How To Properly Fill Out Your March Madness Brackets

Today actually starts the NCAA Tournament with two of the four First Four games in Dayton, Ohio. You still might be stuck with how to pick your overall champion. No worries, we have you covered!

Our bracket will go game by game and figuring out which school has the better lacrosse team. Because we’re a college lacrosse blog! Let’s get to it, region by region up until the Final Four!

East Region

First Round

#1 Villanova vs. #16 Mount St. Mary’s: Both are D1 lacrosse teams (Mount St. Mary’s would defeat New Orleans), and Nova has better talent than the Mountaineers. Pick: Villanova.

#8 Wisconsin vs. #9 Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech is 4-3 in the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) of the MCLA, while Wisconsin has three different club teams. Pick: Virginia Tech.

#5 Virginia vs. #12 UNC Wilmington: Virginia is a D1 team, while UNC Wilmington is not. Pick: Virginia.

#4 Florida vs. #13 Eastern Tennessee State: The Gators are 6-0 in the SELC, while Eastern Tennessee State kinda does have a club team. Pick: Florida.

#6 SMU vs. #11 Providence: Providence would defeat USC because of the same reason as they’ll have in this game: the Friars are a D1 team. Pick: Providence.

#3 Baylor vs. #14 New Mexico State: Baylor is 5-1 in the Lone Star Alliance (LSA) for Division II of the MCLA, while New Mexico State doesn’t have a team. Pick: Baylor.

#7 South Carolina vs. #10 Marquette: The Golden Eagles are a D1 team. Pick: Marquette.

#2 Duke vs. #15 Troy: Duke is also a D1 team. Pick: Duke.

Second Round

#1 Villanova vs. #9 Virginia Tech: Villanova is still at this point a Division I team. Pick: Villanova.

#4 Florida vs. #5 Virginia: Lars Tiffany would run over Florida’s defense. Pick: Virginia.

#3 Baylor vs. #11 Providence: Providence is a young up-and-coming team. Pick: Providence

#2 Duke vs. #10 Marquette: Our first D1 lacrosse matchup of the Tournament that we’re covering! If this was last year, it’d be a closer game. It won’t be. Pick: Duke.

Sweet Sixteen

#1 Villanova vs. #5 Virginia: Another D1 lacrosse matchup, which should feature a lot of offense. Villanova was able to handle a fast tempo of play with Brown, but Virginia might be a tougher opponent. Pick: Virginia.

#2 Duke vs. #11 Providence: Even though Providence is doing pretty well, Duke has started to find their stride. Pick: Duke.

Elite Eight

#2 Duke vs. #5 Virginia: An ACC showdown to decide the first Final Four spot. Virginia has plenty of promise in the future, and Duke is still young. Virginia’s fast-paced tempo might hurt them more than helping them (see Penn, Syracuse, Cornell). Pick: Duke.

Midwest

First Round

#1 Kansas vs. #16 UC Davis: The Jayhawks are 4-3 in the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC) of the MCLA in Division 1, while UC Davis is 2-6 in the Western Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (WCLL) at the Division 2 level. Pick: Kansas.

#8 Miami (FL) vs. #9 Michigan State: The Hurricanes are 1-3 in the SELC Division 2 level, while Michigan State is 3-2 in the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) in the Division 1 level. Pick: Michigan State.

#5 Iowa State vs. #12 Nevada: Iowa State’s 4-3 in the Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference (UMLC), while Nevada is 1-5 in the WCLL Division 1 level. Pick: Iowa State.

#4 Purdue vs. #12 Vermont: Vermont is D1 in lacrosse. Pick: Vermont.

#6 Creighton vs. #11 Rhode Island: Creighton is 2-1 in the GRLC Division 2 level, while Rhode Island is 3-2 and tops in the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL) at the Division 1 level. Pick: Rhode Island.

#3 Oregon vs. #14 Iona: Oregon is 5-2 in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL), while Iona doesn’t have a team. Pick: Oregon.

#7 Michigan vs. #10 Oklahoma State: Michigan is a Division I lacrosse school, who could be in the top 20. Pick: Michigan.

#2 Louisville vs. #15 Jacksonville State: Well both of these schools don’t have men’s lacrosse teams, but Louisville has a pretty good women’s team. Pick: Louisville.

Second Round

#1 Kansas vs. #9 Michigan State: This would be a fun matchup between two MCLA teams, but Michigan State used to have an NCAA Division I team. Pick: Michigan State.

#5 Iowa State vs. #13 Vermont: Again, Vermont is a Division I school. Pick: Vermont.

#3 Oregon vs. #11 Rhode Island: Oregon is usually a very good team in the MCLA. Pick: Oregon.

#2 Louisville vs. #7 Michigan: Sorry Louisville, your run ends here. Pick: Michigan.

Sweet Sixteen

#9 Michigan State vs. #13 Vermont: The Catamounts win again because an NCAA Division I school tops an MCLA Division I school. Pick: Vermont.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 Michigan: This might actually be a good NCAA-MCLA game to watch. But Michigan is having a historic season so far. Pick: Michigan.

Elite Eight

#7 Michigan vs. #13 Vermont: The only NCAA lacrosse matchup in this region. Michigan’s best win was Penn on Saturday. Vermont’s best win was either Holy Cross or Sacred Heart. Pick: Michigan.

South Region

First Round

#1 North Carolina vs. #16 Texas Southern: Duh. Pick: North Carolina.

#8 Arkansas vs. #9 Seton Hall: The Razorbacks are 7-5 in the Lone Star Alliance (LSA) in Division 1, while Seton Hall doesn’t have a team. Pick: Arkansas.

