March Madness Bracket 2019: Printable 2019 NCAA Tournament Page and Predictions

The NCAA tournament begins with the First Four round on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then March Madness really gets underway with 16 first-round matchups on both Thursday and Friday.

It's one of the best times of the year for sports fans, as the top teams in college basketball compete throughout days filled with nonstop action.

March Madness is unpredictable because plenty of the teams in the field have a reasonable chance of going all the way and winning the national championship. And that's also what makes the tournament so exciting.

Bracket

For a blank bracket to print and fill out yourself, go to NCAA.com.

Predictions

Belmont Wins First Four Matchup, Then Beats Maryland

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The Ohio Valley Conference typically only has one team in the NCAA tournament, and that's the winner of its conference tournament. However, Belmont became the first OVC team to earn an at-large bid since 1987 when the bracket was released on Sunday evening.

But the Bruins are one of eight teams that will participate in the First Four round, as they take on Temple on Tuesday night with the winner moving into the first round as the No. 11 seed in the East region.

Belmont will pick up that victory then also pull off an upset in the first round by beating No. 6-seeded Maryland.

The Bruins have lost only five games this season, and they went 16-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. They beat UCLA and played a close game in a loss to Purdue.

Maryland is a young team that won't be able to keep up with Belmont offensively. The Bruins are averaging 87.4 points per game, which ranks second in the country behind only Gonzaga.

Kentucky Makes the Final Four

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Kentucky's dominance in the SEC tournament came to an end this year. After winning the past four SEC tourney championships, the Wildcats lost to Tennessee in the semifinals. Auburn went on to beat the Vols in the championship game.

However, Kentucky is a dangerous team led by a successful head coach in John Calipari. That's why the Wildcats are going to regroup and make a run to the Final Four as a No. 2 seed.

Kentucky is in the Midwest region and shouldn't have any trouble making it to the Elite Eight, beating either No. 3-seeded Houston or No. 6-seeded Iowa State in the Sweet 16 to get there.

Then, it's probable that the Wildcats will face No. 1-seeded North Carolina in the Elite Eight. They beat the Tar Heels on Dec. 22, and they'll beat them again to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2015.

Duke Wins it All

The NCAA tournament selection committee got it right—Duke is the best team in the country. And the Blue Devils are going to prove it by winning their first national championship since 2015.

Duke is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament after it beat North Carolina and Florida State on consecutive days to win the ACC tournament championship. It was their second ACC tourney title in three years.

The most important thing for the Blue Devils is health. They've only lost to one team (Gonzaga on Nov. 21) this year when they've been at full strength.

After missing the final five games of the regular season, star freshman forward Zion Williamson returned for the ACC tournament and scored 29, 31 and 21 points in Duke's three tourney games, respectively.

Now, Williamson and fellow freshman standouts RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish will lead the Blue Devils to a national title.