We have ourselves the field of 68 for the 2017 NCAA Tournament, and the usual college basketball blue bloods again fill out the top seed lines. Kansas, UCLA, and UNC all look primed to make significant runs into the Elite Eight and beyond, and Gonzaga has maybe its best shot ever at appearing in a tournament final.
Printable NCAA bracket 2017 for your March Madness predictions
The NCAA Tournament field was set on Sunday, so get your printable bracket here, courtesy of SB Nation.
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The Zags are a fascinating team this year. They won 29 regular season games, dropping their first and only loss of the year to BYU in the season’s final outing. Gonzaga has made the Elite Eight twice, in 1999 and 2015, losing on both occasions. This year they own wins over Florida, Iowa State, Arizona, and two over Saint Mary’s. These Bulldogs have eclipsed 90 points in 13 games this season and twice reached 100. They’re potent, and at 120.9 points per 100 possessions according to KenPom, they’re scoring with the ninth-best rate in the country right now.
North Carolina continues to impress after last year’s letdown in the tournament championship game. The Tar Heels came within a breath of hoisting the winner’s trophy a year ago, but Villanova’s Kris Jenkins stymied those hopes on a buzzer-beating three pointer for the win. Roy Williams’ club is certainly still smarting from that dramatic loss, and there’s little doubt that this year’s UNC team has a championship game appearance still in it yet.
Kansas, the team that Villanova wiped all over the floor in 2016’s Elite Eight, ended the regular season ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25, and would appear dead-set on a Final Four appearance. Bill Self’s lone title win came in 2008, an overtime triumph over Memphis in the Alamodome, and he’s got the firepower this year to get back into a Big Dance final round.
UCLA has looked spectacular this year, headed up by star versatility man Lonzo Ball, who’s averaging 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists for the season. His dad openly beefs with Charles Barkley over comparing Lonzo to Steph Curry, a delightful little spat that hopefully persists into the tournament.
Other teams to watch this year will be Oregon, Arizona, Baylor, Kentucky, Louisville, and Arizona. All five have more than a puncher’s chance at dancing into the Elite Eight or Final Four. Duke finds itself in a bit of a down year, what with Grayson Allen playing a more inconsistent game and Harry Giles injuring himself in preseason. The Blue Devils are still dangerous, though, and after all: This is March.
You can download SB Nation’s printable bracket for the tournament below.
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