CLICK HERE FOR 2003 TOURNAMENT PREVIEW!!!!!
Welcome to the annual wild three-week binge known as the NCAA Men�s basketball tournament, so it�s time to fill your brackets out, to no avail of course. Before running down the field, a couple of observations�
- Cincinnati seed first in west, Oklahoma second � Obviously the suits filled out the field before Oklahoma�s win over Kansas on Sunday. Cincinnati was the worst of the four #1 seeds, the West Regional then gets the best of the #2�s (similar to a fantasy draft), in this case Oklahoma. You could easily interchange the two. But not to worry, Cincy never makes it to the Final Four and neither does Kansas.
- Gonzaga (ranked sixth overall) seeded sixth in West � It appears that backwater conferences such as the WCC will never get the love, even if they walk on water � or make the Sweet 16 three straight seasons. The Zags can ask the circa-1990 Loyola Marymount squad on this one. That season, LMU was ranked in the top-20 virtually the entire year but was seeded 10th in the West Regional, immediately in the wake of the death of LMU star Hank Gathers. But in that case, at least LMU got to play the first two rounds in nearby Long Beach. LMU would go on to make an emotional run to the final eight before falling to eventual champ UNLV. That being said, Zag fans should consider being relegated to the sixth seed as a good thing. Now the Zags can go back to their patented role of underdog darlings. The moment a team transforms from David into Goliath is usually the moment they get ambushed.
- Bobby Knight movie � So the man hates the media, drops an F-bomb a minute, and goes hunting a lot. That�s nothing compared to my man ex-LSU coach Dale Brown. When the media asked him a silly question, Dale would respond with a 40-minute philosophical tangent having nothing to do with basketball. Not to mention Dale once spent the hours leading up to a Regional Final game in the studio audience for a taping of World Championship Wrestling. And never mind duck hunting, Dale was involved in an expedition in British Columbia searching for Bigfoot. And who is tamer anyway, Coach Knight or Sasquatch???
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Do not count on all four #1�s making it through to the A-T-L, that has never happened. The usual Final Four formula consists of either one or two #1�s, one or two teams seeded in the neighborhood of #2 through #4, along with at least one shocker (#5 or lower). Who would had thunk Wisconsin (seeded eighth) a couple of years back. If a bracket gets broken enough, almost anyone can sneak through. The higher seeded teams are usually good for about 22-24 wins in the first round. The #13 through #15 teams are usually good for at least one, if not two major upsets. Do not hold your breath on #16 beating #1 though, #1 is 68-0 all-time. One last item, no one ever goes 63-0 (Sandbox never has to worry about giving away the 10 million). There will no doubt be a couple of results that no bracket-nit could put down without being taken away in a straightjacket first. With that, my fearless forecast on how the tourney will go down�
EAST � FIRST ROUND
#1 Maryland over #16 Siena/Alcorn St � Siena is ranked #216, Alcorn #234 � any questions.
#9 St. Johns over #8 Wisconsin � Wisco has been doing it with mirrors the last two months, they find themselves over their heads here.
#12 Tulsa over #5 Marquette � A second round caliber matchup in round #1, the computer has Marquette #9, Tulsa #30. Teams have been using a 2-3 zone to baffle MU with great success lately, so go with the upset.
#4 Kentucky over #13 Valpariso � Valpo an annual bracket breaker, and will be a popular pick here, but will resist the urge.
#11 Southern Illinois over #6 Texas Tech � If F-bombs were nukes, even the cockroaches wouldn�t survive a 40-point loss to Kansas.
#3 Georgia over #14 Murray St. � Georgia battle-tested with nations ninth toughest schedule.
#10 Michigan St over #7 North Carolina St. � NC State�s first trip to the dance in 11 years, Michigan St. coming off three straight Final Fours.
#2 Connecticut over #15 Hampton - No upset this time around.
SECOND ROUND
#1 Maryland over #9 St John�s � DC playground legends v. NY area playground legends. Should be a blast.
#12 Tulsa over #4 Kentucky � Glass slipper fits!!!!!
#3 Georgia over #11 So. Illinois � No joy in Carbondale.
#2 Connecticut over #10 Michigan St. � Spartans run ends here.
REGIONAL SEMIS
#1 Maryland over #12 Tulsa � Walking down the yellow brick road.
#2 Connecticut over #3 Georgia � Take Uconn.
REGIONAL FINALS
#1 Maryland over #2 Connecticut � Terps take heavyweight matchup.
MIDWEST REGION � FIRST ROUND
#1 Kansas over #16 Holy Cross � HC gave Kentucky a run for their money last year.
#9 Western Kentucky over #8 Stanford � Two ranked teams square off, WKU is 20th, Stanford 23rd.
