March Madness 2015 Predictions: Breaking Down Experts' Picks
The 2015 March Madness brackets of the following experts—a selection of eight pundits from four different outlets—have a lot in common. They also differ in some amazing and wholly unexpected ways.
What does this mean for you? The ingredients are here for one super bracket, or you have enough input to pick a risky bracket and hedge with some of the more conservative ones.
If you’re of the Mike Golic school of thought and think more is better, you have that option. On the other hand, if you like to soak up all the options and make one bracket to carry you from now until April 6, by all means do it.
Read on for some truly interesting brackets from across the land.
Dick Vitale, ESPN
1 of 8
Smartest picks: Right off the bat, it’s clear that Dickie V didn’t fall victim to the siren song of BYU’s offense in the play-in game. Vitale has Xavier advancing to the round of 32 to play Baylor. If you’re a chalk player, Vitale’s bracket will suit you.
Biggest gambles: There aren’t many gambles early in Vitale’s bracket. His Final Four is Kentucky, Arizona, Gonzaga and Virginia. St. John’s beating San Diego State in the round of 64 and Gonzaga reaching the final are Vitale’s biggest gambles.
Trust meter: If you follow Vitale, you will have one of the safer brackets. This is your classic hedge bracket. Nobody lower than a No. 2 seed reaches his Final Four. Notre Dame, a No. 3 seed, is the only non-No. 1 or No. 2 seed in his Elite Eight.
Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated
2 of 8
Smartest picks: Davis’ bracket is one of the more risky ones on this list, so his smartest (i.e. safest) picks are Kentucky, Duke and Arizona reaching the Final Four. Three of his four Final Four picks are chalk, but there’s a lot of gambling early.
Biggest gambles: Where to start? The 800-pound Panther in the room is Northern Iowa reaching the Final Four as a No. 5 seed.
He has No. 13 seed Eastern Washington beating No. 4 seed Georgetown and No. 12 seed S.F. Austin beating No. 5 seed Utah, with S.F. Austin reaching the Sweet 16.
And another thing: Davis has No. 6 seed SMU stampeding into the Elite Eight, beating Iowa State and Gonzaga along the way.
Trust meter: How much you want to trust Davis’ interesting bracket depends on your personality. If Vitale’s bracket is your angel, Davis’ is your devil whispering sweet upsets in your ear. Northern Iowa and SMU can score you points.
C.J. Moore, Bleacher Report
3 of 8
Smartest picks: The favorites win every single game in the East Region’s first round, but Moore picked No. 12 seed Buffalo over No. 5 seed West Virginia and No. 11 seed Texas over No. 6 seed Butler as “upsets” out of the Midwest Region in the round of 64. Those are key.
Biggest gambles: No. 8 seed North Carolina State beating No. 1 seed Villanova in the round of 32 may be the biggest gamble early. BYU into the Sweet 16 kills Moore, but it won’t kill you because you waited until Wednesday to fill out your bracket, right?
Trust meter: Moore goes into great detail for every game of the tournament. Reading his insights—whether you choose to adopt his picks or not—fuels you with more information to make the best possible pick. It’s your classic risk early, chalk late. Moore has Duke and Kentucky in the final with Kentucky winning. If nothing else, that's trustworthy.
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Ricky O'Donnell, SB Nation
4 of 8
Smartest picks: Love the Davidson pick over Iowa in the round of 64. Iowa seems overseeded and Davidson underseeded. They could be switched. No. 7 seed Wichita State over No. 2 seed Kansas could win you some points in your office pool, too.
Biggest gambles: The East and South Regions are a gambler’s dream. Here’s the national semifinal from this side of the bracket: No. 3 seed Oklahoma and No. 3 seed Iowa State. There’s also N.C. State beating Villanova.
Iowa State reaches the final against Kentucky in O’Donnell’s bracket. The Cyclones are a wild team with a free-wheeling offense. Should you follow O’Donnell’s lead, you’ll have trash-talking fodder or be the laughing stock of your bowling team.
Trust meter: There are upsets early and upsets late. Utah beating Duke. Iowa State winning five games. If everyone picks Kentucky, where else can you get your points? However, O’Donnell’s may not be as trustworthy as others, as he has No. 12 seed Wyoming beating No. 4 seed Louisville.
