Jay Bilas Bracket: ESPN Analyst Reveals His 2015 March Madness Bracket

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas used to star as a player at Duke and professionally. He has thrived as an in-game commentator and has more recently applied his expert knowledge to tackle the challenge of the NCAA tournament bracket.  

Bilas released his complete list of winners Monday for 2015's edition of March Madness, which promises to be filled with surprises.

In last year's bracket, Bilas had eventual national champion Connecticut losing to St. Joseph's in the round of 64. It nearly happened, too: The Huskies needed overtime to advance. Chances are, the national title winner Bilas picked this year will advance beyond that early stage of the tournament.

Check out a region-by-region breakdown of Bilas' Big Dance forecast, along with information on where anyone can play along.

Note: Bilas' picks courtesy of ESPN Insider.

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Midwest Region

Round of 64	Winner
Round of 32	Winner
Sweet 16	Winner
Elite Eight	Winner
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Manhattan	Kentucky
No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Purdue	Purdue
No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Buffalo	Buffalo
No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Valparaiso	Maryland
No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Texas	Texas
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Northeastern	Notre Dame
No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 10 Indiana	Wichita State
No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 15 New Mexico State	Kansas
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Purdue	Kentucky
No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 12 Buffalo	Maryland
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Texas	Notre Dame
No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 7 Wichita State	Wichita State
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 4 Maryland	Kentucky
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wichita State	Notre Dame
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Notre Dame	Kentucky

The omnipresent 12th-seed upset stands out in this portion of Bilas' bracket. Even though West Virginia is coached by Bob Huggins, Bilas has Buffalo pulling off the upset.

Is there a bit of bias to this Bilas selection? Buffalo is coached by Bobby Hurley, Bilas' former Duke teammate. In any event, the Bulls do have a high-octane offense and play a physical brand of basketball that could help push them past the Mountaineers.

Buffalo is a trendy team, but Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com cautions those eager to jump on the Bulls' bandwagon:

One upset Bilas has in the round of 32 is Wichita State, a seventh seed, advancing to the Sweet 16 over Kansas.

This isn't as much of a shocker—pun intended—as it appears. Wichita State was ranked 14th in the latest AP poll, while the Jayhawks were 10th. It's not a big gap for the Shockers to bridge at all.

The highest remaining seed other than Kentucky is Notre Dame with Kansas out of the equation, and they meet in the Elite Eight. As is customary in many brackets, the Wildcats punch a ticket to Indianapolis by defeating the Fighting Irish, so Bilas' bottom-line winner from the Midwest is the near-consensus pick.

West Region

Round of 64	Winner
Round of 32	Winner
Sweet 16	Winner
Elite Eight	Winner
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 16 Coastal Carolina	Wisconsin
No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State	Oregon
No. 5 Arkansas vs. No. 12 Wofford	Arkansas
No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 13 Harvard	North Carolina
No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 11 BYU	BYU
No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 Georgia State	Baylor
No. 7 VCU vs. No. 10 Ohio State	Ohio State
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 15 Texas Southern	Arizona
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Oregon	Wisconsin
No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Arkansas	North Carolina
No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 11 BYU	Baylor
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 10 Ohio State	Arizona
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 North Carolina	Wisconsin
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 3 Baylor	Arizona
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 2 Arizona	Wisconsin

There are a couple of upsets in the round of 64 from Bilas' West portion. After having BYU over Xavier, Bilas repays the Buckeye State by allowing Ohio State to move on against an always-tough VCU squad.

All of the higher seeds win out in the West otherwise, with Wisconsin breaking through to the national semifinals.

ESPN Stats & Info reveals why the top two seeds are likely to meet in the regional final:

Much of last year's Final Four nucleus is intact, headlined by star big man Frank Kaminsky. The versatility he has offensively, not to mention the array of shooters the Badgers have, allow them to clear out for Kaminsky, where he can make plays off of the dribble or distribute with his back to the basket.

But what makes Bilas' West juicy is the fact that Arizona returns to the Elite Eight to face Wisconsin, this time armed with freshman phenom Stanley Johnson and a healthy Brandon Ashley, which wasn't the case in 2014. Arizona lost by one point to the Badgers in overtime, so it will be keen on revenge.

Yours truly can agree to disagree with Bilas here, because Arizona has all the makings of a Final Four squad and was arguably deserving of a No. 1 seed in the first place.

East Region

Round of 64	Winner
Round of 32	Winner
Sweet 16	Winner
Elite Eight	Winner
No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 16 Lafayette	Villanova
No. 8 NC State vs. No. 9 LSU	NC State
No. 5 Northern Iowa vs. No. 12 Wyoming	Northern Iowa
No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 13 UC Irvine	Louisville
No. 6 Providence vs. No. 11 Dayton	Providence
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Albany	Oklahoma
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Georgia	Michigan State
No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 15 Belmont	Virginia
No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 8 NC State	Villanova
No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa	Louisville
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Providence	Oklahoma
No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 7 Michigan State	Virginia
No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 4 Louisville	Villanova
No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Oklahoma	Virginia
No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 2 Virginia	Virginia

There are literally zero upsets from Bilas in the round of 64 in the East Region. Come on, Jay. Be bold!

