‘Pretty wide open’: Analyst on NCAA tournament, bracket

(NewsNation) — March Madness is back as one of the biggest sporting events of the year is kicking off and the 68-team field has been announced for the NCAA Tournament.

The odds of crafting the perfect bracket are one in 9.2 quintillion — that’s 18 zeros.

ESPN college basketball analyst Brooke Weisbrod broke down what to watch and gave advice on creating the best bracket during an appearance on “Morning in America”.

“This is a pretty wide-open tournament,” Weisbrod said. “And I actually love being wrong this time of year. And part of me doesn’t even want to fill out a bracket because I just love upsets so much.”

That said, the American Gaming Association says 45 million Americans will wager $3.1 billion on this year’s tournament.

So according to Weisbrod, they have something to look out for in terms of the lower seeds.

Virginia Tech, which just won the ACC Tournament, upsetting Duke, has an 11 seed. So it’s taking on number 16, Texas.

“That should be a great first-round matchup,” Weisbrod said. “I think they’re definitely a team to look out for.”

Murray State out of Kentucky is a seven seed. It has 30 wins.

“So I know a lot of people are going to choose them and they’re a great feel-good story,” she said. “Especially with the alum, John Moran.”

But Marray State plays a tough team out of the West, San Francisco, which is a 10 seed.

Michigan is an 11 seed and has Colorado State in the first round.

“Kind of low for the Wolverines,” she said. “So we’ll see if they can maybe bounce back in this tournament.”

Providence will play South Dakota State, which also has 30 wins and a cool nickname, the Jackrabbits.

“How can we not root for them?” Weisbrod said.

Wyoming needs to beat Indiana in the play-in game.

“They got a couple of guys, Hunter Maldonado and Graham Ike, that are just so fun to watch,” she said. “But they’ll play five seed St. Mary’s, so look forward to their very creative celebrations on the bench.”

Memphis has won 12 of its last 14 games.

“They’ve got a great freshman and Jalen Duren,” Weisbrod said. “And everybody knows Penny Hardaway. They’re definitely a team to keep your eye on.”

100-year-old chaplain Sister Jean and Loyola University Chicago are back in the tournament after a phenomenal run back in 2018.

“It’s hard to beat Sister Jean now I am not going to put up anybody against her,” Weisbrod said. “But I will say there’s some fun teams to watch out for.”