It’s time for March Madness again, the best three weeks of the sports calendar!

The tournament brackets were announced on Sunday night, and the First Four games played Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to the full tournament starting this afternoon.

The tournament expanded to 68 teams in 2011. If you think it’s perfect the way it is, you’d be right, but brace yourself, because expansion is coming. If the powerful football-first conferences and programs get their way, it could grow to just 72, or all the way to 96. Trust me, those conferences will get most of the extra bids (and extra revenue) than the mid-major conferences like those that feature nearby teams like St. Bonaventure, UB, Niagara and Canisius.

But enough about future tournaments, here’s a preview of this one:

Toughest region: EAST. The defending champions (UConn). Last year’s runner-up (San Diego State). The best conference’s tournament winner, who just blew out 1-seeded Houston (Iowa State). The second best conference’s tournament winner, and the only team to be top-10 in offense and defense per Kenpom.com’s rankings (Auburn). The No. 1 defense (Iowa State) and No. 3 offense (Illinois) per Kenpom.com. Another 2023 Final Four participant (Florida Atlantic). Other than maybe Drake, who could win two games, look elsewhere for Cinderella… but Auburn-UConn in the Sweet 16 is very much a tossup, and I’ll take Auburn to terminate Connecticut’s quest to repeat.

Chaos Region — WEST? Prepare the “wild west” cliches, because the West is the most likely to go insane. Per Kenpom.com, a 9 vs 1 matchup between Michigan State and North Carolina would be close to a tossup. Don’t be surprised if criminally underseeded New Mexico beats both Clemson and Baylor! St. Mary’s has historically struggled to get to the second weekend and Grand Canyon is a tough out. This should open up the region for Arizona, despite their recent tournament disappointments, to claim Final Four home court advantage in Glendale, AZ.

Most Up In The Air Region: SOUTH. Houston and Marquette are both dealing with injuries to key players. If whole, they should both be in the Elite 8 and either could win it all. Kentucky has a clear path to the Sweet Sixteen, but waiting there will be either a healthy Marquette team, a Florida team that the Wildcats split two tight games with, or a very underseeded Boise State team. Lots of “ifs” here, but against this level of competition, Houston’s injuries catch up to them against Duke, and we’re denied a Duke-Kentucky Elite 8 because a healthier Marquette pulls through.

We’ve Seen This Movie Before Region: MIDWEST. In 2018, UMBC demolished Virginia by 20, the first 16 to beat a 1. In 2019, a focused Virginia team survived and advanced their way to a national title. In 2023, Fairleigh Dickinson (16) beat Purdue (1). Can the Boilermakers follow Virginia’s example? They have a clear track to the Elite 8, but Tennessee or Creighton will be very tough opponents, and neither is likely to fall before they play each other (look for South Carolina to lose their 6-11 matchup with Oregon, though). All three of these teams have waited decades to get over the hump, and two of them will wait again. Purdue will break through.

5-12 seed upsets? It’s well known that 12-seeds frequently upset 5-seeds. Last year’s 5-seeds were very strong, but this year it’s the 12’s that are legitimate! James Madison, McNeese and Grand Canyon blew through their conferences and are for-real, and the teams they drew (Wisconsin, Gonzaga and St. Mary’s) are good but not great teams. San Diego State caught a break in drawing UAB, by far the lowest-rated of the 12’s. Any of those others could easily get beat, and I like JMU to upset Wisconsin…at least!

Final Four Picks: In the Final Four, Arizona will make the most of home court advantage to beat Auburn. Purdue will handle Marquette. The final, like the football championship game, will feature the Big Ten against the Pac 12, but the result will be much closer. Zach Edey and Purdue will be too much for Arizona, and will finally give the Big Ten a national title… and the curtain will drop on the Pacific 12 Conference.