March Madness 2023 South Region

Pod 1:Birminghham, AL

Alabama might have one of the strongest resumes of any team in the bracket.

Both Maryland and West Virginia don't have any impressive non-con wins, so thinks this, with the homefield advantage that is playing in their backyard, makes this an easy pod for Alabama.

Pod 2: Orlando, FL

Never bet on a MWC team. Both teams have almost the same Q1 wins in their matchup against Charleston, but still heavily like San Diego State here. MWC teams have lost their last 6 games to Power 5 teams that were seeded worse than them, but they draw another mid major, don't discount them this year.

Virginia, unlike past upsets, does have a positive turnover margin this year. I do like them to win this pod, even with a trendy upset pack that is Furman.

Pod3: Denver CO.

Although Creighton is closest to Denver, don't really see home field advantage coming into play here. My model likes NC state due to the very negative turnover margin for Creighton and the very positive one for NC state. Look for a very imbalanced shots for this game, favoring NC state.

Baylor pulls a safe game against UCSB, and then i see them, as expected, winning this region.

Pod 4: Sacramento

Missouri should win this one against a team whose only other quad one wins were the same team in Boise state. Just like NC state above, my model really doesn't like negative turnover margins that Utah State had, and with Mizzou having one of the best differentials out there, heavily favors them in this matchup.

Arizona should win a lackluster 2/15 matchup.

Really like Baylor, as they did end up winning this bracket in all 4 variations. Arizona and Alabama do have two of the stronger resumes in terms of records, especially given Arizona has already beaten Creighton and SDSU at neutral sites this year.