The Bracket Picks

I wonder if James Anderson picked himself off the floor yet? Akron beat Florida State last night like I said they would. So, I pretty sure James Anderson stopped laughing and rolling around on the dirt floor in his hut, picked himself up off the ground went about his worthless day. I’m also sure the dirt he was rolling in, is still coating his body.

 

Alright, with that out of the way, let’s dive in to some NCAA talk. If you haven’t filled out your bracket, luck you. You’ll see a near perfect one today after reading this post since I’ll unviel the winner for all 63 games (although I guess technically I already missed one since I picked Coppin State. Maybe it’s better you dont’ fill out your bracket until you read this and then do the opposite of all my picks.) Don’t forget to sign up over at Yahoo.

 

I only picked seven upsets in the first round. Of those two were a 9 over an 8 (Kent State over UNLV and Texas A&M ove BYU), three were an 11 over 6 (St. Joe’s over Oklahoma, Kentucky over Marquette, and Baylor over Purdue), and one was a 10 over 7 (Arizona over West Virginia).

 

In the East, I see the seeding holding true, besides St. Joe’s win, through the regional final. UNC takes the region. 

 

In the Midwest, a much different story. No. 6 USC and No. 7 Gonzaga will face in one Sweet 16 game and Kansas and Vandy in the other. I hate OJ Mayo but he is so good and playing so well, USC won’t lose early. As for Gonzaga, remember when they were the upstart mid-major that everyone fell in love with and it became trendy to pick them to pull some upsets? Then they got too big for themselves, earned some high seeds and lost early when it was “cool” to pick them to make it to the Final Four? Now they are the “overrated” mid-major that people have jumped off the band wagon because although they are always good, they never do anything in the tournament and now people pick them to lose. In an ESPN poll, more than half picked Davidson to beat them in the first round. Since so many people have jumped off the Zaga wagon, I’m jumping back on and taking them to upset Georgetown in the second round. And I don’t think Georgetown is that good.

 

In the regional final, it’s Vandy over Kansas simply because they are Kansas and you can’t trust them. Then it’s USC over Zaga and the Trojans on to the Final Four.

 

Down South, Memphis, Pitt and Texas hold their own to the Sweet 16 but the surprise team is Kentucky. Playing much better basketball lately and with out Tubby Smith to screw them up (see, Minnesota, 2008 NIT first round loss), they will make a mini run this year.

 

Memphis over Texas in the regiona final.

 

Out West, UCLA will have a surprise opponent in Western Kentucky after the Hilltoppers beat Drake and UConn. Why am I picking them? Not a clue. Xavier will play Arizona after the Wildcats knock off Duke. No one is scared of Duke anymore.

 

UCLA beats X in the final.

 

That leaves UNC, USC and Memphis, UCLA in the Final Four.

 

Memphis beats UNC in the national title game.

 

I’m riding Memphis because they have been so close the last two years (regional final losses). Rose will get them over the hump. The biggest knock on them is they play a weak schedule. I don’t care. That just gives them confidence. When you play against someone who isn’t as good as you in anything, whether it be basketball, video games, darts, marbles, or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, you gain confidence. You play better and when you play against someone as good as you, you get fired up and pumped up for it. I expect the Tigers to roll through the first three rounds, play the highest scoring game ever against Texas, squeek by UCLA and edge North Carolina. 

 

There you have it. A flawless bracket, or a bracket full of flaws that is a guideline of who not to pick. Either way, enjoy.

 

Just a few quick random thoughts. I watched the last four minutes and overtime of Akron’s win last night. I found an color analyst who is worse than Austin Carr. I don’t even know who it was but everytime they talked about Nick Dials, the guys said “Dials is dialing it up!” How creative. That’s almost as original as starting a story about the Houston Rockets win streak coming to an end with “Houston, we have a problem.”

 

I went 6-1 in the NIT last night. Just a small preview of what’s to come in the NCAA.

 

The Cavs and Pistons tonight. The Cavs made their big trade last month for just these types of games, sort of. They really made the trade to win in the postseason but tonight’s game will be a preivew of what is to come. Tonight will show just how well the trade is paying off. There’s so much to talk about with the Cavs but I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to see how they play against a good team tonight.

 

Pryor is suppose to make his decision today. I just don’t care anymore. Have fun with him Luckeyes.

 

Just for the record, here is a list of winners in each round for the tournament.

 

UNC

Indiana

ND

Wazzu

St. Joe’s

Louisville

Butler

Tenn

Kansas

Kent State

Clemson

Vandy

USC

Wisconsi

Gonzaga

G’town

Memphis

Miss State

Mich State

Pitt

UK

Stanford

Miami

Texas

UCLA

Texas A&M

Western Kentucky

UConn

Baylor

X

Zona

Duke

—————–

UNC

Wazzu

L’ville

Tenn

KU

Vandy

USC

Zaga

Memphis

Pitt

UK

Texas

UCLA

WKU

X

Zona

—————-

UNC

Tenn

Vandy

USC

Memphis

Texas

UCLA

X

———-

UNC

USC

Memphis

UCLA

———

UNC

Memphis

———

Memphis

 

 

 

Fratello