NCAA Bracket 2023: Latest Expert Bracketology and Predictions for Men's Tourney

Championship Week is here and with it comes the beautiful dawn of March Madness.

Over the next several days there will be drama, excitement and heartbreak as teams will either rise to the occasion or watch their dreams of going to the big dance get crushed.

In what has been a wide-open season with no clear frontrunner, things are sure to get extra spicy as the month unravels.

Teams with title aspirations have failed to live up to their billing—looking at you North Carolina—and are at big risk of missing out on the tournament altogether.

This year has been dominated by the Big 10 as 10 teams from the conference are projected to make the tournament—most in the country.

And a ton of eyes will fall on the Big 10 and ACC tournaments, which will decide the fate of several teams that are right on the bubble. Those teams on will be looking for a miraculous run to a tournament title in order to secure an automatic bid to go dancing and cause some chaos.

It's bound to be a wild week in college hoops, here's a look at what the experts have said and what to expect.

Latest Expert Bracketology

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LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 25: Johni Broome #4 of the Auburn Tigers against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on February 25, 2023 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

In a season where there hasn't been much consensus on basically anything, one thing that most experts do agree on is that Auburn and Rutgers have done enough to make it straight into the field of 68 without having to deal with the first four.

The Tigers (20-11, 10-8 SEC) have been below their normal standard as they sit seventh in the SEC, but both ESPN's Joe Lunardi and The Athletic's Brian Bennett have Auburn going straight into the field of 68.

Despite their struggles Bruce Pearl's team does have a few wins over high-quality teams such as Missouri and Tennesssee.

The same could be said for Rutgers (18-13, 10-10 Big 10, who were also a bubble team last year. The Scarlet Knights have wins over titans of the conference like Purdue, Maryland, Northwestern and Michigan State.

Aside from that, the only other consensus pick regarding the bubble seems to be that Wisconsin and Nevada—two typical tournament mainstays—have earned their places in the first four.

Again though, the conference tournaments can throw all this out of whack.

Carolina's Hopes Are Fading... Fast

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CHAPEL HILL, NC - MARCH 04: Caleb Love #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dribbles during a game against the Duke Blue Devils on March 04, 2023 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Duke won 62-57. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images)

It's not everyday that the preseason No. 1 team in the country enters championship week with a long shot chance at making the NCAA Tournament. But that's the exact position that the North Carolina Tar Heels find themselves in on the eve of the ACC Tournament.

Things went from bad to worst on Saturday night in the Tobacco Road rivalry as UNC fell to Duke 62-57 at home in the regular season finale. Now, anything outside of an ACC Tournament title—or at the very least a deep—and Carolina will be on the outside looking in.

UNC (19-12, 11-9 ACC) have yet to show any of that late-season magic that led then to being within one-half of a national championship against Kansas last season.

Hubert Davis' team have had some good wins but also has some inexplicable losses to inferior teams in the ACC like North Carolina State, Pitt, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. They sit in seventh place in the conference, nowhere near good enough for a team with so much talent.

Lunardi has them listed in his next four out, while Bennett has them as his first four out. Either way, not a pretty picture for those in Chapel Hill.

UNC fans will be hoping the team will be able to go on another magical run behind its large talent pool. It's gonna need it.

Big 10 Tournament Will Bring Chaos

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COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - FEBRUARY 26: Boo Buie #0 of the Northwestern Wildcats handles the ball against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center on February 26, 2023 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

As previously stated, the Big 10 tournament has the power to make or break the hopes of multiple teams trying to make the field of 68.

And a lot of it has to do with the sheer volume of teams from the conference that can not only win the conference tournament, but that is already projected to make it to the big dance (10).

It's been such a wild year in Big 10 it would be no surprise to see one of the "dark horses" make a run to the championship and open the door for some of the other teams from other conferences—like Utah State and Arizona State—to creep their way into March Madness.

First round games like Rutgers vs. Michigan hold huge significance as both teams sit right on the doorstep of getting into the field of 68, according to both Lunardi and Bennett.

Penn State and Wisconsin also have huge first round matchups against Illinois and Ohio State, respectively.

Any slip ups and it could be lights out for their season.

And that's just the bottom half of the bracket. It's likely going to be carnage at the top where teams that beat one another all season will battle it out for conference supremacy.

Northwestern, Michigan State and Purdue are all entering the tournament in pretty good form, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see any of them come out with the title. Indiana and Maryland have both been very competitive teams this season as well with several upset wins against top conference opponents.

It's about to be a very wild week at the United Center in Chicago