With College Basketball on a break over Christmas, we want to look ahead to the 2017 NCAA Tournament. We use ESPN’s Bracketology as our bracket and predict every game of the tournament.
First Four
The tournament starts with the First Four every year.
(16) NC Central over Wagner
(16) North Dakota over Long Beach St.
(12) Arkansas over Northwestern
(11) Minnesota over Seton Hall
South Region
The South hosts defending champion Villanova as the top seed.
The top 8 seeds all advance through the round of 64. Then the top four seeds, Villanova, North Carolina, West Virginia and Purdue, all advance to the Sweet 16. The regional final is top seed Villanova against third seed West Virginia.
West Virginia knocks out Villanova to advance to the 2017 Final Four.
West Region
The top six seeds advance in the West. Two mild upsets as the #9 and #10 seeds, Michigan and TCU respectively, advance.
The top four seeds, Baylor, UCLA, Virginia and Creighton, advance to the Sweet 16. Virginia advances as the #3 to face top seed Baylor in the regional final.
The Baylor Bears advance to the 2017 Final Four.
Midwest Region
The Midwest has our biggest first round upset as #11 Clemson upsets #6 Oregon. The other top seeds all advance to round 2.
Fifth seed Indiana knocks out #4 Xavier to join Duke, Kentucky and Gonzaga in the Final Four.
The top two seeds, Duke and Kentucky collide in the regional final. The second seed Kentucky Wildcats eliminate the Blue Devils.
Kentucky advances to the 2017 Final Four.
East Region
The East sees the most upsets. In the first round, #9 Wichita State and #10 Michigan State advance along with the top six seeds in the region.
The top 4 seeds, Kansas, Louisville, Butler and Wisconsin all advance to the Sweet 16.
Wisconsin bounces Kansas while Louisville ends Butler’s tournament hopes.
Wisconsin then eliminates Louisville to advance to the 2017 Final Four.
Final Four
The 2017 Final Four features a #1, #2, #3 and #4 seed.
#3 West Virginia from the South Region beats #1 Baylor from the West region to make it to the Championship Game.
#2 Kentucky from the West Region defeats #4 Wisconsin from the East Region to advance to the Championship Game.
Championship Game
West Virginia wins the 2017 NCAA Tournament over Kentucky.
Get our college basketball predictions daily throughout the NCAA Tournament.
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