By: Luke Gottlieb

            Every year around this time sports fans everywhere prepare for the upcoming March Madness tournament for NCAA college basketball. Every year we are exposed to dark horse teams, upsets, and everything in between. To advance through the rigorous bracket you must be a complete team in every aspect including depth, offense, and defense. Every so often we have a bracket where there is so much competition that there are up to 10 teams that can win. These are the most exciting tournaments. We had this in 2020 but we were unfortunately robbed of what looked like a entertaining bracket due to covid. It looks like we have it again this year. I can list the top schools in the country but instead, I want to focus on some teams I like to specify. Arizona who recently jumped to the number two spot has 8 or 9 guys who work so well together. A lot of other programs do not have this kind of depth along with top 10 offense and defense. Another team is Illinois for one particular reason. Kofi Cockburn is just an absolute animal. He can dominate and be extremely efficient while doing so. Along with Illinois having a top 20 defense and a couple of key players battling injuries they are just too good not to like. Houston has been as efficient as they come. I keep using the word efficient for a reason. This is the easiest way to compare teams across different matchups using advanced analytics in the basketball community. Aside from a little bad luck. Houston slept on way too much. They have an elite offense and defense along with elite shooters which always is key in this tournament. They are definitely a top team. There is one last word of advice I have to pick your winner for the upcoming bracket. Since 1997 every single championship winner has had a top 40 offense and a top 25 defense.