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March Madness Expert Predictions: Repicking Our Men’s Sweet 16 Brackets

Is it too late for a do-over? Our writers take a second crack at predicting the Final Four, national champion and more.
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It’s been a chaotic and unpredictable men’s NCAA tournament, with many brackets getting busted as early as Day 1 thanks to first-round upsets such as Saint Peter’s over Kentucky and Richmond over Iowa. Here at Sports Illustrated, our writers weren’t safe from the wreckage, either—of our eight expert brackets, only Pat Forde still has an intact Final Four.

So let’s try this again. With the Sweet 16 locked in, we’re repicking the teams we think will go to the Elite Eight and Final Four, plus the one that will win the whole thing. Who’s changed their championship pick? (Spoiler alert: We’re mostly still high on Gonzaga, but a little less than before.) Who sees the chaos continuing? Here are our updated brackets:

Pat Forde

Forde’s Final Four: Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, Purdue
Forde’s national champ: Gonzaga

Kevin Sweeney

Sweeney’s Final Four: Gonzaga, Villanova, Kansas, UCLA
Sweeney’s national champ: Gonzaga

Jeremy Woo

Woo’s Final Four: Texas Tech, Arizona, Kansas, Purdue
Woo’s national champ: Arizona

Jason Jordan

Jordan’s Final Four: Duke, Houston, Kansas, Purdue
Jordan’s national champ: Duke

Molly Geary

Geary’s Final Four: Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, UCLA
Geary’s national champ: Gonzaga

Michael Shapiro

Shapiro’s Final Four: Texas Tech, Houston, Kansas, Purdue
Shapiro’s national champ: Kansas

Elizabeth Swinton

Swinton’s Final Four: Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, UCLA
Swinton’s national champ: Gonzaga

Nick Selbe

Selbe’s Final Four: Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina
Selbe’s national champ: Gonzaga

More March Madness Coverage:

• Ranking the Men’s Sweet 16 Teams
Big Ten Disappoints Again in Men’s First Weekend
The ACC Showed Up to Dance