March Madness 2022 Final Four Predictions

Story posted March 16, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Grant Sheets Dylan Price Connor Fenix and Nolan Wick

Grab your streaming devices, research those No. 16 seeds and fill out that perfect bracket – March Madness has finally arrived.

The First Four marks the official start of the tournament, beginning with an in-state showdown between Texas Southern and Texas A&M Corpus-Christi on Tuesday night.

Before brackets are busted around the globe, here are our Final Four picks for this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Grant Sheets: Gonzaga, Kentucky, Tennessee, Iowa

Offense. Offense. Offense.

Each of these squads features some of the nation’s most lethal scoring threats that contain the ability to take over on any given night. Furthermore, they are heating up at just the right time.

Gonzaga’s Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren have continued to dazzle, outside of a combined 18-point performance against St. Mary’s in the WCC Tournament. Its production alone should vault the Bulldogs too, at the very least, an Elite Eight appearance.

Kentucky’s dreadful offensive performance against Tennessee in the SEC semifinal game may have scared many fans off, but you can bet on Oscar Tshiebwe playing more than 24 minutes in any game in this tournament. This goes without saying that the Volunteers are also playing red-hot basketball on both sides of the floor, led by freshman sensation Kennedy Chandler’s elite playmaking ability.

Iowa’s offense blazed its way through the Big Ten Tournament, creating a lot of noise for themselves as a sleeper Final Four pick. Riding on Keegan Murray’s 23.6 points per game and a string of improved defensive performances, the Hawkeyes pose a major threat to any team in the bracket.

Nolan Wick: Gonzaga, Kentucky, Kansas, Villanova

Anything can happen in March Madness, which is part of why we all love it so much. Still, there are good reasons to believe these four teams will make the Final Four.

All four teams have very successful coaches. John Calipari, Bill Self, Jay Wright, and Mark Few have all proven to be top-tier coaches.

Each team is led by veteran players. At least two of the top four scorers on every team are upperclassmen, all of whom have experienced playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Proven and veteran leadership from both coaching and players are important in making a deep tournament run.

Each team checks the defensive box, as they all rank in the top 15 of the KenPom rankings, which has had each champion ranked in the top 25 for the last several years.

Gonzaga, Kentucky, Kansas, and Villanova are all very skilled and experienced teams that have the necessary tools to make it to New Orleans this year. Let the madness begin.

Connor Fenix: Gonzaga, UCLA, Auburn, Arizona

Gonzaga’s experience and dominance are two key factors that will easily lift them back to the Final Four this year. The Bulldogs enter this tournament even more determined than last, ending their regular season with just three losses and averaging a staggering 87.8 points per game.

The Zags will need to lean on big performances from all-Americans Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme to prove the doubters wrong and finally get their NCAA Championship after falling short in the years prior.

But when it comes to experience, UCLA is looking to take advantage of its returning starters and mirror what they did in March just a year ago. With Johnny Juzang, Jamie Jaquez, Tyger Campbell, and Jules Bernard all returning, the Bruins are looking to shake off their Pac-12 Championship loss to Arizona and use it as fuel to make another valiant run.

The Bruins will possibly have to go through powerhouses like Baylor, North Carolina, Purdue, and Kentucky, but I believe they have the talent and experience to make a Final Four appearance for the second year in a row.

The Auburn Tigers have undoubtedly had their breakthrough year. There was a point in the season where the blue and orange won 19 consecutive games and were ranked No. 1, but there’s no reason this team can’t reach full potential and streak once again.

Although they fell to Texas A&M in the SEC tournament, Auburn can go far due to its lethal offensive weapons in Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith. Big Ten Champions Iowa may be in this region, but the Big Ten has had a sad history of being eliminated early in the tournament. So if Iowa and Auburn were to match up in the Elite Eight, it's the SEC over the Big Ten.

Arizona always seems to enter this tournament as a higher seed, but this year they will look to carry its momentum from a Pac-12 Championship into the tournament to make a Final Four appearance.

The South Region does not contain enough strength for the Wildcats to be concerned about, as they will rely heavily on the skills of Bennedict Mathurin to see an appearance in the Final Four. Mathurin was just named a second-team AP all-American on Tuesday, which is another reason to motivate a very talented and battle-tested Arizona squad.

Dylan Price: Gonzaga, Purdue, Villanova, Iowa

Not a single one of these regions was easy to forecast, but looking at these four teams, the constant has been consistent.    

For Gonzaga, the story is a consistent squad that has taken a step forward from a championship run a year ago. Chet Holmgren, the projected first overall pick in this year’s NBA draft by some, has added another element to a team that saw last year’s leading scorer Drew Timme return. The two second-team All-Americans have helped lead the team to the top overall seed, and a strong chance to coast to a final four appearance.

The next regions get dicey for me, in the South, it feels like a two-dog race between the Arizona and Villanova Wildcats. Arizona has one of the most balanced and consistent offensive attacks in the country, but one thing is for certain, you can never go against a Jay Wright coached squad this time of year, so Nova grabs the next spot in this final four.

The Midwest Region could be a complete chaos region. So many upsets could happen, and although Kansas and Auburn are the top seeds, this is anyone’s race. For me, it’s talent over everything and led by first-team All-American Keegan Murray, the Big Ten Champion Iowa Hawkeyes hold the best chance to make it out of this region.

Lastly, the best region in this tournament, the East could be anyone’s race. With two-final four teams from a year ago in Baylor and UCLA joined by juggernauts Kentucky and Purdue, this region should be incredibly entertaining. With that said, Purdue may have the hardest route to a win in this region, but when that team is on, they are easily one of the best in the country and deserving of the final, final four spot for me.

Grant Sheets is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email gcs5231@psu.edu.

Dylan Price is a first-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email dvp5625@psu.edu.

Connor Fenix is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email cjf5726@psu.edu.

Nolan Wick is a first-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email nhw5046@psu.edu.