag-fordham-ram","22":"tag-george-washington-colonials","23":"tag-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets","24":"tag-hartford-hawks","25":"tag-headlines","26":"tag-houston-cougars","27":"tag-jacksonville-dolphins","28":"tag-kennesaw-state-owls","29":"tag-lipscomb-bisons","30":"tag-louisville-cardinals","31":"tag-maine-black-bears","32":"tag-massachusetts-lowell-river-hawks","33":"tag-memphis-tigers","34":"tag-mens-college-basketball","35":"tag-miami-hurricanes","36":"tag-new-hampshire-wildcats","37":"tag-news","38":"tag-njit-highlanders","39":"tag-north-carolina-state-wolfpack","40":"tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","41":"tag-north-florida-ospreys","42":"tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","43":"tag-pittsburgh-panthers","44":"tag-rhode-island-rams","45":"tag-richmond-spiders","46":"tag-saint-josephs-hawks","47":"tag-smu-mustangs","48":"tag-south-florida-bulls","49":"tag-st-bonaventure-bonnies","50":"tag-stetson-hatters","51":"tag-stony-brook-seawolves","52":"tag-syracuse-orange","53":"tag-temple-owls","54":"tag-top-stories","55":"tag-tulane-green-wave","56":"tag-tulsa-golden-hurricane","57":"tag-ucf-knights","58":"tag-umbc-retrievers","59":"tag-usc-upstate-spartans","60":"tag-vcu-rams","61":"tag-vermont-catamounts","62":"tag-virginia-cavaliers","63":"tag-virginia-tech-hokies","64":"tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}