Community Picks: Yale 0% vs Baylor 0%

For Baylor, going to the NCAA Tournament is beginning to become the expectation. Yale will be getting reacquainted with it for the first time in more than 50 years. The West Region's fifth seed, the Bears (22-11) enter their first-round matchup with the 12th-seeded Bulldogs (22-6) Thursday battered, but unbowed by a brutal Big 12 schedule that included seven tournament teams. Continue to Article

March 16, 2016 7:23:pm EST

College basketball fans thought picking the bracket was tough last season. Continue to Article

March 16, 2016 2:13:pm EST

King McClure was told by doctors after being diagnosed with a heart condition last summer that he could never play basketball again. McClure had just arrived on the Baylor campus and had already practiced for a week before a health screening for incoming players revealed that he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Continue to Article

March 15, 2016 5:49:pm EST

You would think a chaotic, upset-heavy season would yield a wider range of Final Four picks, but so far that's not the case. Yahoo users are mostly hoping to ride No. 1 and 2 seeds to bragging rights in their office pools. Here's an early look at who Yahoo users like to pull early upsets, to reach the Final Four and to win the national championship in this year's Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick'Em . And just in case you want the thoughts of a college basketball writer who embarrassingly lost a projected Final Four team by the end of the opening day of last year's tournament — thanks Iowa State! — I also offered my thoughts on where I agree and disagree with popular opinion . Most popular round-of-64 upset pick by a double-digit seed: No. 10 VCU over No. 7 Oregon State (59.4 percent) My take: Reasonable choice. Not only was Oregon State maybe the most overseeded team in the field, the Beavers are likely to be without second leading scorer Tres Tinkle due to injury. This VCU team didn't notch many notable wins this season, nor does it force turnovers the way Shaka Smart's best teams did, but the Rams are certainly capable of a win here. Most popular 11-6 round-of-64 upset pick: Gonzaga over Seton Hall (47.8 percent) My take: Given that Seton Hall won 12 of its last 14 and captured the Big East tournament title, I'm mildly surprised by this. Gonzaga has a top 30 KenPom ranking and one of the best frontcourt duos in the country, but the Zags have struggled to close out victories against good teams this season. Seton Hall has a massive advantage in the backcourt with Isaiah Whitehead and Khadeen Carrington. Most popular 12-5 round-of-64 upset pick: Yale over Baylor (14.8 percent) My take: Yale's biggest advantage might be in the stands rather than on the court. The Bulldogs are playing the Bears 100 miles from campus in Providence, R.I., an easy trip for Yale fans and alumni who haven't seen their team in the NCAA tournament since John F. Kennedy was still in office. Baylor bludgeons teams on the offensive glass, but Yale is a top 10 rebounding team too. The key may be if the Bulldogs can knock down threes against the Bears' zone. Most popular 13-4 round-of-64 upset pick: Hawaii over Cal (14.6 percent) My take: If you're looking for a big underdog to ride in the opening round, you could do worse than Hawaii. The Big West champion Rainbow Warriors have fared well against strong competition this year, beating Northern Iowa, pushing Texas Tech and falling to Oklahoma by just three. Sweet-shooting big man Stefan Jankovic will be a problematic matchup for Cal because of his 3-point prowess.  Double-digit seed most likely to reach the Sweet 16: No. 11 Gonzaga (18.2 percent) My take: This is the second straight year Yahoo users have liked a double-digit seed in Utah's section of the bracket to advance to the Sweet 16. Last year, the Utes had no problem discarding Stephen F. Austin and Georgetown en route to the second weekend. I think the Utes would be pleased to see Gonzaga rather than Seton Hall in this spot because of the matchup advantage the Pirates would have on the perimeter. No. 1 seed most likely to lose before the Final Four: Virginia My take: Virginia was still the fifth most popular Final Four pick with 19.4 percent of Yahoo users, but that put the Cavaliers behind Kansas (72.9), Michigan State (69.3), North Carolina (53.7), Oklahoma (44.9) and Oregon (24.1). That's reasonable given Virginia's potential Elite Eight matchup with nemesis Michigan State, though it is worth noting that Oregon has a tricky round of 32 matchup with either Cincinnati or St. Joseph's and North Carolina and Kansas both have tougher potential Sweet 16 opponents. Most popular Final Four picks: Kansas (72.9 percent), Michigan State (69.3), North Carolina (53.7) and Oklahoma (44.9) My take: For such an upset-heavy season, many people are predicting the Final Four to feature mostly chalk. That quartet features a pair of No. 1s and a pair of No. 2s. Teams seeded third or worse that Yahoo users like to go to the Final Four? Kentucky in the East (18 percent), Texas A&M in the West (12.1), Miami in the South (4.1) and Utah in the Midwest (2.6) Five most popular national champions: Kansas (30.3 percent), Michigan State (26.5), North Carolina (15.1), Oklahoma (4.3), Kentucky (3.8) My take: How wide open is this year compared to last season? Kentucky was the choice of 59.7 percent of Yahoo users last March. This group of five looks reasonable, but a dark horse worth considering? Maryland. The preseason poll is often a better predictor of NCAA tournament success than any other tool, and the Terps still have as talented a starting five as anyone. Duke will: lose in the round of 64 (7.7 percent), lose during the first weekend (15 percent), lose without reaching the Final Four (77.7 percent), win the national championship (1.5 percent) My take: The 7.7 percent of you hoping UNC Wilmington will be the next Lehigh or Mercer better hope that the Blue Devils don't solve some of their defensive issues and rip off a run through a wide-open West Region. Conversely, the 1.5 percent of you who have the Blue Devils going back-to-back should probably realize that Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor aren't walking through that door. Kentucky will: lose in the round of 64 (6.0 percent), lose during the first weekend (31.6 percent), lose before the Final Four (82 percent), win the national championship (3.8 percent) My take: Kentucky's modest odds likely reflect its treacherous draw. To reach the Final Four, the Wildcats could have to dispatch dangerous mid-major Stony Brook, Big Ten champion Indiana, ACC champion North Carolina and either top 10 Xavier or top 10 West Virginia. - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article

March 15, 2016 4:55:pm EST