College Basketball Tournament Predictions with Coach Tony Miller

The best time of the college basketball season is officially here! And as you fill our your bracket, check out my Men's and Women's tournament predictions.

Men's Picks

🏀 West: Florida

🏀 East: Duke

🏀 South: Auburn

🏀 Midwest: Houston

Are you disappointed with my chalk Final Four picks? I’m trying something new this year - a complete bracket based on the Four Factors. The Four Factors, introduced by Dean Oliver, are the four factors that impact a team’s ability to win a basketball game – effective field goal percentage, turnover percentage, offensive rebounding percentage and free throw rate. Here’s how it shakes out for this year’s Final Four picks.

• Duke currently ranks in the top 20 in EFG% (5th) and TO% (19th) as well as 3rd in defensive efficiency.
• Florida ranks in the top 10 in TO% (7th) and OREB% (7th) and has a 55.2 EFG%.
• Auburn sits at 26th in EFG%, 6th in TO%, and 36th in OREB%. There’s a reason they’re the #1 seed overall.
• While Houston ranks outside of the top 50 in EFG% (52.7), they’re in the Top 25 in TO% (21st) and OREB% (11th). Most importantly, they’re the #1 defensive team in the country.

Women's Picks

🏀 Regional 1: UCLA

🏀 Regional 2: South Carolina

🏀 Regional 3: TCU

🏀 Regional 4: UConn

• The only team to beat both USC and South Carolina? Answer: Coach Cori Close's UCLA Bruins squad. Depth, experience and a national player of the year candidate make the Bruins one of the top 3 to cut down the nets in Tampa.
• Dawn Staley's South Carolina team enter this year's tournament as odds on favorites. A well-balanced roster makes the Gamecocks tough to stop, just ask Texas.
• She's back! Haley Van Lith has looked like pre-LSU HVL since arriving in Fort Worth. A dark horse to go to Tampa, the Horned Frogs will need to get through the Longhorns.
• Paige Beuckers is back and so are the Huskies. If UConn gets hot from outside this March, it could mean another title for Geno.

WHat ABout the Upsets?

Final Four picks are fun, but everyone knows the upsets are what make March Madness special. So, here are a couple 12-seeds to watch this year:

• Liberty University: The Flames shoot 39.5% from 3 (We’re Dr. Dish. Of course, I’m going to pick a team that can shoot the rock!) and have the #1 EFG% in the country.
• Colorado State: Niko Medved’s team is a fun watch on the offensive end. A unique, fast-paced style of Princeton offense helps generate a high-level offense that may pose some problems for #5 Memphis Tigers.

Stay tuned for more hot takes and play breakdowns throughout the tournament!