You Should Bet On This Team To Win March Madness
While it may already be mid-March, the madness is almost here! The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, famously known as March Madness, is one of the year's biggest sporting events!
64 teams will fight every game for a chance to make it to Phoenix, Arizona, and become national champions. Everyone has a shot at winning, from the reigning champion UConn Huskies to the underdog Stetson, which is making its first appearance in the annual tournament.
This tournament is so unpredictable and it has gotten chaotic within recent years. For example, last season the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, a sixteen seed, upset Purdue Boilermakers, the first seed, in round one. A 16-seed beating a one-seed is rarely heard of and did not happen ever until 2018 when Virginia fell victim to the UMBC Retrievers. We also saw Princeton, a 15-seed, defeat popular title favorite Arizona in the first round as well.
So, which team will likely win it all? Will it be a one-seed like Houston or Purdue? Will a fourth seed like Alabama or Auburn follow in UConn's footsteps when they became the first four-seed in years to take it all? A team that has fallen in the shadows of UConn, Purdue, and Houston is the North Carolina Tar Heels. The powder blue and white are all too familiar with the tournament winning five times, most recently in 2017.
North Carolina: Back For Revenge
The Tar Heels moved on from legendary coach Roy Williams, who retired after the 2020-21 season and hired coach Hubert Davis.
Davis was impressive in his first season as boss, leading North Carolina to a 29-10 record as the eighth-seed in the East Region. His squad upset one-seed Baylor in the second round and held off UCLA, St. Peters, and rival Duke to advance to the NCAA Championship, where they fell to the Kansas Jayhawks after surrendering a 16-point lead.
After being ranked number-one in the NCAA regular season, the Tar Heels finished with a disappointing 20-13 record and barely missed March Madness in 2023, one of the first four out. But the Tar Heels responded back this season by finishing 27-7 and earning the one-seed in the West Region.
Who Could Be A Threat?
The main threats to North Carolina in the region are two-seeded Arizona (25-8), a team who is looking to avoid a second-straight upset in the first round as a two-seed, and four-seeded Alabama (21-11), who won 10 out of 11 from December to February but have lost three out of four entering the tournament.
North Carolina enters the tournament after losing to N.C. State in the ACC tournament and snapping an eight-game win streak. Star guard RJ Davis leads the team, averaging over 21 points per game, and four players average double-digit points.
Although UNC enters the tournament with the 23rd-ranked offense in the tournament, their offense has done its job when it matters scoring 84+ on Duke twice, and 100 points on Tennessee, which is a two-seed.
While North Carolina has +1300 odds to win March Madness, they will be a good bet to win. With eight seniors on the roster, UNC is battle-tested, experienced, and ready to make another deep playoff run and cash in on what the 2022 team was not able to do.
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