We are only a few days away from Selection Sunday (3/15).
Our Bracket Building Tool is now LIVE in the WalterPicks app!
You can get an early look at what the NCAA March Madness bracket looks like today, as well as all the stats to help you dominate your bracket challenge among your family and friends.
🚨 New this year: You can now sync any completed brackets directly to the platform you are playing in - finish building a bracket and sync it directly to ESPN, CBS, or NCAA!
Those who use the Bracket Builder Tool get:
📊 Advanced data insights for every team in the tournament
🤖 Cutting-edge AI autofill - create unlimited bracket builds optimized for your pool settings and risk preferences
📝 Team research numbers - where each team sits in efficiency, offensive rating, defensive rating, volatility, pace, etc.
🧭 Ability to compare different teams while filling out your bracket
Who Could Win It All?
The Contenders
✅ Over 80% of champions since 2000 have ranked in the top 21 in Adj. Offensive Efficiency AND top 37 in Adj. Defensive efficiency PRIOR to the tournament.
Teams That Fit Criteria: Illinois, Michigan, Duke, Houston, Arizona, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Florida
✅ 22 of the last 23 National Champions finished top 25 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency
Teams That Fit Criteria: Michigan, Duke, Houston, Arizona, Iowa State, Florida
✅ Every National Champion since 2004 has been ranked top 12 of the week 6 AP poll.
Teams That Fit Criteria: Arizona, Michigan, Duke, Iowa State, UConn, Purdue, Gonzaga, Houston, Michigan State, BYU, Louisville, North Carolina
Teams That Fit All Three Criteria:
Michigan (3): +300
Duke (1): +340
Arizona (2): +550
Houston (5): +1200
*number in () indicates Recent AP Poll
*Odds to win the tournament from FanDuel
Teams Rising 📈 & Falling 📉
Trending up 📈
Santa Clara Broncos:
Santa Clara has played their way off the bubble and into the "Last Four Byes" section of ESPN's Joe Lunardi's latest bracket update. The Broncos closed the regular season strong, beating a ranked Saint Mary's squad in the WCC Tournament semifinals before falling to Gonzaga in the final.
Their resume includes two wins over Saint Mary's and a neutral-court win over Minnesota. Considering Santa Clara ranks 37th on KenPom with a top-20 adjusted offensive efficiency nationally, this is a dangerous tournament team.
Michigan State Spartans:
The Spartans are peaking at the right time, winning five of their last six games. This stretch has included victories over UCLA, Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana, and Rutgers, four of whom are likely tournament teams.
Michigan State is anchored by a defense that ranks 12th in adjusted defensive efficiency and an All-Conference guard in Jeremy Fears Jr. Fears can take over any game, as evidenced by his 15.5 points and 9.1 assists in the regular season.
Arkansas Razorbacks:
John Calipari has Arkansas rolling, winning seven of its last nine games. The Razorbacks knocked off Missouri on the road, beat Texas by 20 points, and handled both Texas A&M and Auburn. Their only losses since January have come against Florida and a double-overtime road game at Alabama.
Arkansas has the offensive firepower to advance deep into the March Madness Tournament. The team is led by one of the best guards in the country in Darius Acuff Jr. He is averaging 22.2 points and 6.4 assists this season and just recently scored 49 points in a game against Alabama.
Trending Down 📉
Purdue Boilermakers:
Once in the No. 1 seed conversation for the March Madness Tournament, Purdue has slid to the 4/5 seed line after losing four of its last six games. The Boilermaker have lost games to Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin over the past three weeks and barely beat a 13-win Northwestern team last week.
There’s no doubt that Purdue has the talent and experience to make a deep run in the tournament, but there are concerns about how the team is playing right now. The Boilermakers are trending the wrong way in March.
BYU Cougars:
After a marquee home win over Iowa State on February 21, BYU has gone 2-3 over its past five games. The Cougars lost three straight games at one point, including a 13-point loss to UCF, an eight-point loss to West Virginia, and a 22-point loss to Cincinnati.
Although BYU beat a ranked Texas Tech team this past weekend, this is a team currently trending down. Projected top-5 pick AJ Dybantsa is a superstar, but the loss of Richie Saunders (18 points and 5.1 rebounds) could mean an early exit for the Cougars.
SMU Mustangs:
Sitting in the "Last Four In" section in Lunardi's latest update, SMU has lost five of six games heading into Selection Sunday. The Mustangs were also bounced by Louisville in the second round of the ACC Tournament, leaving them with no games left to improve their resume.
Even if SMU sneaks into the NCAA Tournament, there is a strong chance this group is one-and-done. The Mustangs rank 112th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 275th in free-throw rate.
