Yeah, I know... like you care who I pick. Well, this ain't about you. This is about letting my picks be recorded, so that in four days we can laugh at them.
Before we get to the picks, we'll like to thank Bill Simmons for taking our picks and sharing them with the world.
Play-in game: Niagara over Florida A&M. Yes, this occured already. Doesn't matter, we picked it right, and are currently tied for first in our pool. So back off. I offered to split the money with all the other leaders, but they wouldn't go for it.
Our theory on this year's bracket: We picked very few upsets, mostly because last year was the last season before the NBA changed it age limit to 19, meaning that there were few, if any, truly talented freshmen or sophomores in the tourney. Which meant that teams built around seniors that had played with each other for years (like George Mason) could beat supposedly more talented teams. Not happening this year. No George Masons. I don't care how good New Mexico State plays, it will not be good enough to stop Kevin Durant. