Let's Go Dancing!!
My friends, the greatest sporting event in the history of mankind is just over 24 hours away - it also marks one of the least productive times of the year for most businesses...but not for us dedicated souls here at Sun Microsystems. If you haven't filled out your brackets yet, now's the time! And if you can't find an office, or any other, pool to get into then you obviously have your head in the sand.
This year I've gone so far as to fill out 2 brackets for 2 different pools...which means that's just 10 more dollars that I'll probably end up losing (for the record, I won my pool last year with 3 of 4 final four teams and one of two finals teams). That just means I'll get dead last this year. BUT, I'm off to a good start this year as I picked Niagra to stomp Florida A&M...of course I also realized that there is not a bracket pool in the world that actually includes that game in its scoring - memo to NCAA, it's a pointless game, just go back to 64 teams. Or, as Tony Kornheiser offered up, make one of the "big boys" play in this play-in game - Illinois vs. Stanford if you will. We would probably at least watch it then.
Anyway, with so many story lines, I don't even know where to begin - so let's just do a rapid fire edition here.
March Madness Hodge-Podge:
- The selection committee is taking a bit of heat (surprise, surprise) this year regarding some of their picks and some of their omissions: my take is this may have been one of the toughest years to select given the parity around the league. The one glaring omission was of course Syracuse though. If you go 10-6 in your conference (much less the very tough Big East) you are a shoe-in. The one inconsistency I see with the committee, and I generally think they do a great job, is that with some teams they look at the body of work (which should be the case) and in some cases they look at the past 5-10 games. You have to set the same criteria for everyone. At the end of the day, you're always going to have some teams upset - if you try and please everyone, you won't please anyone.
- I want to hit on this one last time - get rid of the play-in game. It's so mindless to expand the field to 65 teams and have a stupid game where the winner gets a chance to only lose by 20 to the overall #1 seed. It's a slap in the face to the smaller conferences. The only thing worse then leaving some of those smaller schools out is making 2 of the teams play this stupid game. Even the teams who get in to play this game don't like it.
- Here's a quick look at the upsets I'm picking inclusive of both of my brackets:
Oral Roberts (14) over Washington State (3) - this is a big one, but ORU had a couple of good runs in the tourney the past couple of years with the same team - WSU hasn't been in ages.
Albany (13) over Virginia (4) - Virginia was playing very well earlier in year, but has struggled of late.
Illinois (12) over VaTech (5) - First off, you have to pick at least one 12 over 5 seed as it happens every year. Illinois is pretty sloppy on offense but REAL good on defense and VaTech has a tendency to turn the ball over A LOT! And they just got destroyed by NC State.
Georgia Tech (10) over UNLV (7) - I've got Georgia Tech in the elite 8 in one of my brackets. Why not???
Old Dominion (12) over Butler (5) - This is every one's favorite 12 over 5 upset and I usually pick 2 of those upsets every year.
George Washington (11) over Vanderbilt (6) - GW came from George Mason's conference - if you don't remember George Mason from last year then you need to put down the bong. Again, I'm chalking this up to 'why not'.
- Here are my list of teams whom I have no idea what to expect:
Texas - these guys could end up in the final four or lose to New Mexico State in the opening round at the last second and I wouldn't be shocked. My lack of confidence in their ability to close out games makes me nervous. BUT, I do have them in the elite 8 in one bracket and sweet 16 in another based on upsets around them and their second round draw. Lot of talking heads have them beating UNC. I've got Marquette knocking UNC in the second round in one of my brackets which eases the road.
Tennessee - I've got them in the elite 8 in both of my brackets. They've had some really good wins and some even tougher losses - I like experience in picking teams to go far. BUT, again, these guys could get blown out in 2nd or 3rd round and I would not at all be surprised.
Duke - I mean c'mon, it's Duke right? Coach K? I think not. These guys are way down this year relative to the past 15 years or so. I've got them going out in first and second round in my picks, but this is another team who could get on a roll and no one would be surprised.
Memphis - They lost 3 starters from last year (2 to the NBA in first round), but the word on the street is that they are a much better *team* this year. I can see another early exit looming for these guys, they're likely opponent in the sweet 16 is A&M or Louisville. That's tough.
- Here are the games NOT to miss (and I pray we get to see some of these match ups)
1st Round: Kentucky vs. Villanova
2nd Round: Louisville vs. Texas A&M (too bad it's in Louisville's backyard)
2nd Round: Marquette vs.UNC
Sweet 16: Pitt vs. UCLA
Sweet 16: UNC vs. Texas
Elite 8: Kansas vs. UCLA
- Here are my final four teams in each of my brackets
Bracket 1: Oregon, Kansas, Georgetown, Louisville - Kansas over Georgetown in finals
Bracket 2: Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, Texas A&M - UCLA over Georgetown in finals
- My #1 seeds most in danger of getting ousted early: Ohio State with UNC as a close 2nd
- Most overrated/overseeded team: Wisconsin (largely due to one of their top players is out, but also because they're really not as good as their record indicates)
- Most underrated/underseeded team: Louisville - they struggled early (big time), but have really played great ball lately. Obviously I think these guys can make some noise this year.
- Toughest region: East Rutherford - UNC, Georgetown, Marquette, Texas, Michigan State
- "Weakest" region: San Antonio - Aggies and Louisville are my faves here. I think OSU bows out pretty early as does Memphis.
- Why I don't have Florida in the finals in either bracket: Because it's too damned hard to repeat in college basketball. Even getting to the finals two straight years is tough.
