2023 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions: March Madness professional picks, favorites to win, winners, upsets

Back in November, 350 teams started the season with the purpose of operating by way of March Madness and winning the 2023 national championship. Just after the field of teams chasing a title was lowered to 68, it was whittled down to 64 teams nonetheless alive in the NCAA Tournament.

Now all that is left is to make your picks!

Our CBS Sports specialists have spent months preparing for this precise moment. We’ve broken down the tape, watched the best players and compiled all the intel needed to assist guide you by way of creating your bracket. From the No. 1 teams to the No. 16 seeds, we have you covered across all 68 teams, all 65 games and all 3 weeks of the tournament. 

The CBS Sports college basketball group has filled out its professional brackets, so assume of this as a cheat sheet to help you in winning your pool. (Copy all you want we will not judge.) We’re right here to serve you, and our understanding is your understanding. Just know, if we’re suitable and make the right picks, we are certainly accountable and want credit (tweet us!). And if not, nicely, we take zero blame. Thems the guidelines. 

Get each choose, each play, each upset and fill out your bracket with our assist! Go to SportsLine now to see which teams will make and break your bracket and who will reduce down the nets, all from the model that beat more than 92% of all CBS Sports brackets in two of the final 4 tournaments.

OK, adequate with the exciting stuff. On to the brackets …  

2023 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions

Gary Parrish

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A terrific coach, terrific guards, skilled players and NBA talent are ordinarily what it requires to win a national title. Houston checks each box thinking of Kelvin Sampson is a terrific coach, Jamal Shead and Marcus Sasser are terrific guards, 4 of Houston’s best 5 scorers are non-freshmen, and Sasser and Jarace Walker ought to each be very first-round NBA Draft picks. Am I concerned about Sasser’s groin injury? Positive, a small. But assuming he’s OK, I assume Houston is greater equipped than anyone else to win six games in this bracket and reduce nets on the very first Monday evening in April.

Matt Norlander

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I am going storybook. I am going Houston to do what hasn’t been performed because 1972: a group winning the national championship in its residence city (UCLA did it in ’68 and ’72). I am going Houston to do this, with UH alumnus Jim Nantz on the mic for the final NCAA Tournament contact of his Hall of Fame profession. But I am performing this, most of all, due to the fact Houston has rated as the ideal group in college basketball in each mainstream sophisticated analytic metric for months. The proof is in. It really is no assure this group even reaches the Final 4, but it is the ideal candidate. And if Marcus Sasser’s groin concern can subside, it signifies the Cougars will have a nasty 3-guard attack, a future lottery choose (Jarace Walker) and a coach (Kelvin Sampson) who took this college to the largest stage just two years ago. They have the pedigree, talent, size, strength and toughness to do this.

As for Purdue, it really is got the ideal player in college basketball. Painter is suitable up there with Sampson on the brief list of ideal coaches in the game. I think the Boilers finish their March hex this year and ultimately break by way of to their very first Final 4 in 43 years, performing so with a heroic/dominant run from Zach Edey in the method. I will hold it brief on my other two Final 4 teams: Gonzaga has the ideal offense in college hoops and has rated as the ideal group nationally for a month. Creighton has one particular of the eight-ten ideal beginning fives in the sport and checks each box for what you want in a Final 4 group: expertise, defense, shooting, NBA athleticism, higher-level point guard play, a genuinely superior coach. There will be a non-1/two/three seed that breaks by way of. Why not Creighton?

Kyle Boone

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The well being of star guard and top scorer Marcus Sasser could lead to doubt to creep into your thoughts about the Cougars’ possibilities, but ought to he return at complete strength, Houston ought to be regarded as the frontrunner till additional notice. This Kelvin Sampson-led club is the toughest, most nicely-rounded group in the sport and the most grueling matchup for opposing teams to boot. They routinely rake on the offensive glass, thrive on second-likelihood possibilities and grind teams down with their methodical pace. With 31 wins to just 3 losses getting into March Madness, this Houston group prices No. 1 across various analytics websites and has the requisite offensive/defensive balance you want from a contender as the only group in the sport with a best-11 offense and defense in adjusted efficiency ratings.

David Cobb

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Alabama struggled in its final 4 typical season games soon after revelations about star freshman Brandon Miller’s connection to a fatal shooting became public. But the Crimson Tide regained their composure at the SEC Tournament and beat 3 NCAA Tournament teams by double-digits on their way to a title. With veteran guards, elite wings/forwards and a rim protector down low in Charles Bediako, this group lacks practically nothing. Even though the program’s handling of an off-court scandal has clearly been questionable, the group has much more talent than any in college basketball.

Jerry Palm

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Alabama could not have been my decision for the all round No. 1 seed, but they surely got a good draw. The South Area functions the weakest two and 4 seeds and a 3 seed that is struggling late in the season. As soon as they get to the Final 4, I count on Brandon Miller to take more than and lead Bama to its very first national title. Gonzaga did not have a typical season that lived up to the requirements we are made use of to from them. Just after the loss at Saint Mary’s, items changed. The Zags backcourt play enhanced in distinct and they are now on a roll getting into the NCAA Tournament. I count on that roll to continue all the way to Houston.

Dennis Dodd

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Chip Patterson

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I began filling out my bracket recognizing how unlikely it is for schools to win a national championship and then run it back. I also know how unlikely it is for a system to win a national championship, drop most of the main rotation players and then come back and compete for a national championship. But that is specifically what Kansas has performed, notching a record 17 Quad 1 wins, a further Massive 12 typical season crown and earning the third No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. I assume the bracket breaks favorably, as UCLA is dealing with injury concerns and Kansas can match designs with the likes of UConn or Gonzaga based on what is required. From there it really is a fourth meeting with Texas, in Houston, which ought to be epic and then facing the winner of my chaos side which has Arizona out of the South and Duke out of the East. The Blue Devils have not been playing like a No. five seed more than the final nine games, as they’ve gotten healthier and the blue chip freshmen have gotten even much more comfy in their roles. It really is a negative draw for Purdue, created even worse by the Madison Square Garden setting — a creating Duke plays in each year — for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.

Josh Nagel

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Tim Doyle

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Get each choose, each play, each upset and fill out your bracket with our assist! Go to SportsLine now to see which teams will make and break your bracket and who will reduce down the nets, all from the model that nailed 18 upsets by double-digit seeds.