Who the experts think will win the NCAA Tournament
Of the 53 sets of Final Four picks we have collected, 28 (53%) have Michigan State winning the championship, and a whopping 50 (94%) have the Spartans in the Final Four. The other teams being picked to win it all are Kansas (34%), North Carolina (8%), Oklahoma (4%), and Kentucky (2%).
Fifteen schools were picked to make the Final Four by at least one of these experts, but the most common Final Four picks were Michigan State, Kansas (83%), Oklahoma (68%), North Carolina (49%), and Kentucky (26%). No. 1 seeds Oregon and Virginia are picked to reach the Final Four in just 17% and 4% of the brackets, respectively.
Here are the Final Four picks of 53 experts from SI.com, ESPN.com, and CBSSports.com. Each expert's pick to win the championship is in bold:
- Seth Davis, SI: Kansas, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Michigan State.
- Pete Thamel, SI: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Brian Hamilton, SI: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Lindsay Schnell, SI: Kansas, Oregon, West Virginia, Michigan State.
- Zac Ellis, SI: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Luke Winn, SI: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- David Gardner, SI: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Ted Keith, SI: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Dan Greene, SI: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Ryan Krasnoo, SI: Miami, Oklahoma, Xavier, Michigan State.
- Cory Alexander, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Virginia.
- Jay Bilas, ESPN: Kansas, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Jeff Borzello, ESPN: Maryland, Oregon, Xavier, Michigan State.
- Eamonn Brennan, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Jordan Brenner, ESPN: Miami, Oklahoma, Indiana, Michigan State.
- C.L. Brown, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Jason Capel, ESPN: Kansas, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Dan Dakich, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Andrew DeClercq, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- LaPhonso Ellis, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Sean Farnham, ESPN: Villanova, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Adam Finkelstein, ESPN: Kansas, Oregon, Xavier, Michigan State.
- Dino Gaudio, ESPN: Kansas, Texas A&M, Xavier, Michigan State.
- John Gasaway, ESPN: Kansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Jeff Goodman, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Sean Harrington, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Malcolm Huckaby, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Michigan State.
- Andy Katz, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Peter Keating, ESPN: Miami, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Joe Lunardi, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Bryndon Manzer, ESPN: Kansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Myron Medcalf, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Michigan State.
- Dana O'Neil, ESPN: Villanova, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Reggie Rankin, ESPN: Kansas, Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Craig Robinson, ESPN: Maryland, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Chris Spatola, ESPN: Kansas, Texas A&M, Xavier, Michigan State.
- Dick Vitale, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Kara Lawson, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Paul Biancardi, ESPN: Miami, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Miles Simon, ESPN: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Fran Fraschilla, ESPN: Kansas, Oregon, West Virginia, Michigan State.
- Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Gary Parrish, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Sam Vecenie, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Virginia.
- Matt Norlander, CBS Sports: Villanova, Oklahoma, Xavier, Michigan State.
- Nick Kostos, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Chip Patterson, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports: Kansas, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Michigan State.
- Josh Nagel, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Purdue.
- Wally Szczerbiak, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Pete Gillen, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State.
- Jon Rothstein, CBS Sports: Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Michigan State.
- Danny Granger, CBS Sports: Kansas, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Michigan State.