It’s all over the place, but wildly interesting.
Gary Parrish, CBS Sports
5 of 8
Smartest picks: Parrish’s bracket is one of the most conservative on the list. His Final Four consists of three No. 1s (Kentucky, Duke, Villanova) and one No. 2 (Arizona).
Now that BYU is out, most will like that Parrish has No. 3 seed Baylor advancing into the Sweet 16.
Biggest gambles: Because of the conservative nature of Parrish’s bracket, his gambles are other's smart picks, if that makes any sense.
His biggest gambles are S.F. Austin reaching the Sweet 16 by beating Georgetown and No. 7 Wichita State toppling No. 2 Kansas. He also has No. 11 Texas beating No. 6 Butler.
Trust meter: This is the bracket you bring home to your mother. You’ve had your fun, and you’re looking to settle down and have little chalk babies. You work for a company with a nice five percent 401k match, take a two-week vacation to Lake George once a year and will retire at 67.
Trust Parrish’s Warren Buffet bracket.
Jay Bilas, ESPN
6 of 8
Smartest picks: Bilas stuck to the basics with three No. 1 seeds (Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke) and one No. 2 seed (Virginia) reaching the Final Four. He’s got Duke and Kentucky in the final with Kentucky winning the whole thing.
Where are other smart picks? Davidson reaching the round of 32 and Baylor into the Sweet 16, as well as No. 10 seed Ohio State defeating No. 7 seed VCU.
Biggest gambles: Bilas stuck to chalk. His biggest gambles seem to be No. 1 Wisconsin over No. 2 Arizona and No. 12 Buffalo over No. 5 West Virginia.
Wichita State nips Kansas in Bilas’ bracket, too.
Trust meter: Like a good chunk of these experts' brackets, Bilas’ is pretty conservative. Nothing stands out as a “wow” pick. There’s no dot-com bust anywhere in Bilas’ picks. Like others, he’s a solid hedge against any riskier picks.
Yes, trust Bilas.
Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports
7 of 8
Smartest picks: One of the smarter picks out of all these brackets is No. 7 seed Michigan State beating No. 2 seed Virginia in the round of 32. Not many have Villanova reaching the Final Four, so Dodd’s pick of that No. 1 seed in the national semifinal seems like an upset.
Biggest gambles: Dodd is the only expert picking against Kentucky in the final. He has Duke beating the Wildcats in the championship game. That’s not the biggest gamble.
Say what?
He has No. 12 seed Wyoming defeating No. 5 seed Northern Iowa. They're both huge gambles.
Just don’t tell Seth Davis about Northern Iowa.
Trust meter: Dodd is the only one who went out on the tenuous ledge of picking against Kentucky in the final. No one has had the gusto to knock Kentucky out of the final, but Dodd’s willingness to pick Duke—a team with the best big in the land and maybe the best backcourt—makes his pick sensible. He took the "Bluegrass Goggles" off and saw an opening.
Wait, one man has the chutzpa to knock Kentucky out of the final. He is...
Peter Thamel, Sports Illustrated
8 of 8
Smartest picks: Thamel's smartest picks are the usual suspects: Kentucky, Wisconsin, Arizona, Duke, Virginia and Villanova all advancing to the Elite Eight.
That's about it.
There are more gambles in Thamel's bracket than at a roulette table.
Biggest gambles: Did you properly hydrate? Yes? Go get a coconut water.
Wisconsin is Thamel’s national champion. Love it. Bo Ryan and his experienced Badgers are probably the most likely team to beat Kentucky. Thamel then has Wisconsin beating Iowa State. It stops there, but it begins with so much more.
Thamel has No. 13 seed Valparaiso swan-diving into the Elite Eight, Wofford taking out Arkansas, UCLA beating SMU and Georgia bouncing Michigan State in the round of 64.
Bananas all around.
Trust meter: With this bracket, Thamel could be starring alongside Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zack Galifianakis in a potential fourth Hangover movie.
Love the pick against Kentucky, but there are too many early upsets to justify such a huge late upset. This makes as much sense as variable mortgage rates.
If you’re hell-bent on Harvey Dent-ing your pool, go with Thamel and Parrish for your two-sided coin.
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