By Isaac Kushner

Everyone loves this time of year because it means March Madness is here. March Madness is a college basketball tournament where the best 64 teams all battle to claim the national championship. So many things can happen during this tournament. We have seen it all from a sixteen seed upsetting a one seed to a one seed just blowing everyone out of the water. That’s what makes it so thrilling to watch, you never know what will happen. There are some dark horse lower seeds that could end up making a deep run this march. UConn is looking to repeat while Purdue is looking to make up for last year where they were the one seed and got upset in the first round by a sixteen seed. So many teams are capable of winning this year it’s hard to predict. 

Some clear cut teams that are projected to win are Houston, UConn, Purdue, and UNC. There are all the one seeds so it makes sense why they’re the favorites, but they all are so good. Houston has a good offense but a great defense that makes them blow every opponent out. Having a good defense is important in this tournament so there is no question as to why they are projected to go so far.

UConn is another team that could do some damage. They won the tournament last year as a four seed. There has never been a team go back to back, however this team is crazy good. With most players returning, don’t be surprised if they win it all.

UNC is fresh off of an ACC championship loss to in-state rival NC State. UNC is led by duo Rj Davis and Armando Bacot. These two players are some of the best in the country and gel together very well. Elliot Cadeu is their starting point guard. He is a freshman and no team has ever won the tournament with a freshman starting point guard but they have so much firepower everywhere else that doesn’t really matter.

Last but not least we have Purdue. Led by seven footer Zach Edey, the Boilermakers are looking to erase that terrible loss from last year to FDU. But this year, Purdue got a horrible draw for the team they play in the first round. They play Grambling State who just won their first March Madness game during their play in game. This Grambling state team is a lot like FDU and this should scare all Purdue fans.

Anything can really happen in March. I guess that’s why they say you should expect the unexpected. Be on the lookout for some crazy things to happen during this tournament it should be fun to watch.

By Isaac Kushner

The University of Utah’s basketball program historically hasn’t been that good, with their last national championship being in 1944. The last time they were in the NCAA Tournament was 2016 when they lost in the second round to Gonzaga 82-59. In 2015 they had a pretty exciting run, losing in the sweet sixteen to the eventual champions Duke 63-57. Utah is more of a football school that hasn’t seen much success from the basketball team, but they are looking to change that this year. 

The Utes got off to a 5-0 start this year losing their sixth game to Houston. At the time Houston was ranked second in the country and Utah kept it close for a while so the fans weren’t too upset with the loss. To make the NCAA Tournament this year they will need at least 20 wins and to go decently far in the conference tournament. They’re sitting at 14-7 right now. They were 9-2 going into conference play and the Pac 12 this year is a great basketball conference so it is going to be tough to get through barely beaten. With the rest of their schedule being lighter than the beginning, I think they can get to that 20 win mark.

Seven foot senior Branden Carlson leads the way for the Utes averaging 17 points per game. He is shooting 47% from the field and is an efficient scorer with his plus minus being +10. As long as he can stay healthy the Utes have a very high chance of making the tournament. Another big impact player is guard Deivon Smith. He is an experienced senior who can also score the ball very well. He is able to show up in big games Scoring 24 points, grabbing 11 rebounds with 8 assists in an upset win over Oregon. To make a run in the tournament you need to be able to bring your best every game which is a skill these two players possess and I’m excited to see how the rest of the season turns out.

By Daniel Chiappetta

Duke University is the best basketball school in the nation. Duke’s legendary coach, Coach K, just retired for this upcoming season, so there are a lot of doubters on whether or not new head coach Jon Sheyer will be able to continue Duke’s success.

First, Duke is tied for fourth with the most national championships ever, but Duke does have the most National championships since 1985. They are also 4th all time in wins. Duke is second all time in the amount of time they have spent being ranked number one in the nation. Coach K who was Duke’s head coach before he just retired has the most wins ever by a head coach. Duke also has 17 Final Four appearances which is third all time. This shows that Duke basketball has been dominant. Continue reading Duke Basketball →