College basketball bluebloods Kentucky and North Carolina entered the season with national championship aspirations, but only one program landed a spot in the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket. The Wildcats, led by reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe, earned the No. 6 seed in the East Region of the 2023 March Madness bracket and will face No. 11 Providence in the first round on Friday. The Tar Heels, despite being ranked as the No. 1 team in the country in the preseason, did not earn a bid for March Madness 2023, marking the first time the program failed to be invited to the Big Dance since 2010.
Can Kentucky go on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament 2023 and advance to the program’s 18th Final Four? Or will the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket be dominated by No. 1 seeds Alabama, Kansas, Houston, and Purdue? Before making any 2023 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulated the entire 2023 NCAA Tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks, beating over 92% of all CBS Sports brackets two of the last four tournaments. The model also nailed three teams in the West and South Region Sweet 16 last year, including No. 5 seed Houston.
It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 18 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds. It also nailed some massive upsets two years ago, including predicting the championship game between Gonzaga and Baylor and hitting Houston’s Midwest Region win even though the Cougars weren’t the No. 1 seed.
There’s simply no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2023 March Madness pools. Now, with the 2023 NCAA bracket being revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.
2023 March Madness bracket games to watch
One matchup in the Midwest Region to keep an eye on: No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes and No. 9 Auburn Tigers. This matchup is a tale of differing strengths. Iowa was the highest-scoring team in the Big Ten during the regular season, averaging 80.2 points per game. Meanwhile, Auburn is among the best defensive teams in the 2023 March Madness bracket, allowing only 67.1 points per game. The winner of this matchup will have a chance to shock the college basketball world with a likely second round matchup with No. 1 seed Houston.
Another Midwest Regional battle to watch is No. 7 seed Texas A&M against No. 10 seed Penn State. The Nittany Lions trailed Purdue by 17 points with less than 6:30 remaining in the Big Ten Tournament title game, but they nearly completed a thrilling comeback before losing by two. They were one of the hottest teams in the conference at the end of the season, winning eight out of nine games before losing to the Boilermakers. Texas A&M was equally as impressive, winning 10 out of 11 games prior to a loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament title game. The Aggies closed the regular season with a win against the Crimson Tide, proving they can make a deep run this month.
Also in the Midwest, No. 5 Miami takes on No. 12 Drake in a game that should be one of the popular 2023 March Madness upset picks. The Canes won the ACC regular season title, but were knocked out of the conference tournament by Duke. Drake is one of the hottest teams in the 2023 March Madness field, winning each of its conference tournament games by double-digits. Miami is coming off a surprising run to the Elite Eight as a 10-seed in 2022, but this time they will be the team on upset alert as a 5-seed in the first round. You can see how far all these teams go over at SportsLine.
How to make 2023 NCAA bracket predictions
How far will those major programs go? And which Cinderella teams will make surprising runs through the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it is calling this year before locking in any NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament bracket 2023? And which March Madness underdogs will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which teams you can back with confidence, all from the model that’s nailed 18 upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception and beat over 92 percent of players two of the last four tournaments.
