March Madness 2022: This Year, We Got This

After an extremely disappointing finish last year in the family brackets posted on this site, I have gone back to the drawing board… again. I completely tweaked my algos and tried a new approach. If relying on the “old” model, this year’s winner will be Arizona. They have the most common traits with past winners of any team. They are pretty much the only team that met my old criteria. However, under the “new” model, I have Tennessee ahead of them. Interesting. Anyway, on with the new. Here are my Sweet 16 and Final Four predictions:

East: #8 UNC, #2 Ken, #11, VT, #4 UCLA

Midwest: #1 Kan, #2 Aub, #6 LSU, #5 Iowa

South: #1 Ariz, #2 Vill, #3 Tenn, #5 Hou

West: #1 Gonz, #3 TT, #4 Ark, #7 MSU

Final Four:

East: #8 UNC. Midwest: #1 Kan. South: #3 Tenn. West: #1 Gonz

From there, I’ve got the Zags beating UNC and Kan over Tenn, with Kansas winning it all.

As you can see above, I have the East as my crazy zone and the South going pretty much chalk. UNC is this year’s 2021 UCLA (a 7-11 seed that pretty much every year, makes it to the Final Four). If not UNC, I could see VT making it.

Ok, so let the pain begin. It can’t get much worse than last’s year pathetic attempt. But, then again…