#5 Minnesota vs. #12 Middle Tennessee: Minnesota is 6-3 in the CCLA Division 1 conference, while Middle Tennessee also doesn’t have a lacrosse team. Pick: Minnesota.

#4 Butler vs. #13 Winthrop: Butler has a club team and used to be in Division I lacrosse at the NCAA level, while Winthrop doesn’t. Pick: Butler.

#6 Cincinnati vs. #11 Wake Forest: In the play-in game, Wake Forest, a 4-4 team in the SELC Division 2 conference, would beat Kansas State, an 0-5 team in the GRLC Division 1 conference. Maybe win some games next time, Wildcats. Cincinnati is also a club team. Pick: Wake Forest.

#3 UCLA vs. #14 Kent State: UCLA is a 2-7 team in the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC) in Division 1, while Kent State is a pretty good club team. It might be a good game. Pick: UCLA.

#7 Dayton vs. #10 Wichita State: The Flyers are usually one of the best MCLA Division 2 teams, while Wichita State might not know what lacrosse is just yet. Pick: Dayton.

#2 Kentucky vs. #15 Northern Kentucky: Kentucky’s club team is alright, while Northern Kentucky is nonexistent in lacrosse. Pick: Kentucky.

Second Round

#1 North Carolina vs. #8 Arkansas: The defending national champs against an MCLA team. Pick: North Carolina.

#4 Butler vs. #5 Minnesota: The Golden Gophers are in the MCLA and would easily beat the Bulldogs. Pick: Minnesota.

#3 UCLA vs. #11 Wake Forest: Even though Wake Forest is .500 in Division 2 of the MCLA, they might put up a fight against UCLA. But Division I is technically better than Division 2. Pick: UCLA.

#2 Kentucky vs. #7 Dayton: Dayton would blow Kentucky out of the water. Pick: Dayton.

Sweet Sixteen

#1 North Carolina vs. #5 Minnesota: Again. Pick: North Carolina.

#3 UCLA vs. #7 Dayton: Dayton is Division 2, but UCLA would get an upset loss to these guys in my mind. Pick: Dayton.

Elite Eight

#1 North Carolina vs. #7 Dayton: Again, there’s no need for an explanation. Pick: North Carolina.

West Region

First Round

#1 Gonzaga vs. #16 South Dakota State: The Bulldogs are 3-3 in the PNCLL Division 2 conference, while South Dakota State is 0-2 in the Great Lakes Lacrosse League. Pick: Gonzaga.

#8 Northwestern vs. #9 Vanderbilt: Northwestern is 2-0 in the GLLL, but Vanderbilt is 3-3 in the SELC Division 1 conference. Pick: Vanderbilt

#5 Notre Dame vs. #12 Princeton: This would honestly be a very good game to watch lacrosse wise. Notre Dame is a top five team but Princeton, who was unranked when they defeated Johns Hopkins at home 18-7 about a week and a half ago, is returning to prominence. Pick: Notre Dame.

#4 West Virginia vs. #13 Bucknell: Bucknell is a Division I lacrosse school. Pick: Bucknell.

#6 Maryland vs. #11 Xavier: Picture Maryland seeded sixth in the lacrosse tournament. LOL! Pick: Maryland.

#3 Florida State vs. #14 Florida Gulf Coast: The Seminoles are an undefeated 7-0 in the SELC Division 1 conference, while Florida Gulf Coast is 1-4 in the SELC Division 2 conference. Pick: Florida State.

#7 Saint Mary’s vs. #10 VCU: Saint Mary’s is 0-6 in the WCLL Division 2 conference, while VCU is 2-0 in club lacrosse. Gotta take the wins here. Pick: VCU.

#2 Arizona vs. #15 North Dakota: The Wildcats are 4-4 in the SLC Division 1 conference, while North Dakota is 0-2 in the GLLL. Pick: Arizona.

Second Round

#1 Gonzaga vs. #9 Vanderbilt: WE GOT ANOTHER UPSET OF A #1 TEAM! Pick: Vanderbilt.

#5 Notre Dame vs. #13 Bucknell: That’s an easy game for the Irish to win. Pick: Notre Dame.

#3 Florida State vs. #6 Maryland: I wish Florida State had NCAA Division I lacrosse, because that would mean the ACC would have an AQ again! Pick: Maryland.

#2 Arizona vs. #10 VCU: Arizona being in MCLA Division 1 takes the cake. Pick: Arizona.

Sweet Sixteen

#5 Notre Dame vs. #9 Vanderbilt: The Irish are a tough Division I team. Pick: Notre Dame.

#2 Arizona vs. #6 Maryland: Maryland is an obvious choice. Pick: Maryland.

Elite Eight

#5 Notre Dame vs. #6 Maryland: This game already happened, and Notre Dame won 5-4. Pick: Notre Dame.

Final Four

#2 Duke vs. #5 Notre Dame: This is going to be another fun ACC game to watch. Duke is starting to pick up the steam, but Notre Dame has been a tough team for the past few years, except in the ACC Tournament, where they lost to Duke in the past two seasons. It’s a postseason tournament. Pick: Duke.

#1 North Carolina vs. #7 Michigan: The Wolverines’ Cinderella run ends here. Pick: North Carolina.

National Championship

#1 North Carolina vs. #2 Duke: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It works out so perfectly I love it! Duke is hot, while North Carolina currently isn’t. They lost to Hopkins by a lot, but defeated Denver, then lost to Hofstra and now Richmond.

National Champion: Duke Blue Devils.

We’ll see how this bracket actually does during the tournament, with First Round games beginning Thursday.

Check out the entire bracket here:

UPDATE: Due to both 11 seeds losing (and the fact that brackets are due by noon Thursday), we have a new updated bracket: