March Madness Sweet 16 Picks and Printable Bracket

The first weekend of March Madness proved to be as wild as ever, the 2021 NCAA Tournament seemed to award NCAA college basketball fans for a two-year wait for the event.

March Madness Printable Bracket

To get you started for your weekend of binge-worthy NCAA basketball goodness, we’ve put together an updated printable bracket. Click on this link to download and print or click on the image below.

If you’re feeling down or angry about the state of your bracket and March Madness picks, this should make you feel better…

No Perfect Brackets

All verifiably perfect brackets busted on only game 28 — the second day of the first round.

Not a single bracket out of millions went 16-for-16 in picking the Sweet 16 teams, based on public data.

While we can’t know every single bracket in the world, we do know this from the biggest verifiable sources: Bracket Challenge Game, ESPN, Yahoo, CBS and Sports Illustrated.

The best we found 15 of 16 correct picks (with 300 of a possible 320 points) are two on ESPN’s public leaderboard.

One of these ESPN brackets is called “Sanders175 4” and this one had all Sweet 16 teams except for Ohio State.

The other is “Lucenda” and missed on Iona. That’s right. This bracket had two No. 15 seeds in the Sweet 16.

Not a single bettor predicted this Sweet 16 line-up.

Feeling better? Now, let’s have a look at the absolutely wild games in this year’s March Madness opening rounds. Here are some highlights.

March Madness Upset Highlights

• #2 Ohio State shockingly fell to 15th seed Oral Roberts. That loss is going to sting for a while.
• Abilene Christian broke Texas‘ heart with two late free throws to make it to the Round of 32 only to be knocked out by UCLA.
• #13 Ohio won a shocker over reigning national champs Virginia.
• Loyola Chicago toppled #1 seed Illinois in the second round of the tournament.

With Sweet 16 starting this weekend, we’ve got a breakdown and our March Madness picks for 3 of the top games.

Let’s dive right in…

March Madness 2021 Sweet 16 Free Picks

#12 Oregon State versus #8 Loyola Chicago

Number 12 Oregon State Beavers and Number 8 Loyola Chicago Ramblers combine for the largest total seed number of any of the games with 20. The most interesting line here might be the over-under of 125 points, as Loyola is the best team in America in adjusted defensive efficiency by KenPom. The Beavers have averaged 75.6 points per game during their five-game win streak, but both teams have some of the slowest pace in all of college basketball.

The Smart Bet: Take the Over at 125.

How to Bet Oregon State vs. Loyola (Chicago) NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

• When: Saturday, 2:40 PM ET
• Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
• TV: CBS
• Stream: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live
• Opening NCAAB Lines: Loyola -6.5 (total 125.5)

#5 Villanova vs. #1 Baylor

The Cats had a relatively easy path here, getting past a feisty-but-incapable Winthrop 73-63, then stomping on North Texas 84-61 that was just happy to make it the second Round. In the two games against quality opponents without Collin Gillespie, they’ve struggled in capping the Big East season against Providence and Georgetown.

And the smart bettors agree. Starting Chris Arcidiacono against Baylor’s backcourt of MaCio Teague, Jared Butler, and Davion Mitchell is a huge mismatch. Right now the Bears are a 6.5 point favorite are getting 87% of the handle and 77% of the bets.

The Smart Bet: Baylor covering the 6.5 point spread.

How to Bet Villanova vs. Baylor NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

• When: Saturday, 5:15 PM ET
• Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
• TV: CBS
• Stream: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live
• Opening NCAAB Lines: Baylor -6.5 (total 140)

#11 UCLA vs. #2 Alabama

UCLA are the only team that had to win three games in this tournament to get here, getting past Michigan State in the First Four before knocking off BYU and Abilene Christian to reach the Sweet 16.

After losing four straight to end the Pac-12 NCAA season, they really looked like one of the best teams in the country due in no small part to the outstanding play of Johnny Juzang.

The Crimson Tide has the 3rd best adjusted defense in the country, and UCLA hasn’t seen a true shutdown team this season. As good as UCLA has looked during this tournament, they don’t have the weapons to fight against Alabama’s powerful defense.

Herbert Jones, Jahvon Quinerly, and Jaden Shackelford can all score and stop people, but the depth of Bama’s offense can be a problem. Alabama are a six-point favorite, they have 77% of the handle and 79% of the bets as of now.

The Smart Bet: Look for Alabama to squeak out a win. Take the Crimson Tide straight up.

How to Bet UCLA vs. Alabama NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

• When: Sunday, 7:15 PM ET
• Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
• TV: CBS
• Stream: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live
• Opening NCAAB Lines: Alabama -6.5 (total 145.5)

Sweet 16 Round Up

March Madness has always been incredibly difficult to predict. Unknown potential Cinderella teams can play an incredible game, upsetting all of the favorites and breaking every single bracket.

Let’s see what this weekend’s Sweet 16 round offers up to all of us anxious sports bettors.