Round 1 Winners -
- East Region - Ohio State, George Mason, West Virginia, Kentucky, Xavier, Syracuse, Washington, UNC... All favorites?... all favorites... I don't like doing it, but I had to here... George Mason is "the favorite" but all the public money will be headed on Villanova since it's a name program... Nova has been a trainwreck for weeks, and I can't do it... otherwise? Pretty straight forward... I like Xavier a lot in that game b/c of Holloway, and Marquette gets the Big East bump, but they don't impress me... I love, love, love Washington over Georgia... The one upset alert? Watch for Clemson over West Virginia...
- West Region - Duke, Michigan, Arizona, Texas, Cincy, UConn, Temple, San Diego State.... Love Michigan in this spot because I think Beilein is high-level, and I would love to pick against Bruce Pearl... I nearly pulled the trigger on Oakland over Texas, but couldn't do it... but I'm on the record as hating Rick Barnes... Taking Cincy over Missouri b/c I don't like Missouri on the road (at all)... Favorites again!?!?!?... Yeah... I hate it as much as you do...
- Southwest Region - Kansas, UNLV, Richmond, Louisville, Georgetown, Purdue, Texas A&M, Notre Dame.... Finally an upset... we'll get to that... UNLV/Illinois is a game I really have no read on at all, so I'm gonna back Lon Kruger.... I like Richmond over Vandy as my first "upset"... it's a very minor one despite the 12/5 matchup (Richmond is only a 2-point underdog), but I think the A-10 is wildly undervalued as a whole, and Vandy never impressed me outside of their home building... Georgetown is getting Chris Wright back, and that's enough to give them the bump... Texas A&M/Florida State is the single most "coin toss" game I've seen in the whole field... Total gut call...
- Southeast Region - Pittsburgh, Old Dominion, Utah State, Wisconsin, St. John's, BYU, Michigan State, Florida... I think Butler is getting more credit than they should due to last year's run, and I'm as responsible for that as anyone else after riding them all year, but it's just not the same team, and ODU has been impressive all year... Utah State is my favorite double-digit seed in the field, they are brilliantly coached and a veteran team... add in that I hate Frank Martin? Done... Wisconsin/Belmont is so brutal... I love, love, love Wisconsin, but I had Belmont circled to take as an upset pre-bracket... I'll stick with Bo Ryan, and company, but Belmont is good... St. John's/Gonzaga is tough as well, but I'm rolling with the Red Storm and their 10 seniors... Michigan State/UCLA is a matchup of 2 coaches I really like, and taking MSU is based simply on belief in Kalin Lucas...
Sweet 16 -
- East - Ohio State, Kentucky, Syracuse, Washington... Chalk except for the Huskies... OSU cruises over G-Mason, Kentucky out-talents West Virginia, 'Cuse gets by Xavier with the zone, and then comes Washington/UNC... I actually really like UNC, but Washington is wildly undervalued... the Pac-10 champs have vets everywhere, a clutch end-of-game guy in Thomas, and they're well coached... I'm betting against UNC's youth more than anything, and their tendency to sleep walk early in games...
- West - Duke, Arizona, Cincinnati, San Diego State.... Duke is too much for Michigan... I can't pick Rick Barnes to beat a solid team in Zona (and I love Derrick Williams), UConn will hit the fatigue wall eventually, and I'm betting it's against their conference rival, and I'm rolling with the talent-laden Aztecs...
- Southwest - Kansas, Louisville, Purdue, Notre Dame... Chalk, Chalk, Chalk... love Kansas in a rout over UNLV, Richmond can play with Louisville, but I can't pick it... Purdue will take advantage of Georgetown's inability to put the ball in the basket consistently (and Johnson will bang them inside), and I like Notre Dame's discipline against A&M...
- Southeast - Pitt, Wisconsin, St. John's, Florida... Pitt cruises over ODU... Wisconsin outlasts Utah State in the Brad Rowland Invitational... and.. wait for it... down goes Jimmer!... I don't think he can carry them over an athletic team like St. John's with multiple guys to throw at him, and so much experience... Florida over Michigan State is a tough one for me, but the game is in Tampa and that's the tiebreaker...
Elite 8 -
- East - Ohio State and Washington - Ohio State is too talented, too well-coached, too complete for Kentucky, and I don't trust Calipari as far as I can throw him... Sullinger goes off... and I'm rolling with the Huskies... Syracuse isn't a team I love (their advancement is more matchup-based) and this is the end of the line...
- West - Duke and San Diego State - Pure chalk... Duke outlasts Arizona... they can throw multiple guys (Singler, Plumlee) at Williams, and the key is the guard play advantage with or without Irving... I'm a full-on believer in SDSU, and they hold serve over Cincy (an a virtual home-court in Anaheim)
- Southwest - Kansas and Purdue - Kansas is too much for Louisville... I love the Self vs. Pitino matchup for Kansas, but the key is the pure length.... and Purdue in a mild upset over ND... senior leaders for Purdue, and ND has no one that can guard Jajuan Johnson on that roster...
- Southeast - Wisconsin and Florida - I've gone back and forth on this... but I can't help my Wisconsin love... Bo Ryan is an elite coach, and they will grind... and grind... and grind on Pittsburgh... Florida/St. Johns is a toss-up for me as well... but I've thought Florida was underrated all year (until the seeding, then wow), and I think they have enough to knock off Lavin and company...
Final 4 -
- East - Ohio State - Most complete team in the land... they have leaders like Lighty and Diebler... the big-time talent in Sullinger and Buford, and scrappy guys like Craft... the Cinderella run ends for Washington...
- West - Duke - Smells like chalk... whether Irving is there or not, I think Duke is the class of the region, and while the SDSU game will be a test (especially in Anaheim), too much experience... and Nolan Smith...
- Southwest - Kansas - they have multiple guys to throw at JaJuan Johnson, and they're talent level outside of Johnson and Moore is just too much...
- Southeast - Wisconsin - the curveball!... defense, rebounding, disciplined offense, and Jordan Taylor....
Final 4
- Duke over Ohio State - I think they can contain Sullinger and that's what this comes down to... the Plumlees and Kelly are underrated, and while Sullinger will get his, they won't collapse on him (and leave Diebler and Buford) like a lot teams would... plus I think Nolan Smith is a guy that Ohio State would have trouble with...
- Kansas over Wisconsin - The Badgers finally meet a team they can't handle... they overwhelm them with athletes, and there's no answer...
Finals
- Kansas over Duke - I just can't do it... Duke fans would try to sell me on Kyrie Irving being back and ready to go, but what do we actually know about Kyrie Irving right now?... Kansas has 3 legit NBA bigs in the Morris Twins and Robinson, and they are just the more talented team.. size wins here...
And there you have it... it's madness!
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