It’s that time of the year again, Whitman. Here are some tips before you finalize your brackets.

Bracket Busters:
• The 26-6 Belmont Bruins (11 seed), led by guard Ian Clark, who’s averaging 18.1 points per game, will give 25-7 Arizona Wildcats (6 seed) a run for their money.
• 12 seed (26-8) Ole Miss won the SEC tourney beating Mizzou, Vandy and Florida, so they could upset 5 seed Wisco (23-11).
• Number 15 Florida Gulf Coast (24-10) with a win over Miami earlier this season, could potentially knock off number 2 Georgetown (25-6) in the first round.
• 6 seed UCLA (25-9) just lost leading scorer Jordan Adams due to injury, cutting their chances for bracket success.

Sleeper Teams:
• 4 seed Saint Louis (27-6), if they meet Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen, would definitely make it a tough game, due to the fact that they’re sporting wins over New Mexico, Butler and VCU (x2)
• Minnesota (20-12) 11 seed has a good chance of upsetting UCLA, with wins over Memphis, Stanford, Michigan State, Indiana and Wisco (OT). Gopher guard Andre Hollins could potentially shut down UCLA star point guard Shabazz Muhammad. The Golden Gophers have the talent to go far but have some of the toughest draws in the tournament, potentially going against Florida, Georgetown and Kansas.
• Although they are already highly-ranked at a 2 seed, Ohio State (26-7) can go further than most people think. They’ve won their last eight games, some of which were against Michigan State (x2), Indiana, and Wisconsin. To advance to the final four, they would potentially only have to beat New Mexico and either Gonzaga or Wisconsin.
Games to Watch:
• 28-5 Bucknell (11 seed) can upset 26-8 Butler (6). The Bison are big down low and could be tough for Butler to score against. However, Butler has a speed advantage and could be able to maneuver around the Bison defense. This one will be tight to the final buzzer.
• 26-9 Syrcause (4) vs. 25-6 Montana (13) will be a tough game. Montana won the Big Sky tournament and has improved tremendously throughout the season. This game is too close to call.

Overrated:
• Although they received a #1 seed, Gonzaga (31-2) didn’t beat any Big 10 teams this season. They are strong, but they could easily fall to Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen if they get the chance to meet.
• In my opinion, Marquette (23-8), sporting a 3 seed, doesn’t prove to be a real threat to the rest of the East region. For starters, they lost to Green Bay in the regular season. If #14 Davidson (26-7) doesn’t beat them in the first round, I don’t see them getting much further.