TAMPA, Fla. — The March Madness tournament begins at 12:15 p.m. on 10 Tampa Bay Thursday afternoon and the big question is:
Do you have your bracket done yet?
The brackets might get crazy this year because there is plenty of parity in this tournament.
While it is hard to predict a winner, there are a few tidbits you should keep in mind before submitting your bracket.
- Since 2008, a No. 7 seed has lost at least once. Also, seven times in 14 tournaments have there been multiple No. 10 seeds winning
- The last time a double-digit seed has not made the Sweet 16 is 2007
- A team with 14 losses almost never makes it to the Sweet 16 (Sorry, Michigan)
- (Do not pick a defending champion to repeat (has only happened twice since 1974). No reigning winner has made it past the Sweet 16 in the last 13 tournaments. Seven out of 10 times the defending champion has won a game
- Four of the last 13 years have all No. 1 seeds made it to the Sweet 16
- Since 2000, three or more No. 1 seeds have made it to the Final Four twice
- Since 2011, a First Four team has won a tournament game (besides 2019)
- Last year was the first time featuring no Final Four teams from the Eastern Time Zone. Only two champions in the last 23 years were not in ET
- No. 5 seed has never won a National title (only eight have ever made it to Final Four)
If you also wanted to follow some Tampa-area talent, you can keep an eye on these players:
- Dionte Bostick (Murray State — East Lake HS)
- AJ Caldwell (Chattanooga — Riverview HS)
- Darius Banks (Chattanooga — James Madison HS)
- Avery Diggs (Chattanooga — Spoto HS)
- Duncan Demuth (Vermont — Seminole HS)
- Chase Maasdorp (Auburn — The Out-of-Door Academy)
Valspar Championship meets NCAA Tournament
The Valspar Championship and NCAA Tournament will begin on the same day Thursday. Former PGA major champion and Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III is at Innisbrook this weekend and spoke with sports director Evan Closky about his thoughts on the 2022 tournament.
