Many people who will fill out March Madness 2023 brackets won't start strategizing until the final NCAA Tournament field is complete. One underrated March Madness bracket tip would be to keep an eye on college basketball in the week before NCAA pools begin.
You don't have to be a college basketball expert to win your March Madness pool. Watching conference tournaments and paying attention to how some teams perform, however, could be a valuable tip when it comes to filling out a 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket.
There are 32 NCAA conference tournaments. The teams that win those conference championships will earn automatic bids to March Madness and make up nearly half the bracket.
Tournaments for the top conferences start Tuesday and Wednesday. Smaller conference tournaments are underway or have already been completed. Teams that clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament well before the final bracket is released often make good March Madness sleeper picks.
Take Furman, which won the Southern Conference Championship Monday night. Furman punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament six days before selection Sunday. That means the Paladins will have well over a week to rest up for their first March Madness game.
Furman won't earn a high seed because it plays in a smaller conference, but the team has been a consistent winner all season long. The Paladins led the league with a 15-3 record in conference play. Furman has won 14 of its last 15 games. They're the kind of team that a high March Madness seed might want to avoid in the first round.
Just look at the Saint Peter's basketball team from a season ago. The Peacocks became one of the great Cinderella stories in March Madness history. Saint Peter's became the first No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. Saint Peter's entered the NCAA Tournament on a seven-game winning streak. The Peacocks outscored their opponents in the conference tournament by an average of 10.7 points per game.
Rest shouldn't be a prerequisite when picking teams to advance your March Madness bracket pool. Another March Madness tip would be to ride a hot team that enters the NCAA Tournament playing its best basketball of the season.
Pay attention to teams that either make a surprising run to their conference championship game or win their conference tournament altogether. With so much turnover in college basketball each year, teams often take months before they finally gel. Winning a conference title could be a sign that a team is about to go on a deep March Madness run.
The Oregon State basketball team from two seasons ago is the perfect example. After going 14-12 in the regular season, the Beavers shockingly won the Pac-12 Tournament. Oregon State's conference championship run included a victory over UCLA, which ended up reaching the Final Four. As the No. 12 seed in March Madness 2021, Oregon State won three NCAA Tournament games and came up just short in the Elite Eight.
Of course, top seeds who win their conference championships are strong bets to go far in the Tournament. Kansas won the Big 12 Championship on its way to becoming the 2022 national champions. Villanova won the Big East title before reaching the 2022 Final Four.
The 2023 March Madness bracket will be revealed Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
