| 2006 ncaa tourney predictions i know that these picks are probably going to be dead wrong, because i haven't picked the tourney winner since connecticut in 2004, but why would i let that stop me from slinging out these losers.... atlanta the jags of southern are just athletic enough to make this a game for about.....3-5 minutes, after that expect a huge runaway victory for the blue devils. duke 84, southern 51 if the ncaa committee had given the colonials their proper seeding instead of the lousy eighth seed that they got, i would take the seahawks in the upset, but not now, with gw very pissed at the world. george washington 71, unc wilmington 59 the orangemen (yes, i said orangemen) magical runs ends friday night in jacksonville at midnight. this is the tourney's annual 12-5 upset special. texas a&m 62, syracuse 60 the gaels lost to kentucky earlier this season by 6 in lexington and the wildcats lost to the bayou bengals by 4 in baton rouge. so that means.....look for a closer game than expected. louisiana state 74, iona 68 everyone in the big east knows the mountaineers frontwards and backwards, luckily for west virginia they will not play another conference foe until january. west virginia 66, southern illinois 54 i seen the hawkeyes play a couple of times this year and to put it mildly, i am not impressed and neither will be the demons, who will take iowa to the limit in this high scoring affair. iowa 89, northwestern state 85 a couple of weeks ago, the wolfpack looked like a sure #3 seed, then they decided to lose five of their last seven games....i mean six of their last eight games. california 70, north carolina state 63 the quakers are lot better than the #15 seed they got from the committee, but unfornately they will not get to show it, while having to play the longhorns in dallas. texas 77 pennsylvania 60 second round the colonials will still be pissed when they take the court against the mighty blue devils....but anger alone will not get gw into the sweet sixteen. duke 82, george washington 68 aggies versus bayou bengals....wouldn't this be a good saturday night football game? oh, by the way, it will be a pretty good basketball game as well. louisiana state 66, texas a&m 63 you remember what i said about the mountaineers and the hawkeyes earlier in this column? west virginia 80, iowa 67 the longhorns will feed off of their home court advantage and race into the sweet sixteen easily. texas 80, california 65 semifinals even though i expect the atlanta crowd to be heavily in favor of the tigers, the blue devils and j.j. redick, will be too much for them in this contest. duke 74, louisiana state 64 this is a rematch of an earlier contest, that the longhorns won 76-75. as for this time around, expect more of the same. texas 72, west virginia 71 finals this another rematch of an earlier contest, that the blue devils won going away 97-66. as in the other rematch, expect more of the same again! duke 90, texas 76 oakland all the experts think that the golden eagles are the best #16 seed in years. well, i don't know about that, but they will give john calipari's tigers a better game than expected. memphis 77, oral roberts 70 last year the bison come out of the patriot league and surprised the kansas jayhawks. this year the element of surprise is gone and the razorbacks will be waiting. arkansas 69, bucknell 60 in 2002....the golden flashes upset the favored panthers on the way to the elite eight. don't think for a moment, that coach jamie dixon will forget to remind his 2006 panthers of that bitter defeat. pitt 68, kent state 55 if the jayhawks hadn't gotten upset in the first round last year against bucknell, the braves would have a better chance of pulling off the first round stunner. kansas 78, bradley 64 this is a matchup of two very athletic teams that couldn't shoot from the outside if their lives depended upon it. with that being said, first team to five jumper wins. indiana 69, san diego state 65 if the atlantic ten conference tournament wasn't in cincinnati, the musketeers would have been hosting a nit game this weekend, inside of getting pasted in the ncaa's. gonzaga 84, xavier 68 the crimson tide haven't won an impressive game on the road all season, while the golden eagles haven't won one either. better go with the low seed in this matchup. marquette 70, alabama 68 one bruin will win...one bruin will lose....wanna guess which one? ucla 82, belmont 62 second round these two old southern rivals will get it on in dallas with the razorbacks pulling off the shocker in their twenty-second meeting. arkansas 85, memphis 82 in which should be one of the best second round games this year, after the aforementioned arkansas-memphis classic, look for the bruising panthers to outlast the jayhawks. pitt 72, kansas 68 you remember what i said about indiana's outside shooting? the bulldogs do. gonzaga 78, indiana 63 i really believe that the golden eagles are at least five points better than the bruins, but unfornately for marquette, this game is being played in san diego and that negates those five points. ucla 79, marquette 76 semifinals the monster's of the big east will be too brutal for the southeastern conference's most talented team in this regional semifinal. pitt 68, arkansas 57 if ucla had been in a different bracket that didn't have them playing in the state of california, they wouldn't have made it this far, with that being said the bulldogs are too much for the bruins no matter where this game is being played. gonzaga 85, ucla 75 finals the panthers beat villanova by 14 and lost to connecticut on the road by 4, so don't expect them to be in awe, of adam morrison and company. pitt 73, gonzaga 65 washington, d.c. the great danes will always have the memories of making their first ncaa tournament. connecticut 89, albany 62 the blazers beat the wildcats a couple of years ago, when the wildcats were a #1 