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Seth Finkelstein's 2017 college basketball NCAA Tournament bracket predictions. His March Madness busts picks - NCAA teams to avoid in your tournament brackets.
What's up RotoBallers. March Madness is officially here, and the tournament is right around the corner. RotoBaller's coverage of the tournament includes a great guide to filling out your brackets, a breakdown of each region, and some sleeper picks.
Today I'm here to give you some NCAA tournament busts and bracket avoids - teams that you should avoid picking for your brackets. I'll be giving you one or two busts from each region, so let's get to it.
Editor's Note: Be sure to check out the rest of our NCAA tournament columns and advice. Tournament winners/picks, sleepers, busts and breakdowns of each region.
NCAA Tournament Busts and Avoids
East Region
#3 Baylor - Big 12
Baylor has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth after losing in the first round two years in a row, first as a three seed and then as five seed. Even if Baylor gets by New Mexico State, they probably will face SMU in the second round.
I'm quoting ESPN's Eamon Brennan regarding Baylor's potential second round opponent, SMU.
"Tim Jankovich's Mustangs shoot the lights out, rebound their own misses, don't send opponents to the free throw line, and do pretty much everything else you can do while on a basketball court either well or very well. Relative to seed, no team this side of Wichita State will scare its bracket neighbors so comprehensively."
SMU's last loss came on January 12th in Cincinnati by two. That January loss was their first loss since November 30th. Two losses since Thanksgiving time. Wow.
#5 Virginia Cavaliers - ACC
THIS TEAM CAN'T SCORE. Do you know how frustrating it is to watch a team play such great defense– 55 points a game, 1st in NCAA– but can't put the ball in the basket– 66th points per game, 312th. According to kenpom.com, the Cavaliers are 1st in adjusted defense, but 38th in adjusted offense. Every single year Virginia plays such great defense, but has no shooter. Why can't you recruit a shooter Tony Bennett? WHY? All they need is one shooter to carry them, but Bennett can't recruit a scorer.
Virginia looked like a shell of itself in a loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. They are 6-6 in their last 12 games, not a good way to head into the NCAA Tournament. I don't know how you can pick a team to advance a round when they struggle to score. All the other team needs to do is shoot 45% from the field and score 65-70 points to get the win.
Virginia gets North Carolina- Wilmington in the first round. You may remember UNC- Wilmington form last year's tournament. They were a 13- seed and gave fourth- seeded Duke all they could handle in the first round, losing by eight. The Seahawks score 85 points per game, 10th in the nation. As described above, a good shooting day for UNC- Wilmington will prove to be Virginia's demise.
However, if Virginia beats UNC- Wilmington, they could make a little run behind their incredible defense.
West Region
#8 Northwestern - Big 10
The Big 10 is the weakest conference among the majors. Don't let the nice feel good story of Northwestern's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance suck you in. The only big win in conference came on the road against Wisconsin. Besides for that, no other win stands out. I hate looking at the first two months of the season, but for Northwestern, they scheduled an easy non- conference schedule with the likes of IUPUI and Houston Baptist. They did schedule three big name schools, losing to Butler and Notre Dame while beating Texas who finished last in the Big 12.
Northwestern is 1.5 point underdogs to Vanderbilt in the first round. Vandy has been playing well, beating Florida in the SEC tournament. I like Vandy. Even if Northwestern gets by Vandy in the battle of brainiacs, then they have to face Gonzaga in the second round. Neither team can beat the Zags.
Midwest Region
#4 Purdue
They rely too much on big man Caleb Swanigan. He is a great player, but it's easy to take a big man out of the game. Their first round opponent, Vermont, will take them to the wire.
#6 Creighton
Ever since star point guard Maurice Watson went down for the season with a torn ACL, this team hasn't looked the same.
They face Rhode Island in the first round. Rhode Island was a preseason top- 25 team, but had some early season struggles. They've won their last eight, including the Atlantic 10 championship. Vegas has this game as a pick' em.
South Region
#5 Minnesota
I was ready to publish this article, when I looked at the point spreads once more. Minnesota is a one- point underdog to Middle Tennessee State. Yes, the 15- seed that beat Michigan State last year and ruined many brackets is back to upset another Big 10 school.
#6 Cincinnati
Only because every year since the NCAA expanded the field from 65 to 68, one of the First Four teams have always won multiple games in the tournament. Since I like SMU to beat Providence or USC, the Wake Forest- Kansas State winner will advance over Cincinnati.
Cincinnati has been knocked out the first weekend each of the past four years. Kansas State is a good team, led by NCAA Tournament veteran coach, Bruce Webber. K- State played in a much tougher conference, the Big 12, than Cincinnati did, the AAC. If Wake Forest wins, I'd still take my chances with them over Cincinnati.
