Edmonton, AL – Who doesn’t love sports brackets? Everyone gets way too invested, people way so smug when they predict something correctly, you get to feel like an idiot when the 3-seed takes down the 6-seed you were confident was going all the way in the quarter-final.

For most of March, the world has been focused on March Madness in the NCAA, where the odds of picking a perfect bracket in the 64 team tournament are one in 9.2 quintillion.

Luckily we aren’t talking about the NCAA, we’re talking about U SPORTS, and we only have eight teams to worry about. So perhaps the odds are better?

Either way, here are quick predictions for the 2022 U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Championship that will inevitably be wrong by the end of Friday.

Quarterfinal #1 –
#1 BRK over #8 SASK

Unless the Huskies shoot above 50% from three-point range, the Badgers should take this with ease.

Quarterfinal #2

#2 VIC over #7 CAR

Something about the Raven’s semifinal loss to the Queen’s Gaels almost gives off this aura that the Carleton “magic,” at least for this year, might not be there. Call it recency bias, but the Vikes are the sharpest shooting team in Canada West, and the Ravens got picked apart from behind the arc against Queen’s. It really doesn’t feel like Carleton has it in them this year.

Quarterfinal #3

#3 ALB over #6 MCG

It’s the battle of a strong offensive team in Alberta and a strong defensive team in McGill. Unfortunately for the Redbirds in a one-game series I go with the team I think can score their way out of problems, and McGill can’t do that as well.

Quarterfinal #4

#4 DAL over #5 QUE

The Tigers are out for blood in 2022 and watch for them to show it here. Pick one of Keevan Veinot or Alex Carson to go off for 30+ points.

Semifinal #1

#2 VIC over #3 ALB

A 2022 Canada West Finals rematch and Victoria gets to play heartbreaker again. Watch for fifth-year Scott Kellum to have another strong game. He scored a game-high 20 against Alberta in the Canada West final.

Semifinal #2

#4 DAL over #1 BRK

The first (depending on your view of Victoria/Carleton) true upset of the tournament. This is less an indictment of the Badgers and more a view on the hunger Dalhousie has heading into this tournament. The Tigers missed the final in 2019 and lost it in 2020 and it doesn’t really feel like any team will stop them.

Final

#2 VIC over #4 DAL

Any team except this one. The official prediction from yours truly is that the W.P McGee Trophy is headed to Victoria, British Columbia, for the first time since 1997.

This game will be an absolute cage match, The best offence in the country vs the two hungry stars searching for a title. The x-factor will be what it has been all year for Victoria, three-point shooting. The Tigers have the best three-point defence in Canada, so this result could flip if they can shut down Victoria’s countless options. Still, for now, the Vikes are riding too much confidence and have too many weapons not to leave Edmonton without the W.P McGee Trophy.