The NCAA Tournament is drawing to a close for men's basketball. Here are American-Statesman staff March Madness picks for the Final Four predictions.

The inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament began Monday from Las Vegas with a bang. Butler pulled off a thrilling 86-84 upset win over Utah after star guard Pierre Brooks ll hit a game-winning layup with less than :03 remaining to get the sport's newest postseason event started.

Madness is approaching its final days. The Final Four have been determined, and each team hopes to take home a championship title dating back to 1939. March Madness is an annual single-elimination basketball tournament to determine the Division I national champions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Geno Auriemma will participate in his 24th Final Four as head coach of UConn, while UCLA is in its first-ever Women's Final Four. UCLA has been one of the great stories of the season behind star Lauren Betts, but this is UConn in the NCAA tournament.

By bypassing the Blue Devils for the title, you can differentiate your entry. Duke’s prowess has made it the most popular title pick in ESPN’s bracket contest ( 25 percent of entries as of Tuesday) as well as CBS’s. Not going with Duke to win is a smart pool strategy Mock outlines here — while still collecting points by riding Duke to the finals.

The women's NCAA Tournament Final Four will take place on Friday, April 4, and both games should be highly competitive. Which teams will advance to the March Madness national championship? Here are our predictions for women's NCAA Tournament's Final Four:

Women's NCAA Tournament begins on Wednesday, March 19 and runs through Sunday, April 6. See below for everything you need to know about the women's tournament, including the full schedule, scores, tournament sites,

The tourney’s overall 1 seed, UCLA, knocked off LSU 72-65 to advance to its first women’s Final Four behind another big game by Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 All-American had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots despite sitting out the second quarter.