NCAA Tournament

A lot of seemingly deserving bubble teams were left out of the NCAA men's basketball tournament after a series of surprising outcomes during the conference tournaments reduced the number of at-large bids available.

Those squads probably have a few thoughts about Virginia's performance Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers put up a massive clunker in their First Four showdown with Colorado State, losing 67-42 in a game that saw them only manage 14 points in the first half.

Joel Scott (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Nique Clifford (17 points, 11 boards) were excellent for the Rams, each notching a double-double.

Reece Beekman was the only Virginia player to hit double-digit points (15) on a night that saw the Cavaliers shoot just 14-of-56 from the field (25 percent), 3-of-17 from three (17.6 percent) and get absolutely crushed on the boards (43-24 in favor of Colorado State).

It wasn't the only place Virginia got crushed—social media had some thoughts on the performance too:

This was a historically bad performance from Virginia, which now holds the unenviable distinction of scoring the fewest points in First Four history. The previous low was 46 points, set by two different teams.

Virginia is no stranger to the highs and lows of the NCAA tournament. In 2018, the Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed in the history of the men's tournament to lose to a No. 16 seed. In the ultimate redemption story, Virginia won the tourney the very next season.

Perhaps next season the Cavaliers will bounce back in a major way. It would be little consolation to the array of bubble teams who were left home in favor of Virginia.

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Former United States President Barack Obama released his bracket picks for the 2024 NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments on Tuesday.

Obama, who has shared his brackets publicly ever since taking office in 2009, picked UConn to beat Kentucky in the men's national championship game and South Carolina to defeat Iowa in the women's national championship game:

Speaking on the Ways to Win podcast with his brother-in-law, former Oregon State head men's basketball coach Craig Robinson, and Kentucky head men's basketball coach John Calipari, Obama noted that he hasn't had much success with his brackets since correctly picking North Carolina to win the men's tournament on his first bracket in 2009.

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In addition to top-seeded UConn and No. 3-seeded Kentucky, Obama chose another No. 1 seed in Purdue and another No. 3 seed in Baylor for his Final Four in the men's bracket.

On the women's side, Obama went with three No. 1 seeds in South Carolina, Iowa and USC, and a No. 2 seed in Stanford for his Final Four.

Notable first-round upsets in Obama's men's bracket include No. 13 Vermont over No. 4 Duke, No. 11 New Mexico over No. 6 Clemson and No. 11 NC State, fresh off a Cinderella run to win the ACC tournament, over No. 6 Texas Tech.

The only two first-round upsets Obama picked in his women's bracket outside of the 8 vs. 9 matchups were No. 10 UNLV over No. 7 Creighton and the 11th-seeded winner of the Arizona vs. Auburn play-in game over No. 6 Syracuse.

Regarding his winners, Obama is banking on Connecticut to go back-to-back in the men's tournament. If the Huskies do so, they will be the first back-to-back men's champs since Florida in 2006 and 2007.

UConn was a surprising winner last season, but it won't sneak up on anybody this season, as head coach Dan Hurley's team is the No. 1 overall seed with a 31-3 record.

Obama is banking on the 32-0 South Carolina Gamecocks completing a perfect season in the women's tournament. South Carolina last won a national title in 2022, and it reached the Final Four last season, where it got upset by Iowa.

Led by superstar guard Caitlin Clark, Iowa lost to LSU in the national championship game last season, and Obama has the Hawkeyes finishing as the runner-up for a second straight year.

In terms of his bracket-picking history, Obama has only chosen the men's champion correctly twice, that being UNC in both 2009 and 2017. This year marks the first time he has chosen UConn to win the men's tourney, per Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports.

Obama has chosen the right women's champion six times, including South Carolina in 2022. His South Carolina pick didn't work out last year, but he still went back to the well by choosing the Gamecocks for a third consecutive year.

The NCAA tournament's field of 68 teams is set.

A fun regular season and exciting and consequential conference tournaments paved the way for one of the greatest sporting events of the year, and now the stage is set. With that comes the chance to be a part of the action and fill out a bracket.

Filling out a bracket online is always an option, but for those looking to do things the old-fashioned way, there's nothing like making your bracket by hand. Below is a link to print the official NCAA bracket as well as some advice on how to go about your picks so you don't go into the madness without some direction.

Downloadable Men's NCAA Bracket

You can download the official NCAA bracket here.

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Picks Advice

As exciting as it is to see a No. 1 or No. 2 seeded team dethroned by a No. 16 or No. 15 seeded team, it's highly unlikely. There are some approachable upset picks that can feed your urge to pick an upset while not being as big of a risk.

The most likely upsets are No. 11 seeds over No. 6 teams followed by No. 12 seeds over No. 5 seeds, according to Andy Wittry at NCAA.com.

Does that mean you should take all of those upsets? No. Wittry noted that there are an average of 8.5 upsets every tournament. Picking a few upsets is a smart move, but don't go overboard.

While taking too many upsets might not be the best move, only betting on No. 1 seeds might not work out well either. The last time the Final Four consisted only of No. 1 seeds was in 2008. Since 2008, there have only been three Final Fours that had more than one No. 1 seed.

It's generally a good idea to include at least one No. 1 seed in your Final Four, but make sure to have some diversity. A good route would be a No. 1 seed, a mix of some of the other top teams and perhaps a Cinderalla pick if you want to get risky.

While there are some obvious favorites like UConn, Houston, Purdue and North Carolina, the bracket is filled with sleeper teams.

No. 12 seed McNeese State over No. 5 Gonzaga could be a popular bet for an upset. The Cowboys, led by Will Wade, are 26-3 on the season and are ready to prove they can hang with top teams in the country.

They haven't had many opportunities to prove themselves, but they won their only Quad 1 matchup this season. Gonzaga is obviously not the team it has been in years past, so McNeese could be due for an upset win.

NC State earned an automatic bid in the ACC Tournament, but the Wolfpack are peaking at the right time. A win over Texas Tech is certainly not out of the picture after NC State beat North Carolina in the ACC Championship game on Saturday.

There are always going to be shocking upsets in the NCAA tournament, but to make a well-informed upset pick, checking the NCAA's NET Rankings and other metric sites like KenPom is always a good idea.