Bleachers College Sports The Madness of March
| 18 March 2009
I'm pretty sure the NCAA tournament's arrival is the most exciting thing that I have seen come down the tubes in weeks. Well, that and marveling over the size of my toenail clippings. I began tuning into championship week to see what's in store for certain teams as the fumble and crack down the stretch, but also for a chance, hopefully to see cracks in the armor of mid major teams and their conferences that seem to convieniently lose in their respective championship games, which allows a second or third team from that conference to get in.
For example, how does Butler lose at home to Cleveland State? It seems amazing to me that this happened. Sure Cleveland State played Butler tough twice, and beat Syracuse, but where were they the rest of the season? Not winning enough games to get in to the tournament on their own. Holy Horizon league.
Mississippi State? How in the world did these ass clowns take the SEC crown? They lost to Charlotte, San Diego, Washington State, Texas Tech, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss. Then they go into the tournament and beat Georgia, South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee in four consecutive days.
Baylor was a win away from stealing another bid.
Snubs:
Penn State certainly got jobbed it would seem. If they didn't get blown out by Purdue, maybe they could have gotten in.
St. Marys College was certainly ripped off. They can ball especially with Patty Mills back on the court.
San Diego state had credentials with the RPI being the lowest, or highest depending on how you see it.
But as asshole anaylist Jay Bilas will point out when fighting for more bids for teams who play in bigger conferences, "if you want to be in the tournament, you should win your conference championship."
Predictions:
We will start in the Midwest because I'm pretty sure that bracket is going to be downright wacky. The bracket features Louisville, Siena, Dayton, West Virginia, Utah, Arizona a pesky Cleveland State team, and Michigan State.
I pick West Virginia to come out of the bracket because Devin Ebanks is hot, and their sharpshooter Alex Ruoff hasn't played up to his standards in a month. Personally, it is hard to go against Louisville but isn't everyone going to pick them. I think Louisville is going to have a battle with Siena, and it will be closer than anticipated. I also think Cleveland State has a fighting chance against Wake Forest who has stumbled down the stretch.
In the West region, I am looking at Memphis to hit the final four because they have a fairly easy run through the bracket. After they win against their first round opponent, I'm pretty sure they will dispose of either Maryland or Cal, then they should be able to handle Missouri or Marquette, setting up a match up against UConn, who I think they can beat.
The East looks to me like the weakest bracket and I'm pretty sure Pittsburgh will and can defeat anyone that stands in their way. While I say that, I'm a student of history and Pitt's has not been excellent in the past.
No one seems to beleive me that Oklahoma will represent the south, but I'm still convinced Blake Griffin is the best player in college basketball. I can't answer why I feel UNC won't get the berth, but I guess it is because beating Butler, Illinois or Gonzaga might be a tall order for the Heels.
Final Four:
Pitt, Oklahoma, Memphis, West Virginia
Championship:
Oklahoma, Memphis
Winner:
Oklahoma
Click Here to see AC Staff Brackets
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Comments (1)
Subscribe to this comment's feeddecent bracket
I really don't know much about Oklahoma except that immediately after they get hyped they lose a game they shouldn't.
Pitt is good, and they are rested after their early exit in the Big East tourney. I think they are the team to beat.
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