Each spring, as the top NCAA Basketball teams meet for March Madness, around the web, both experts and non-experts are weighing in with picks and predictions as to who will win the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. These NCAA picks, specifically those made by experts and sports media outlets, are often used by fans at home to fill in their own March Madness brackets for fantasy sports and NCAA Tournament pools.
In March Madness 2010, the 65 teams participating in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will be announced and seeded into one of four regional brackets on March 14, 2010, also known as Selection Sunday. The tournament began on March 16 and concluded with the Final Four in early April in Indianapolis. The 64 teams in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament were named the on Selection Monday, March 15, 2010, with the NCAA Women's Championship Game on April 6 in San Antonio.
Bracketology
Each March Madness tournament begins with teams arranged in one of four 16-team regional brackets. These brackets can play out in numerous ways and often include a variety of upsets when lower-seeded teams defeat the higher-seeded teams. The art of picking the outcomes ahead of time is called bracketology, after the bracket (or diagram) that's used to track the tournament.
Notable Picks
- President Barack Obama
- North Carolina over Louisville in the finals, Pittsburgh and Memphis in the Final FourESPN: President Obama's Bracket
- Gary Parrish, CBSSports.com
- North Carolina over Connecticut in the finals, Duke and Wake Forest in the Final FourCBSSports.com: Gary Parrish's Bracket
- The Sports Gal, ESPN.com
- Jeff Goodman, FOX Sports
- Pittsburgh over Connecticut in the finals, Wake Forest and Gonzaga in the Final FourFOX Sports: Can you beat Jeff Goodman's picks?
- Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated
- Pittsburgh over Memphis in the finals, Wake Forest and North Carolina in the Final FourSI.com: Seth Davis' Bracket
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
65 teams compete in a single-elimination tournament
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Fact:
31 teams enter the tournament via automatic bids by winning conference championships
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Fact:
34 at-large teams are selected by a NCAA Committee
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Fact:
All 65 teams are seeded and placed in one of four brackets
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Fact:
Seeding and brackets announced on Selection Sunday
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Fact:
Many at-large teams will not know if they were selected until the official announcement
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Fact:
Selection Sunday announcements air live on CBS
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Fact:
Teams not selected for the NCAA Tournament may be invited to play in the National Invitation Tournament