This year I've gone so far as to fill out 2 brackets for 2 different pools...which means that's just 10 more dollars that I'll probably end up losing (for the record, I won my pool last year with 3 of 4 final four teams and one of two finals teams). That just means I'll get dead last this year. BUT, I'm off to a good start this year as I picked Niagra to stomp Florida A&M...of course I also realized that there is not a bracket pool in the world that actually includes that game in its scoring - memo to NCAA, it's a pointless game, just go back to 64 teams. Or, as Tony Kornheiser offered up, make one of the "big boys" play in this play-in game - Illinois vs. Stanford if you will. We would probably at least watch it then.
Anyway, with so many story lines, I don't even know where to begin - so let's just do a rapid fire edition here.
March Madness Hodge-Podge:
- The selection committee is taking a bit of heat (surprise, surprise) this year regarding some of their picks and some of their omissions: my take is this may have been one of the toughest years to select given the parity around the league. The one glaring omission was of course Syracuse though. If you go 10-6 in your conference (much less the very tough Big East) you are a shoe-in. The one inconsistency I see with the committee, and I generally think they do a great job, is that with some teams they look at the body of work (which should be the case) and in some cases they look at the past 5-10 games. You have to set the same criteria for everyone. At the end of the day, you're always going to have some teams upset - if you try and please everyone, you won't please anyone.
- I want to hit on this one last time - get rid of the play-in game. It's so mindless to expand the field to 65 teams and have a stupid game where the winner gets a chance to only lose by 20 to the overall #1 seed. It's a slap in the face to the smaller conferences. The only thing worse then leaving some of those smaller schools out is making 2 of the teams play this stupid game. Even the teams who get in to play this game don't like it.
- Here's a quick look at the upsets I'm picking inclusive of both of my brackets:
Oral Roberts (14) over Washington State (3) - this is a big one, but ORU had a couple of good runs in the tourney the past couple of years with the same team - WSU hasn't been in ages.
Albany (13) over Virginia (4) - Virginia was playing very well earlier in year, but has struggled of late.
Illinois (12) over VaTech (5) - First off, you have to pick at least one 12 over 5 seed as it happens every year. Illinois is pretty sloppy on offense but REAL good on defense and VaTech has a tendency to turn the ball over A LOT! And they just got destroyed by NC State.
Georgia Tech (10) over UNLV (7) - I've got Georgia Tech in the elite 8 in one of my brackets. Why not???
Old Dominion (12) over Butler (5) - This is every one's favorite 12 over 5 upset and I usually pick 2 of those upsets every year.
George Washington (11) over Vanderbilt (6) - GW came from George Mason's conference - if you don't remember George Mason from last year then you need to put down the bong. Again, I'm chalking this up to 'why not'.
- Here are my list of teams whom I have no idea what to expect:
Texas - these guys could end up in the final four or lose to New Mexico State in the opening round at the last second and I wouldn't be shocked. My lack of confidence in their ability to close out games makes me nervous. BUT, I do have them in the elite 8 in one bracket and sweet 16 in another based on upsets around them and their second round draw. Lot of talking heads have them beating UNC. I've got Marquette knocking UNC in the second round in one of my brackets which eases the road.
Tennessee - I've got them in the elite 8 in both of my brackets. They've had some really good wins and some even tougher losses - I like experience in picking teams to go far. BUT, again, these guys could get blown out in 2nd or 3rd round and I would not at all be surprised.
Duke - I mean c'mon, it's Duke right? Coach K? I think not. These guys are way down this year relative to the past 15 years or so. I've got them going out in first and second round in my picks, but this is another team who could get on a roll and no one would be surprised.
Memphis - They lost 3 starters from last year (2 to the NBA in first round), but the word on the street is that they are a much better *team* this year. I can see another early exit looming for these guys, they're likely opponent in the sweet 16 is A&M or Louisville. That's tough.
- Here are the games NOT to miss (and I pray we get to see some of these match ups)
1st Round: Kentucky vs. Villanova
2nd Round: Louisville vs. Texas A&M (too bad it's in Louisville's backyard)
2nd Round: Marquette vs.UNC
Sweet 16: Pitt vs. UCLA
Sweet 16: UNC vs. Texas
Elite 8: Kansas vs. UCLA
- Here are my final four teams in each of my brackets
Bracket 1: Oregon, Kansas, Georgetown, Louisville - Kansas over Georgetown in finals
Bracket 2: Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, Texas A&M - UCLA over Georgetown in finals
- My #1 seeds most in danger of getting ousted early: Ohio State with UNC as a close 2nd
- Most overrated/overseeded team: Wisconsin (largely due to one of their top players is out, but also because they're really not as good as their record indicates)
- Most underrated/underseeded team: Louisville - they struggled early (big time), but have really played great ball lately. Obviously I think these guys can make some noise this year.
- Toughest region: East Rutherford - UNC, Georgetown, Marquette, Texas, Michigan State
- "Weakest" region: San Antonio - Aggies and Louisville are my faves here. I think OSU bows out pretty early as does Memphis.
- Why I don't have Florida in the finals in either bracket: Because it's too damned hard to repeat in college basketball. Even getting to the finals two straight years is tough.
posted by The Bearden Wonder at 10:14 AM
1 Comments:
The big East is tough but Syracuse is not in the dance because in non-conference they played on the road once and the road game happened to be in New York against Canisius.
Syracuse needs to leave its house if it wants to dance. I would be upset if I were a Syracuse fan because this is the first year they were punished for the non-conference schedule.
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