NCAA Bracket 2011 Predictions: Tourney Simulated 2,001 Times by Whatifsports.com

Note: Go directly to Whatifsports.com 2011 NCAA Bracket Predictions.

The 2011 NCAA basketball tournament features an expanded field of 68 teams, and still a cloud of controversy hovers above.

How would you like to be Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg or Colorado's Tad Boyle? The Hokies' bubble burst for the third consecutive year, while many believe the Buffaloes deserved to, at the very least, play in Dayton's first round.

Instead, the UAB Blazers, VCU Rams, USC Trojans and Clemson Tigers will fight it out to join the field of 64 on Thursday and Friday.

The 60 teams already in the second round, including No. 1 seeds Ohio State, Kansas, Duke and Pittsburgh, pose some questionable seeding and compelling story lines as the tournaments plays out.

Whatifsports.com is here to help you with every bracket pool that you signed up for this week. Our 2011 March Madness NCAA Bracket Preview is your No. 1 resource to gain the upper edge in your office or family bracket pool.

National Championship Favorites

Kansas: 20.4 percent chance to win NCAA title 
Pittsburgh: 9.3 percent
Ohio State: 7.9 percent
Louisville: 6.8 percent
Washington: 6.7 percent
National Championship Score: Kansas 81-76

Using our highly sophisticated college basketball simulation engine, we "played" the entire 2011 NCAA basketball tournament 2,001 times. Our simulation predictions are based on the statistical makeup of each team and are adjusted for roster trends, including injuries, depth chart changes and each player's average minutes per game.

Thus, after 2,001 simulations of the 2011 NCAA basketball tournament, the computers selected the Kansas Jayhawks (20.3 percent chance of winning championship) as the favorite to win the national championship. The computer simulations predict the Pittsburgh Panthers have the second-best chance of winning the title at 9.3 percent.

The next most likely national champion are the Buckeyes of Ohio State. The No. 1 seeded Bucks possess the third-highest chance (7.9 percent) of cutting down the nets. Louisville (6.8 percent) and Washington (6.7 percent) round out the computer's tournament favorites.

To the right you will find a handy Whatifsports.com NCAA Basketball Tournament Widget. You can add this feature to any social networking site, including Facebook and Myspace. In a concise, sleek design, this widget allows you to share Whatifsports.com's predictions with all your friends.

Print Whatifsports.com's Predictions Bracket.

Print a blank 2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket.

Dayton's First Round Simulations

Some NCAA bracket pool rules may force you to predict Wednesday's and Thursday's first round games between Clemson vs. UAB and USC vs. VCU. Because our Bracket Preview is formatted to simulate a 64-team field, we simulated these first-round games 2,001 times and advanced who our computer believed had the best chance of winning to the second round.

2011 NCAA Tournament First-Round Simulation: Dayton, Ohio
Matchup	Win%	Avg Score
UAB Blazers	39.1	62
Clemson Tigers	60.9	65

Clemson advances to play West Virginia.

Note: UAB has a 33.5 percent chance to beat West Virginia.

2011 NCAA Tournament First-Round Simulation: Dayton, Ohio
Matchup	Win%	Avg Score
VCU Rams	66.9	70
USC Trojans	33.1	65

VCU advances to play Georgetown.

Note: USC has a 14.7 percent chance to beat Georgetown.

Note: Go directly to Whatifsports.com 2011 NCAA Bracket Predictions.