Like the Final Boss in a video game, all March madness betting powerhouse teams always have in their coding a way in which they can be defeated. Like the traditional Japanese aesthetics concept that prizes beauty that imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, this is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, the crack on the Liberty Bell actually improves it.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke doesn’t have a true point guard. According to some people who bet on March madness, the Blue Devils adjusted to this shortcoming by playing “team-friendly” basketball in the ACC tournament – which they won. Nonetheless, Duke pretty much had the same assist-to-turnover ratio during the conference tourney as they did in the regular season, which suggests they are the same team, only better.
North Carolina Tar Heels
UNC does have a perfectly good point guard in Joel Berry II. A little too good, maybe; so much so that the Tar Heels panic when he’s not on court. Case in point, North Carolina had a 56-48 lead in the second half of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament semis against the aforementioned Duke. Then Berry committed his fourth foul and was promptly benched. While he was there, the Blue Devils outscored UNC by 15 points and never looked back.
Arizona Wildcats
Lauri Markannen stepped up to the plate and scored 15 or more points on 12 occasions in 19 games without Allonzo Trier. When the latter returned, Markannen docilely stepped off from the plate. Fortunately for Arizona fans who bet on March Madness, Markannen seems to have found his footing alongside Trier. This tandem could turn Arizona into a true march madness betting force to be reckoned with.
Kansas Jayhawks
Similar to the Tar Heels, removing one of the building blocks can make the whole Jenga tower come crashing down. Josh Jackson, however, did Berry one better and didn’t just get in foul trouble but outright suspended. Hence, KU was outrebounded 36-31 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament and ultimately defeated 82-85 by TCU, a team they had decimated only a couple of weeks prior.
Champagne Villanova is like Kansas in the paint, if the Kansas didn’t have Jackson. Daniel Ochefu, last season’s starter, left for the NBA after winning the championship with Nova last year. He has been succeeded in the starting lineup by Darryl Reynolds, who stands at 6’9”. That is to say, Nova is a smaller team this year. It could also be argued that it is a more successful team as well. They did struggle against Seton Hall, but unlike last year, they beat Seton Hall.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Nigel Williams-Goss came to push the Zags to the next level, but he did such a good job of it that the Bulldogs are a completely different team when the Washington transfer is not leading the charge. Nevertheless, Gonzaga remains a March madness betting power station and a favourite amongst people who bet on March madness.