NCAA Tournaments: Five questions about the men’s and women’s events

Who is the favorite of the men?

We’ll accept your guess as well. In the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, Purdue was defeated in overtime, while Houston was thoroughly defeated in the Big 12 Tournament. Consider choosing the Huskies after defending champion UConn defeated Marquette with a strong showing. Or simply burn your bracket right now.

NCAA Tournamentss . image credit : Daily Herald

Who is the front-runner in the women’s division?

Carolina in the South. It must be, surely? The Gamecocks. If not, you’re an LSU fan. or Connecticut University. And Iowa can go far in the tournament with Caitlin Clark leading them, right? The women’s tournament is getting deeper.

In the men’s tournament, do you truly want to be seeded first?

Not by looking at the competition from the previous year. While it’s true that none of this year’s top picks declined those positions, buyer beware nonetheless. The men’s division usually sees more upsets than the women’s. In the women’s division, the top seeds truly set themselves apart. In the previous year’s women’s Final Four, there were two top seeds, a second and a third. There were two No. 5s, a No. 9 and a No. 4 seed in the men’s Final Four from last year.

Any nearby teams to support?

Northwestern and Illinois qualified for the men’s tournament. Despite their strong season, Loyola most likely needed to win the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Rather, the Ramblers suffered a quarterfinal loss. Although they could not live up to expectations, the Illinois women appeared to be a good candidate in the preseason.

Who should we watch as the players?

Although Caitlin Clark of Iowa is a well-known figure, there are other gifted athletes in both divisions. Basketball in the open court, Illinois’s Terrence Shannon Jr. is a goods train. Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 centre for Purdue, is exceptionally tall and talented. Remember Kevin McCullar of Kansas, Tyler Kolek of Marquette, Dalton Knecht of Tennessee, and Kyle Filipowski of Duke. Returning to the women’s division, contenders to keep an eye on include South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, Paige Bueckers of UConn, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, Angel Reese of LSU, Chicago native Aneesah Morrow, and freshman JuJu Watkins of USC.