Skip to main content

March Madness 2021: Our Predictions

Tariq Owens #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders dunks on Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half of the semifinal game in the NCAA Men’s Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 06, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

March Madness tips off later this week, meaning it’s time to fill out your bracket. While we can’t fully guarantee which team will be named national champions this year, we’ve got a few safe bets. Here are some teams — both the expected and less expected — you should know about this year as you consider who might have the best shot at winning it all.

Related Guides

Recommended Videos

Gonzaga Bulldogs

America’s top-rated team has not lost a game all year. That would be impressive even if the Bulldogs were just playing against a bunch of scrubs but they’ve bested several title challengers en route (Iowa, Kansas, and more). The team has two players on the shortlist for the Naismith Award (aka best men’s college hoops player in the country) and can seemingly outscore any team on the planet. That, and they have tremendous depth, meaning the team is set up to do some serious tournament damage.

Iowa Hawkeyes

The team with the best center in the nation (Luka Garza) must be mentioned. Iowa has shown poise and plays in one of the strongest leagues in the country, meaning they are battle-tested and ready for the spotlight. Expect the Hawkeyes to make a deep run this year.

Michigan State Spartans

A bit of a sleeper squad this year, Michigan State just knocked off second-ranked Michigan. One could call it a fluke given the always-competitive nature of this intrastate rivalry, but MSU has quietly turned out some impressive results

University of Houston Cougars

With a 21-3 record, the Cougars are getting very used to winning. The team just pulled off a nervy win against Memphis and beat a strong Texas Tech team earlier this season. Houston hasn’t played a lot of ranked teams but that’s what makes them kinda sneaky. Pundits may write them off but they’ll undoubtedly get a strong seed to begin the tournament, one that could set them up with some favorable opponents and a pathway all the way to the Final Four (or beyond).

Creighton Bluejays

A perennial mid-tier powerhouse, Creighton looks solid this year. No stranger to the tourney, the Bluejays have qualified an impressive 20 times. This year, Creighton has earned big wins over teams like Villanova and when they lose, it’s often by just a few points, in nail-biting fashion. It’s a well-coached and organized team that may be playing with a chip on its shoulder come tournament time, given some close losses during the regular season.

Tennessee Volunteers

Defense wins championships. While it’s unlikely the Volunteers make it all the way into the April segment of the tourney, expect an upset or two. The team has already beaten Kansas and Missouri and knows how to stifle the offense of the opposing team. Many thought Tennessee would have a better record this season but, fortunately for the team, it still has a chance to live up to expectations.

Belmont Bruins

Belmont was flawless during conference play, earning a remarkable 18-0 record. The Nashville school shares the ball well on the court and has a fine center in Nick Muszynski. The team will be excited to get some national attention and has a pedigree of knocking off some of the game’s more recognized teams.

Brigham Young Cougars

Another institution touting the cougar mascot, BYU is set to make its presence felt at March Madness 2021. They’re strong defensively and shoot extremely well from distance. The team seems to be heating up just in time for the tournament, meaning they might be extra dangerous this year.

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
Tony Soprano vs. Walter White: Who is the ultimate antihero?
TV's biggest heavyweights duke it out for the antihero crown
Breaking bad season 4 screen shot

Sports fans often debate between two heavyweight legends. For basketball, it's LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Switching to tennis, you have Roger Federer fans and Rafael Nadal diehards. Debates like these are ingrained in the culture of athletics, but TV fans have their own version of this sparring match.

Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and Walter White from Breaking Bad are the two characters who still send shockwaves through every drama in the 21st century. These men were the perfect mix of good and evil. They navigated family life and the criminal underworld with cunning intelligence and ruthless risk-taking. Every show with morally gray characters at the center owes its storyboard to Walter and Tony, but which character deserves the antihero crown? This is Tony Soprano vs. Walter White for all the marbles.
Who was the more complex character?

Read more
Learn how to smoke a pipe the proper way with our guide for beginners
Let us show you the classy way to smoke a pipe
Packing a pipe

Pipe smoking is the most aesthetically distinguished way to enjoy tobacco, but you lose the classy effect if you don’t know how to smoke a pipe properly. Smoking a pipe has become a lost art, and these days, most people who engage in pipe smoking do so to achieve a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps your grandfather enjoyed a puff now and again paired with a good stiff whiskey, or maybe your goal is to emulate a pipe-smoking artist.

I know that I enjoy a good puff on a pipe now and then, and knowing the right way to enjoy a pipe has made the experience much more pleasurable for for me. Whatever the case, if you intend to take up the time-honored tradition of unwinding with a pipe like me, you should learn how to smoke a pipe the right way. And smoking a pipe is very different than smoking a cigar (except you shouldn't be inhaling either).

Read more
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more