2018 March Madness Bracket Predictions: South Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/14/2018

I know that this has a great chance to come back to bite me, but I'm just going to come right out and say it: I don't trust Virginia. The Virginia Cavaliers are the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament this year. They dominated their way to ACC regular-season and tournament titles, and at 31-2 they have the best mark of any team in the country. Virginia is in the Top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and they really don't have a weakness on either end of the court.

Expert March Madness Bracket Predictions: East Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/14/2018

The plight of the Villanova Wildcats is a pretty perfect avatar of this year's NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats went 30-4 and won the Big East Tournament title last week. They are easily one of the two or three best teams in the country and one of the favorites to win the national title this season.

Expert March Madness Bracket Predictions: Midwest Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/13/2018

Heading into the 2017-18 college basketball season the top three teams in the USA Today's Coaches Poll were, in order, Duke, Michigan State and Kansas. Those three schools were also in the top four of the preseason Associated Press Top 25, with Arizona sneaking in ahead of Kansas and pushing the Jayhawks to fourth.

2018 March Madness Bracket Predictions: West Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/13/2018

Every year there is one region that is so brutally loaded with potential Final Four participants that it is dubbed "The Region of Death". Well, this year the West Region is whatever the opposite of "The Region of Death" is. This section of the bracket is kind of a mess, with a host of flawed contenders all attempting to avoid enough upsets to back their way into the Final Four.

2018 AAC Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/7/2018

The addition of Wichita State, a premium mid-major program with national name recognition, couldn't have come at a better time for the American Athletic Conference. Connecticut, one of the AAC's standard-bearers, is floundering. And injuries submarined last year's league champion SMU and this year's tournament hopeful Central Florida.

2018 Big East Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/6/2018

This league is one of the most competitive and parity-driven in college basketball. Villanova and Xavier, two Top 10 teams, are clearly the two best squads. But the next five teams in the 10-team league all finished either 10-8 or 9-9, and this league should send more than half of its schools to next week's NCAA Tournament. Throw in the magic of The Garden, and this week's tournament could be anyone's ball game.

2018 SEC Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/6/2018

Instead of a Kentucky vs. The Field storyline, the SEC heads to the unfamiliar territory of St. Louis for its conference championship with as many as 10 teams jockeying for a postseason berth and as many as six teams harboring real hopes to win the league title. The league has experienced a resurgence. And an influx of top-tier coaching and player talent two years ago is finally reaping national rewards; the eight possible NCAA Tournament bids the SEC is projected to receive would match the combined total of the last two years.

2018 Big 12 Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/6/2018

Kansas vs. The Field has been a sucker bet in regards to the Big 12 regular-season championship. The Jayhawks have won (or shared) an astonishing 14 straight regular season titles and have dominated one of the best leagues in college basketball. But the Jayhawks came as close as ever to having their streak snapped, needed a late-year collapse by Texas Tech to earn the top seed in this week's tournament.

2018 Pac-12 Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/6/2018

The Pac-12 Conference has been under a microscope for all the wrong reasons this year. The regular season started with three highly-touted UCLA freshmen getting arrested in China, and it ended with Arizona coach Sean Miller answering questions about whether or not his career is over. In between there were injuries, suspensions, eligibility questions and a lot of poor play in what was a down season for the league.

2018 Mountain West Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/6/2018

The Mountain West might not be as tough as it once was - in 2013 it was the No. 4-rated league in the country and sent five of its nine teams to the NCAA Tournament. But what the league lacks in top-end talent it makes up for with intensity and experience. This year's field includes a dominant Nevada team that went 15-3 in league play and worked its way into the Top 25. But beyond the Wolf Pack there are six more teams that also host realistic hopes of knocking off the top seed and stealing another bid for this proud league.

2018 Conference USA Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/6/2018

I know you don't watch Conference USA basketball. I know you don't know anything about these teams and even less about these players. But believe me when I tell you: this year CUSA has been one of the best and most competitive mid-major leagues in the country.

2018 Sun Belt Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/6/2018

Louisiana dominated the Sun Belt this year, winning the regular-season title by four full games. However, there are three other teams chomping at the bit to get a shot at the Ragin' Cajuns, and there is nothing to guarantee that Bob Marlin's squad is going to leave this weekend's tournament unscathed.

2018 ACC Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/5/2018

This year's Atlantic Coast Conference could become just the third league in history to send 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament. That could happen despite the fact that, by my estimation, the ACC is no better than the third-best conference in the country. (Take your pick between the Big 12, SEC and Big East for better leagues.)

2018 Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/5/2018

It has been a rough year for the Atlantic 10. This league is currently ranked No. 11 in the country, its lowest rating in over a decade and the first time since 2007 in which they weren't in the Top 10 conference in the country. And if form holds this could be the first season since 2007 in which fewer than three teams from the A-10 make the NCAA Tournament.

2018 NCAA Tournament Projections and Expert Bracketology
by Robert Ferringo - 3/1/2018

I know that speculating about who will make the field is seemingly part of the fun of college basketball. But, frankly, it drives me nuts. Snake-oil salesmen like Joe Lunardi, whom I've exposed as a loser time and time again, have tried to add a veneer of credibility to projecting the NCAA Tournament field. However, guys like Lunardi are nothing more than common trolls who use their invented positions as college basketball soothsayers to sway the national discussion about (and in turn have a real impact on) the NCAA Tournament.

2018 West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/1/2018

The only thing interesting about the West Coast Conference Tournament is the prospect of a rubber match between its two best teams, Gonzaga and St. Mary's. But then again, since Gonzaga is 4-0 against the Gaels in their last four league tournament meetings, can we even say that matchup would be all that interesting?

2018 Big Ten Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 2/27/2018

The Big Ten has been a bit of an afterthought in college basketball this year. Michigan State fulfilled their preseason expectations by winning the regular-season title with powerhouse Purdue nipping at their tails. But beyond that the story of the league has been one of disappointment.

2018 Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 2/27/2018

Creighton is gone. Wichita State is gone. The Missouri Valley's shifting roster has created a power vacuum. And without Creighton and Wichita State in their way you can feel the hopefulness that the current crop of Valley programs have since their odds of winning the league's automatic bid have shot up.

2018 Southern Conference Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 2/27/2018

At the mid-major level, the conference tournaments are the one shot that teams have at earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament. And for seniors, the conference tournament has the dual pressure of being potentially the end of players' careers. Combine those stakes, and every March you get some of the most emotional situations in college sports.

2018 MAAC Basketball Tournament Odds and Expert Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 2/27/2018

The 2018 MAAC Tournament will be held from Thursday, March 1, to Monday, March 5, with the winner securing the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament will be played on Siena's home court, the Times-Union Center, in Albany, New York.