The U Sports men’s basketball national championship might not be the spectacle that the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s March Madness is, with only eight teams competing instead of 68. It’s not often that a Cinderella run like the Saint Peter’s Peacocks occurs at U Sports nationals.
Upsets happen, though, and this year’s final eight is as unpredictable as ever. The Charlatan gathered predictions from nine U Sports reporters located across the country. Here are their brackets.
Richard Coffey | Deputy editor, 49 Sports
Uday Chhina | Sports and health editor, The Sheaf
Jonah Dayton | Men’s basketball beat reporter, The Brock Press
I feel like I can’t not pick Brock, given that I’ve covered them all year long and have seen their season-long thrashings up close, but biases aside, I like them for two reasons.
One, they’re definitely on the right side of the bracket—I mean, arguably three of the top four teams in the tournament are on the left side, so Brock has that going for them. And two, this team is so deep that they’re going to be able to withstand playing three games in three days. They have a legit 9/10-man rotation, unlike a team like Queen’s who just rides their, albeit very good, starters. That’s hard to do when playing three in three.
Trung Ho | Creator, In the 4th
I think Brock, Carleton and Dalhousie all have a fairly equal chance of winning the national championship this year. I’m giving Brock the edge though as I feel they’ve shown that they have the best mix of depth, leadership, and team cohesion this season.
Angus Merry and Natara Ng | Sports editors, The Queen’s Journal
Call us biased, but the Queen’s Gaels are our pick for the 2022 U Sports Men’s Final 8 Championship. The ultimate dark horse, the Gaels have championship-winning potential and have the postseason to prove it. Not only did they qualify for their first national tournament in program history this year, but they upset the number 1 ranked Carleton Ravens to do so. Simply put: If the Gaels can beat them, they can (and will) beat anyone else.
Griffin Porter | Co-host, OUA: In Conversation podcast
This is shaping up to be a terrific tournament. A semifinal between Carleton and Alberta has the potential to be an instant classic between, in my eyes, the two best teams in the country. As for the other semi, Brock is a great squad, but they go where Tajinder Lall takes them and I think Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Defensive Player of the Year Samuel Maillet has what it takes to bother Lall enough for Dalhousie to pull off the upset.
Thomas Scott | Contributor covering AUS basketball, 49 Sports
Michael Sun | Contributor, 49 Sports (former Charlatan sports contributor)
After missing out on a chance to face the Ravens in the OUA finals, I predict the Brock Badgers will get their chance in the national finals and beat Carleton. They’ve been arguably the best team this season and they will cement it in Edmonton.
Featured image from file.