seed, so beating kentucky when they are a #8 seed shouldn't be a problem. alabama-birmingham 87, kentucky 80 most people who know about college basketball, believe that utah state doesn't belong in this tournament, and after this game that opinion will not change. washington 74, utah state 64 most people who know about college basketball and even though who don't, believe that air force doesn't belong in this tournament, and after the first half that opinion will not change. illinois 57, air force 37 the folks at hofstra are really steaming about george mason being in the tournament instead of them and after this game, they are going to be even more steamed. michigan state 72, george mason 52 the two best teams the racers have played this year are cincinnati and tennessee (both losses). enough said...considering the tar heels are better than those aformentioned teams. north carolina 81, murray state 61 who knows what seton hall team will show up? the team that lost to duke and uconn by a combined 95 points or the team that won at syracuse and pitt. seton hall 64, wichita state 63 the eagles have won at marquette and played close in losses at alabama, south carolina, auburn, and memphis. on the other hand, two-three weeks ago, tennessee was won of the hottest teams in college basketball. what does all this mean, i don't have a clue? tennessee 68, winthrop 67 second round like i said earlier, the blazers have beaten a #1 seed before in the second round, but that was a very overrated kentucky team and these huskies are definitely not overrated. connecticut 80, alabama-birmingham 65 in which should be a straight out track meet, look for the fighting illini to outlast the huskies in a very entertaining contest. illinois 89, washington 85 last year when these two teams played in the final four, north carolina won because of experience, this time the experience is on the side of the spartans. michigan state 76, north carolina 71 which ever team decides to show up for a second straight game, will win this matchup of jekyll and hyde teams. tennessee 81, seton hall 77 semifinals expect the fighting illini to give the highly favored huskies all they can handle and then some. connecticut 88, illinois 84 can the volunteers put it together for a third straight game, what do you think? michigan state 75, tennessee 59 finals two elite teams, two elite coaches....only one can go to the final four. connecticut 79, michigan state 75 minneapolis the hawks played only one big east team this season and they lost by 16 to seton hall in early december. oh well, at least the trip home from philadelphia will be short. villanova 80, monmouth 58 even though lute olsen wouldn't admit it publicly, i am sure with all the problems he had to deal with this season, he can't wait for this one to end. wisconsin 65, arizona 59 look for the #12 seeded grizzlies to hang around longer than expected against the western athletic conference champion wolfpack. nevada 78, montana 71 the tigers will try for their third straight first round upset, but don't count on it this year, because the eagles will be looking to take out their frustration on someone after their acc championship game loss. boston college 82, pacific 58 another team that i have seen play a bunch this season, is the sooners. with that being said, look for the panthers to pull off the first round upset in this contest. wisconsin-milwaukee 61, oklahoma 55 south alabama coach, john pelphrey was assistant at florida and knows the gators inside and out, unfornately for the jaguars....pelphrey is coaching and not playing. florida 88, south alabama 75 this is another matchup of two jekyll and hyde teams. the hoyas were 17-4 and the panthers were 19-3 at one point this season only to both crash and burn down the home stretch. which ever team decides to play like they once did this season.....will move on to the second round. georgetown 60, northern iowa 54 good thing for buckeyes that this game is being played in nearby dayton, because the wildcats, have the talent to knock off the ohio state university. ohio state 61, davidson 56 second round just in case you didn't know....the contest between the wildcats and the badgers is being played in the city of brotherly love. villanova 77, wisconsin 63 what frustration the bc eagles didn't take out on pacific...they will gladly use up in their matchup against the nevada wolfpack. boston college 84, nevada 70 last year the panthers pulled off two upset before failing to illinois, this year they will have to settle for pulling off just one. florida 80, wisconsin-milwaukee 66 if this was a neutral site game, i would have to go with the hoyas, but as i mentioned early this game is practically a home game for the buckeyes. ohio state 64, georgetown 58 semifinals old big east conference foes meet with a berth in the regional final on the line. look for the wildcats to give the eagles another going away present. villanova 80, boston college 75 even though the buckeyes will be playing in their third straight game in big ten country, the fact that it is not in the state of ohio will give the gators a fighting chance. florida 67, ohio state 62 finals in a rematch of last year's second round game. expect pretty much the same result, with the wildcats backcourt, being too much for the youthful gators. villanova 75, florida 67 national semifinals the first final four trip for the panthers will not end with a happy ending, as the panthers will fall short to perennial final four participant duke. duke 76, pitt 64 in round three of this big east slugfest between the huskies and wildcats. look for the huskies to come out on top for the second time. connecticut 90, villanova 82 national championship game the two previous times connecticut won a national championship they had to go through the blue devils to get the job done. make that three times. connecticut 91, duke 77 |