The NCAA Tournament’s round of 64 tips off Friday, and there’ll be 32 games across two days to get March Madness into full swing. Syracuse opens up play as an three-seed hosting for the second time in four years on Saturday, hosting No. 14 seed Fordham.

Our beat writers discussed a few bracket-related topics ahead of Thursday’s play.

How far will Syracuse go in the NCAA Tournament?

Nick Alvarez: Syracuse has proven that it can beat the team’s it should. With the exception of the Georgia Tech loss, each of SU’s defeats have come against formidable opponents. That bodes well for the Orange this weekend — they’ll host two non-Power 5 teams and have a chance against an elite Oregon squad in the Moda Center. Yet, I’m predicting Syracuse to lose in the Sweet 16. If Tiana Mangakahia, Gabrielle Cooper and Miranda Drummond can get on a roll, then another historic run to the Final Four is in reach. But expect Ducks’ star forward Sabrina Ionescu to post another triple-double, score inside at will and bounce SU in the second weekend.

Eric Black: It’s easy to look at Syracuse’s first-round opponent and its potential second-round matchup and think the Orange have an easy road to the Sweet 16. While I do think they’ll make it to the second weekend of the tournament, I don’t think it’ll be as easy as some may suppose. Fordham has won 12-straight games and has the 7th-best scoring defense in the country. Should it win against the Rams, Syracuse will face either No. 6 South Dakota State — which lost to top overall seed Baylor by 6 earlier this year — or No. 11 Quinnipiac, which boasts the second-best defense in the country and just won its conference championship by 30. I think hosting the first two rounds will come in handy for the Orange, who are 10-3 at home this year, and they’ll make it to Portland. But that’s where I think their season comes to an end, at the hands of No. 2 seed Oregon.

Michael McCleary: I think Syracuse should make a run to the Sweet 16, and a trip to the Elite Eight it possible. The Orange have a relatively easy route to the Sweet 16. No. 6 seed North Dakota State is their biggest threat and the Orange have fared pretty well against those tier of teams in the regular season. It’s not really until the top-15 teams in the country where Syracuse started to have some trouble, and SU won’t play a team of that caliber until the Sweet 16 — a possible matchup with the No. 2 seed Oregon Ducks. Here’s where it gets interesting: Syracuse lost just 75-73 in Oregon the second game of the season. The Orange have come a long way since then, and I’m sure the Ducks have too. But the No. 3 seed SU team may be lucky to draw a team that it’s already played and competed against. One would have to assume that magical run would come to a halt the next round. Mississippi State is a top-4 team in the country. That’s a tier Syracuse hasn’t come close to touching. We shouldn’t expect March to change that.

Michael’s Bracket. Molly Gibbs | Staff Photographer

Of the 64 teams in this year’s bracket, what is your biggest sleeper team for a deep run?

N.A.: Earlier this season, DePaul challenged Syracuse till the last possession in November’s Cancun Challenge. The Orange needed a buzzer-beating layup by Mangakahia to avoid a monumental upset. Fast forward to March, and DePaul is listed as an dangerous No. 6-seed in the Chicago region. Mart’e Grays leads an eight-player rotation with 14.6 points per game and has demonstrated an ability to score from all spots on the floor. After dispatching of Missouri State in its opener, DePaul should have a shot at upsetting No. 3-seed Iowa State and matching further into March than many expected.

E.B.: The Central Florida Knights are the most under-seeded team in the whole tournament, and I think they’ll make a run to the sweet 16. UCF has the 15th-best RPI in the whole country but somehow got seeded as the 12th-best team in the Portland region of the bracket. It has just six losses this year, with half of which coming against Connecticut, and lost to Syracuse by just five on Dec. 22. I think the Knights will defeat Arizona State in the opening round and take down Miami in the second before ultimately falling to Mississippi State.

M.M.: I didn’t take many risks with my bracket, but if there’s one team that I will regret picking against, it’s Miami. The Hurricanes are good. Their forwards group could be the best interior unit in the country. And, though the Orange beat them with hot shooting, it’s hard to think there’s a team that will match them inside. A few timely baskets and they can sneak their way past Mississippi State. At that point, the board is all theirs. Miami could make a run to the Final Four.

Nick’s Bracket. Molly Gibbs | Staff Photographer

Who will make the Final Four, and which team will win it all?

N.A.: There’s a top-tier of women’s basketball teams and most of them will make it to Tampa Bay’s Final Four: Baylor, Oregon, Notre Dame and Connecticut. The Huskies dispatch of Asia Durr and Louisville in the Elite 8, while Oregon rides the momentum following its win over SU and upsets Mississppi State. Once in Florida, expect the sport’s heavyweights to crown a deserving champ through three great games. While the smart money would be on the Fighting Irish — they return a bulk of their national title roster and have looked elite in 2019 — I’m riding with the Huskies. Geno Auriemma is a legend and the thought of three-straight years without a UConn tournament run seems unheard of. Five players average at least 10 points a game and expect a familiar sight when Auriemma cuts down the nets.

E.B.: Baylor, Oregon, Notre Dame and Connecticut are my final four teams as well. I think Baylor has the easiest road to Tampa, where they’ll meet the Ducks. On the other side of the bracket I have Notre Dame matching up with Connecticut after the Huskies get payback on Louisville for beating them earlier this season. Then, Baylor’s 10th-ranked defense does enough to slow down Sabrina Ionescu and get it into the championship, while the Irish rides its hot streak into a showdown with the Bears. I see Notre Dame cutting down the nets for the second-straight year, although this time not on a buzzer-beater.

M.M.: I’m going to switch it up a little. My Final Four is NC State, Mississippi State, Notre Dame and Connecticut. NC State looked nasty against the Orange earlier in the year, and they can shoot from anywhere on the floor. That’s the formula for a really strong March run, the same logic I’d apply to putting Syracuse in the Elite Eight. Mississippi State beats and Oregon team that has one of the best players in the country, Notre Dame does exactly the same thing as it does all year and dominates its way to the last four remaining and Connecticut proves why it should have been a No. 1 seed. Connecticut, for that same reason, will cut down the nets as well. Two years is too long without a championship for Geno Auriemma.

Eric’s Bracket. Screenshot courtesy of ESPN.com

Published on March 22, 2019 at 9:43 pm