Since tomorrow is the opening of the Big Dance (not including the play-in game), I figured I'd post my picks to see what everyone thinks. After last years tourney, I'm really hesitant with a lot of my picks, but I feel fairly confident in many of my upsets. I guess we'll see how it goes:
Teams advancing to the second round:
East Bracket (seed in parentheses):
(1) North Carolina
(9) Arkansas
(5) Notre Dame
(4) Washington State
(6) Oklahoma
(3) Louisville
(7) Butler
(2) Tennessee
Midwest Bracket:
(1) Kansas
(8) UNLV
(12) Villanova
(4) Vanderbilt
(11) Kansas State
(3) Wisconsin
(7) Gonzaga
(2) Georgetown
Upsets: Villanova over Clemson, Kansas State over USC
South Bracket:
(1) Memphis
(8) Mississippi State
(5) Michigan State
(4) Pittsburgh
(6) Marquette
(3) Stanford
(7) Miami
(2) Texas
West Bracket:
(1) UCLA
(9) Texas A&M
(5) Drake
(4) Connecticut
(6) Purdue
(3) Xavier
(10) Arizona
(2) Duke
Upsets: Arizona over West Virginia
Teams advancing to the Sweet 16:
East:
(1) North Carolina
(4) Washington State
(6) Oklahoma
(2) Tennessee
Upsets: Oklahoma over Louisville
Midwest:
(1) Kansas
(4) Vanderbilt
(3) Wisconsin
(2) Georgetown
South:
(1) Memphis
(5) Michigan State
(6) Marquette
(2) Texas
Upsets: Marquette over Stanford
West:
(1) UCLA
(5) Drake
(3) Xavier
(10) Arizona
Major upset: Arizona over Duke
Teams advancing to the Elite 8:
East:
(1) North Carolina
(2) Tennessee
Midwest:
(1) Kansas
(2) Georgetown
South:
(1) Memphis
(2) Texas
West:
(1) UCLA
(3) Xavier
My Final Four:
(1) North Carolina vs. (2) Georgetown
(1) Memphis vs. (3) Xavier
Championship:
(1) North Carolina vs. (1) Memphis
Final Score: 74-68 North Carolina Tar Heels
I know a lot of these are kind of far-fetched, but most of the upsets, especially the Arizona over Duke, are straight gut guesses. I like Arizona a lot with Budinger and Bayless, and if their defense can hold, they will make some noise. I also like Kansas a lot, I always do, but they always seem to choke when it counts, and I can't stand to be disappointed anymore. Feel free to criticize or agree with any of my picks, we'll see how they go.
