NCAA Tournament 2019: Buy or sell Duke, Gonzaga, Virginia and UNC?
By Adam Childs
The NCAA Tournament bracket has been revealed and the ACC claimed three number one seeds along with Gonzaga. Who should we buy into and who should we sell? Or will they all make it to the Final Four and prove the committee right?
All year long teams battle it out in hopes for a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. It should give that team the easiest possible path to the Final Four and hopefully a title game appearance. It is easy to pick the number one seeds to roll through their region, they are the “top” team. But it is not very often that all four make the Final Four and some can’t even get to the Sweet 16. And of course there is the one time they didn’t even win their first game (sorry Virginia).
This year the ACC claimed three of the number one seeds. Duke and Virginia looked like good bets all year long, but North Carolina picked themselves up after some early season struggles and looked like the best team in the country at times. Even with Virginia stumbling in the conference tournament the fact that they only lost three games all year (two to Duke) was enough for them to get a top seed. Duke has looked like the best team all year, at least when Zion Williamson has been on the court.
The only team outside the ACC to get a one seed was Gonzaga. The team everybody either loves as the perpetual underdog, or the one people hate because they feel like they are just “good” because they play in a weak conference. While the conference argument is valid, the Bulldogs did beat Duke when they were completely healthy and a Tennessee team that was number one for many weeks this year. They did come up short against North Carolina, but for someone arguing that they didn’t have enough competition this year is wrong.
So the big question is which one of these teams should we trust and which should we sell if any. Will we get a chalk Final Four or could we see an upset and who might be the first one out? Lets take a look at each team.