The Battle of the Bracket: Who Might Break Yours?

Cinderella team: Arizona State – With the combination of the successful season they have had so far and their anticipated matchups against Texas A&M and Wisconsin, they have the best chance to make it far.

Biggest rematch: Nebraska v. Wisconsin – I don’t even think I need to explain my reasoning for this one.

Biggest surprise (who has exceeded expectations so far this year): Utah – Coming from being unranked at the start of the year to being selected as a 4 seed in the tournament, they have certainly exceeded my expectations! They have impressive SWEEPS over BYU, Baylor, and TCU making them a force to be reckoned with this December.

Biggest X-factor (player whose performance will determine their team’s run in the tournament): Melanie Parra – TCU’s wins and losses this season have been very consistent with Parra’s performance. Almost every team that has been able to stop her and keep her hitting percentage below .200 has been successful against the Horned Frogs, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see this pattern continue in the tournament.

Team with the toughest road: Kentucky – Their first round may be a breeze, but then they will most likely face a gritty Minnesota team that isn’t going down without a fight. If they survive that, then they will face a rematch with their SEC foe Mizzou or SMU who will be looking for revenge after taking a loss to the Wildcats earlier this season.

Best first-round matchup: UNI V Illinois - These two teams are very evenly matched, and it is one of the few first-round matchups I envision not being a one-sided sweep. But then again, there is more parity this year than ever before, so hopefully we see more unranked teams put up a fight and maybe even upset some of the big dogs.

Who might fall short: SMU - They have been extremely unpredictable this year taking down Nebraska and Pitt, while also taking losses against lower-ranked teams Hawaii, LMU, and most recently NC State.

Team that’s peaking at the right time: Texas - They went through a rough weekend not too long ago, losing three straight matches to SEC foes, but they have a six-game winning streak heading into the first round. At the end of the day, they are a strong tournament team who will always put up a fight.

Seed the committee got wrong: LMU being a 7 seed – Accompanying their one top-ten win against SMU are two losses to unranked tournament teams and two losses against teams who were not even on the bubble to make the tournament. I think they were seeded too highly and have a strong chance of being knocked out by Washington first round.

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