March Madness Picks

Did a few brackets, but my first bracket I’ll call my bracket of integrity:

ROUND OF 32
Memphis, Arkansas, Alabama, Davidson, UNC, St. Mary’s, Purdue, San Francisco, Seton Hall, Chattanooga, Colorado State, Loyola-Chicago, San Diego State, South Dakota State, Colgate, USC

SWEET 16
UConn, Texas Tech, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Arizona, Villanova, Kansas, LSU

ELITE 8
Duke, Baylor, Houston, Iowa

FINAL 4
Kentucky, Auburn

CHAMPIONSHIP
Gonzaga over Tennessee 86-79

SWEET 16
UConn, Alabama, UNC, Purdue, Arizona, Loyola Chicago, Wisconsin, SDSU

ELITE 8
Duke, Baylor, Houston, Auburn

FINAL 4
UCLA, Colorado State

CHAMPIONSHIP
Gonzaga over Iowa

My thoughts.

If I had to give my favorites it would be Gonzaga, UCLA and Iowa. Iowa is really gelling and sometimes its just about when your playing your best basketball like those years where Uconn made run so don’t sleep on them. I really don’t think any of the top seeds are safe out the gates. The talent gap isn’t what it used to be. Theres good players in all the conferences now.

This might be the 4th year in a row I picked Gonzaga. They gotta win at some point.

I really hate the matchups in the first round this year. Memphis and Boise St. were two of my sleeper teams and one gets knocked off right away and the winner faces Gonzaga… I absolutely hate choosing between the two. My heart wants to see Boise St. win but my mind tells me Memphis has the personnel to take Abu Kigab out of the game. He wont be able to drive to the basket because Memphis clogs up the paint so to win Boise St, will need Akot and the others to make big shots and I just don’t see that happening.

Another one I hate is SDSU vs Creighton. Creightons team was fun to watch this year but I’m predicting SDSU will blow them out. Creighton has a young team and SDSU will pressure the hell out of them forcing tons of mistakes. I dislike that Aztecs team but see them making a run.

Auburn seems to be a popular pick right now. Way too young, Eventually their backcourt of Green and Johnson will make mistakes. They play with alot of emotion which is a double edged sword. I’ve seen Green lose Auburn games this year and just don’t trust the guard play.

Baylor has been all over the place this year and I dont trust them to make another run. Injuries derailed their season and they’ve looked out of sorts/havent rebounded.

I’ve already stated this but the Mountain West is alot better than they are getting credit for. I think Colorado St. can win the south and are much better than a 6th seed. Houston is kinda the same though so I would love to see that matchup. South is wide open. I wouldnt be surprised if Ohio St. won it and I have them out in the 1st round.

Haven’t watched much college this year or even really followed it, but this is what I did:
Upset Teams: Vermont, Notre Dame, Davidson, Michigan, Loyola, Virginia Tech, San Francisco, South Dakota, Colgate
Sweet 16: Gonzaga, UConn, Texas Tech, Duke, Arizona, Illinois, Tennessee, Villanova, UNC, Saint Mary’s, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Kansas, South Dakota, Colgate, USC
Elite 8: Gonzaga, Duke, Arizona, Tennessee, Saint Mary’s, Kentucky, Kansas, Colgate
Final 4: Duke, Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas
Championship: Duke over Tennessee

After writing this out, looks like I might have went too heavy on the upsets.. But we’ll see!

There goes my bracket. Richmond beats Iowa. I hate doing these things.

As a neutral it would be cool to see Gonzaga Bulldogs finally win the title. But it is also Coach K’s last stand so could his team deliver the perfect send off?

St. Peter’s vs Kentucky… overtime!!!