#5 Florida over #12 Creighton � Florida still ranked #6 by the computer.
#4 Illinois over #13 San Diego St. � Game in Chicago. Illini ranked second in pre-season polls and had hiccups along the way, but a horse I�m going to run a long way.
#6 Texas over #11 Boston College � Game in Dallas, simple geography should be good enough here.
#3 Mississippi St. over McNeese St � Miss State coming off strong conference tourney showing.
#10 Pepperdine over #7 Wake Forest � Game out west (Sacremento) giving the Waves an advantage.
#2 Oregon over #15 Montana � OU not NCAA tourney tested but should get past backwater 16-14 team.
SECOND ROUND
#1 Kansas over #9 Western Kentucky � Not before a scare.
#4 Illinois over #5 Florida � Home crowd helps again.
#6 Texas over #3 Mississippi St. � Will take the home state team here as well.
#10 Pepperdine over #2 Oregon � UPSET CITY!!!!!
REGIONAL SEMIS
#4 Illinois over #1 Kansas � The Jayhawks annual sweet 16 swan dive.
#6 Texas over #10 Pepperdine � The bottom of a broken up bracket.
REGIONAL FINALS
#4 Illinois over #6 Texas � Illini finally realizes it�s preseason potential.
SOUTH REGION � FIRST ROUND
#1 Duke over #16 Winthrop � Don�t like Winthrop�s tourney chances at 14 gazillion to one.
#8 Notre Dame over #9 Charlotte � Teams are dead even, can tell network wants that Duke-ND matchup.
#5 Indiana over #12 Utah � Utes edge out Butler for last at-large bid. Why?????
#4 USC over #13 UNC-Wilmington � SCCC building off last year�s final eight run.
#11 Penn over #6 California � Your basic Ivy League ambush.
#3 Pittsburgh over #14 Central Connecticut St. � Would give CCS a chance except game is in Pittsburgh.
#10 Kent St. over #7 Oklahoma St. � Kent St. your mid-major Cinderella for this year.
#2 Alabama over #15 Florida Atlantic � FAU�s first trip to the dance.
SECOND ROUND
#1 Duke over #8 Notre Dame � No doubt the early Sunday game, just call it the Digger Phelps/Jay Bilas bowl.
#4 USC over #5 Indiana � Where the Hoosiers usually bow out.
#3 Pittsburgh over #11 Penn � That home city sure helps.
#2 Alabama over #10 Kent St. � Was tempted to take the Flashes
REGIONAL SEMIS
#1 Duke over #4 USC � Duke can almost waltz from here.
#2 Alabama over #3 Pittsburgh � Panthers won�t fare quite as well away from home.
REGIONAL FINALS
#1 Duke over #2 Alabama � Another businesslike perfromance.
WEST REGION � FIRST ROUND
#1 Cincinnati over #16 Boston � Look for BU to keep it close though.
#9 Mississippi over #8 UCLA � Pick Steve Lavin??? I�ll pass.
#12 Missouri over #5 Miami (FL) � Missouri seemingly has been playing marquee games all year. Look for the experience and the Duke coaching karma to make the Tigers this year�s tourney darlings.
#4 Ohio St. over #13 Davidson � Buckeyes coming off conference tourney championship.
#6 Gonzaga over #11 Wyoming � Zags won�t be sneaking up on anyone this time around.
#3 Arizona over #14 UCSB � Dangerous game for Cats, as Gauchos are not exactly backwater. And AZ has pulled first-round flops before.
#7 Xavier over #10 Hawaii � Xavier ranked 19th, Hawaii 24th. Difference is the 2 PM start in Dallas, which makes it 10 AM in Hawaii. Couple that along with the 4,000+ mile trip and Aloha probably means goodbye.
#2 Oklahoma over #15 Ill-Chicago � Sooners should roll.
SECOND ROUND
#1 Cincinnati over #9 Mississippi � OK, I will actually pick Huggins to win two games.
#12 Missouri over #4 Ohio St. � Quin Snyder quickly becomes even hotter property.
#3 Arizona over #6 Gonzaga � Cats win Round 2�s best matchup.
#2 Oklahoma over #7 Xavier � Can�t see OK losing here neither.
REGIONAL SEMIS
#12 Missouri over #1 Cincinnati � Huggins never makes it past here.
#3 Arizona over #2 Oklahoma � Luke Walton is a force!!!!!
REGIONAL FINALS
#3 Arizona over #12 Missouri � Lute Olson over Quin Snyder.
FINAL FOUR
We�re now left with two one�s, a three, and a four. Duke beats Arizona (again), Maryland beats Illinois, Maryland beats Duke. There�s your 63-0 (lol).
