2017 March Madness bracket predictions: NCAA Tournament picks, winners, upsets – CBSSports.com

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You’re running out of time to fill out the perfect NCAA Tournament bracket.

Now that the bracket is set, you’ll want to start filling yours in. But before you do, you’ll want to see how the experts filled out theirs.

Check out these brackets and see what they think.

Stephen Oh’s Upset Bracket

Last year SportsLine expert Stephen Oh correctly predicted eight out of nine NCAA Tournament upsets, including six out of seven double-digit seed upsets, with his computer algorithm. This year he has plenty of upsets again, like No. 6 SMU going all the way to the Elite Eight.

Click here to see Stephen Oh’s Optimized NCAA Tournament bracket

Matt Norlander

(Click here to enlarge the bracket)

I had
Kansas Jayhawks
in October. I had Kansas midway through the season. I have Kansas now. The TCU loss (
Josh Jackson
didn’t play in the game) doesn’t scare me. The Jayhawks have the best backcourt in the country in Frank Mason (big-shot maker) and Devonte’ Graham. Jackson’s ready for the NBA right now. Bill Self will win a second national title, it’s just a matter of time. It doesn’t seem like this should be Kansas’ year. The team’s had off-the-court drama throughout. Injuries have shortened the bench. It’s only 10th at KenPom. But I will not bail on the team I picked from the start, which rightfully has a 1 seed.

As for my other picks, you’ll notice some ridiculousness. Just fade me as fast as you possibly would like. I’m hellbent on going for
Wichita State Shockers
into the second weekend because the Shockers were jobbed in their seeding and will play as angry as they ever have.
Rhode Island Rams
in the Elite Eight? Hey, why not have a little bit of fun? You seeing what I’m doing with
Oklahoma State Cowboys
and
SMU Mustangs
too? Probably regrettable, but oh well. Hey, as long as the tournament’s fun, that’s all that matters.   

Chip Patterson

(Click here to enlarge the bracket)

After toppling
North Carolina Tar Heels
, I’m picking Kansas to finish off its championship run by upending a
Duke Blue Devils
team that’s playing its best basketball of the season right now. The Jayhawks’ early bounce from the Big 12 tournament leaves even more time for this group, currently in the middle of concerning investigations from a few off-court incidents, to get its business in order before the time and stress demands of the NCAA Tournament. If Josh Jackson’s suspension continues, they’ll be a Final Four team. If he’s on the court, they’re winning the whole dang thing.
Frank Mason III
can carry this team to the edge of greatness but its the overwhelming impact of Jackson’s athleticism and versatility that can get them past a
Louisville Cardinals
, UNC,
Kentucky Wildcats
,
UCLA Bruins
or Duke. 

Elsewhere in the bracket, I’m all in for
Arizona Wildcats
getting to the Final Four for the first time since 2001 and first time with Sean Miller and think
Villanova Wildcats
won’t get a shot at becoming the first team since 2007
Florida Gators
to repeat as champion. The Wildcats can manage the first weekend — but beware of
Virginia Tech Hokies
and Buzz Williams — but I don’t think they make it out of New York. 

Jerry Palm

(Click here to enlarge the bracket)

Duke started the season as the No. 1 team in the polls because they have the best talent and the best coach. However, there were a lot of road bumps along the way. Injuries to nearly every key player at one time or another — and even an injury to coach Mike Krzyzewski — stunted the development of this team. 

I always thought if they could come around and start playing as we were expecting, the Blue Devils could still win the national championship. What we have seen in March is that they have indeed come around. Duke looks like the team we expected to see way back in November. Better late than never.

Howard Megdal

(Click here to enlarge the bracket)

For me, the biggest upsets are Princeton over Notre Dame (the Fighting Irish don’t have the size to overwhelm the tactically superior Ivy champions), UNC Wilmington over Virginia (the Seahawks feature the third-best Offensive Rating in the country and will have learned from their near-upset of Duke last March) and Florida Gulf-Coast over Florida State (Dunk City lives on, the Seminoles struggle away from home) and Miami over Kansas in the second round. My final four is Villanova, Arizona, Louisville and UNC with Arizona winning it all, giving Sean Miller that national championship we’ve all seen coming for years.

Dennis Dodd

The Pac-12 has image problems. It’s games are on too late. There are more confirmed UFO sightings than folks who watch the Pac-12 Network. But after an at-times turbulent season the Wildcats are fully loaded for a deep tournament. They have just about everything you need to be complete. 

Post Lauri Markkanen is a lottery pick. The backcourt is veteran with Kadeem Allen and leading scorer Allonzo Trier. Sean Miller and the Wildcats have a lot to make up for after a first-round loss to Wichita State. The previous three years Arizona at least reached the Sweet 16. 

This is a national program with an elite coach, Sean Miller. There’s nothing wrong with going with the hot team. The Wildcats tied for the Pac-12 title and won the conference tournament. And you probably weren’t able to stay up late enough to watch much of it.

Kyle Boone

North Carolina has advanced to at least the Elite 8 each time it has earned a No. 1 seed under Roy Williams. And with three juniors and two seniors leading the way, I don’t think that trend changes this year. 

The Tar Heels have a veteran point guard in Joel Berry and a myriad of big men who will give teams fits trying to match up on them. I think UNC is in line to land its 20th Final Four appearance and beyond with a team hungry to redeem itself from a heart-breaking title loss last season.