NCAA Tournament 2011 Expert Predictions: Who Will Go To The Final Four?

College basketball analyst Joe Lunardi has announced his March Madness bracket predictions. ESPN’s resident “bracketologist” graduated from St. Joseph’s (one wonders whether or not “bracketology” is surrounded by quotation marks on his diploma), which failed to reach the NCAA Tournament this year, presumably freeing him from some level of personal bias.

Lunardi’s bracket follows a fairly common line of thinking: some fun upsets early, but a normalization in the final rounds with the usual suspects going the deepest in the tournament. In the first round of the West bracket, he’s picked 13-seed Oakland over 4-seed Texas. And in the Southeast, he has 13-seed Belmont upsetting 4-seed Wisconsin. That makes for a fun 13-seed vs. 12-seed match-up in the Field of 32, as Utah State advances past Belmont to reach the Sweet 16.

Charles Barkley, an NCAA Tournament analyst for the first time for CBS and Turner, does not have a formal bracket out yet, but he has a national champion. Barkley predicts that the Kansas Jayhawks will win the 2011 NCAA Tournament championship, like colleague Seth Davis and ESPN’s Jay Bilas.

Barkley believes the Jayhawks are the most well-rounded team, followed by Pittsburgh, Ohio State and Duke. He said he does not believe there is a clear-cut winner, but of the choices, he likes Kansas the most. Barkley has been critical of Ohio State in the past because he believes the Buckeyes do not impose their will on their opponents.

CBS Sports television analyst and Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis’ bracket for the 2011 NCAA Tournament has the Kansas Jayhawks winning the National Championship. Davis shares the view of ESPN’s Jay Bilas that the Jayhawks are the best team in the NCAA Tournament.

Davis predicts that Kansas will be joined by No. 1 seeds Ohio State and Duke, as well as No. 2 seed Florida. In the Elite 8, Davis has Kansas defeating No. 3 seed Purdue, Ohio State topping No. 2 seed North Carolina, Duke to defeat No. 6 seed Xavier in the West and Florida to top No. 9 seed Old Dominion in a wild Southeast.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas’ bracket for the 2011 NCAA Tournament has the Kansas Jayhawks winning the title, a pick that differs from colleague Dick Vitale, who predicted Ohio State would cut down the nets. Bilas believes the Jayhawks are too deep to be overcome by anyone in the tournament.

The Jayhawks received a No. 1 seed in the Southwest Region after winning the Big 12 title, and are considered the second-best team in the nation behind Ohio State.

ESPN’s Dick Vitale’s bracket is one of many that has the best team in the regular season also winning the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Vitale has picked the Ohio State Buckeyes, the No. 1 seed in the East Region to cut down the nets and win the national championship.

Led by Jared Sullinger, the Buckeyes have held the No. 1 ranking for much of the year, and Vitale believes that will hold up during March Madness. He has the Buckeyes defeating Pittsburgh, the No. 1 seed in the Southeast region, in the title game.

The 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket is now out, which means it’s time for everyone, experts and novices alike, to make their predictions on who will make it to the Final Four and eventually the NCAA Championship Game. Making bracket picks is hardly an exact science, and as we all know, the person who knows nothing about college basketball always tends to win bracket pools.

But at the same time, we realize that you are on the fence and not sure who to pick in many games. Who is the real favorite to win it all? Do you take all four number one seeds (Duke, Ohio State, Kansas and Pittsburgh) to make the Final Four? Which lower-seeded team has the best chance to crash the party in Houston? Which double-digit seed has the best chance of making a deep run? Which 12 seed should you predict to win against a No. 5 seed?