In fact, every higher seed wins in the East all the way to the Elite Eight, where Bilas bucks the trend by picking Virginia to get past Villanova.

Colin Cowherd of ESPN has a strong disdain for Virginia's snail pace, which ranks third slowest in the nation, according to KenPom.com's data:

Bilas' prediction indicates that the broken finger suffered by Cavaliers guard Justin Anderson won't impact Virginia enough to impede it from almost going all the way.

However, Anderson has failed to score in the two games and 26 minutes of action since his return. He is one of three Cavaliers to average in double figures.

As strong as Virginia's defense is, its lack of offensive firepower beyond junior guard Malcolm Brogdon and forward Anthony Gill is troublesome, particularly if the former's defensive tenacity gets him into foul trouble, which is a real possibility.

South Region

Round of 64	Winner
Round of 32	Winner
Sweet 16	Winner
Elite Eight	Winner
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 North Florida	Duke
No. 8 San Diego State vs. No. 9 St. John's	St. John's
No. 5 Utah vs. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin	Stephen F. Austin
No. 4 Georgetown vs. No. 13 Eastern Washington	Georgetown
No. 6 SMU vs. No. 11 UCLA	SMU
No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 UAB	Iowa State
No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Davidson	Davidson
No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 15 North Dakota State	Gonzaga
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 9 St. John's	Duke
No. 4 Georgetown vs. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin	Georgetown
No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 6 SMU	Iowa State
No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 Davidson	Gonzaga
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 Georgetown	Duke
No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 3 Iowa State	Gonzaga
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Gonzaga	Duke

Make that two ACC teams in the Final Four, as Bilas adds another to the fray by putting the Duke Blue Devils through to Indianapolis.

Duke has a dominant big man in Jahlil Okafor—a blue-chip Blue Devil the program hasn't had the luxury of boasting in years past. Freshman wing Justise Winslow is a matchup nightmare, and Duke has the requisite strong backcourt to go deep with freshman Tyus Jones and senior Quinn Cook.

ESPN Fantasy Sports notes how the Blue Devils are gaining steam as a legitimate national championship contender:

The top four South seeds make Bilas' Sweet 16, so there isn't too much notable suspense to draw on here. Stephen F. Austin is another No. 12 over No. 5 upset on the docket, and Davidson gets through to the round of 32, too. Both mid-major outfits lose shortly thereafter, though.

It's three of the top four seeds in the Final Four, so Bilas largely plays it safe for the majority of his bracket.

That's not a bad thing, though. Overanalysis and a penchant for Cinderellas can cause one's bracket to bust quite quickly. The top seeds also seem like strong bets for the most part.

Final Four

National Semifinals	Winner
National Championship	Winner
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Wisconsin	Kentucky
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Virginia	Duke
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Duke	Kentucky

This is quite a standard quartet of national semifinalists left standing. Bilas hints how Wisconsin's adherence to fundamentals can give even a powerhouse like Kentucky issues—just not enough of them to result in a loss.

Virginia's Gill told The Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan how the Cavaliers eliminate ego by playing for each other: "Some of the guys may have chips on their shoulder from that, not being a McDonald's all-American and things of that nature. All we want to do is go out there and be the best U-Va. team we can be regardless of who we have on this team."

That's why what Kentucky does is all the more impressive. With a slew of alpha players and many of the best overall prospects in the country, the "succeed and proceed" philosophy has worked wonders.

As close-knit as the Cavaliers seem to be, they fall in the battle of ACC titans to Duke in Bilas' estimation. He cites Anderson's tenuous health situation as a big difference, which could frankly derail Virginia's March Madness run even before the Final Four.

Here are Bilas' thoughts on a prospective Kentucky-Duke final: "The last time these two teams played in the NCAA tournament wasn't in 1992 with Christian Laettner; it was in 1998, when a Tubby Smith-coached Kentucky team came back to win in the Elite Eight. This team is too deep, strong, athletic and close. It is also close to history. Kentucky goes 40-0."

It's hard to mount a serious debate on the contrary. Coach John Calipari has gotten the Wildcats to buy in on defense. Kentucky's combination of height and athleticism across the board is as formidable as any team in recent history.

The raw ability so many of Kentucky's stars have to score on sheer superiority of skill gives its offense multiple go-to options if any of the Wildcats' games come down to the wire. That makes for a defensive nightmare for the opposition.

Against the highest expectations, Calipari's bunch has put the clamps down on defense whenever a team has even threatened to put a blemish on Kentucky's perfect record. According to Bilas and many other bracket fiends, this won't change on the Big Dance stage.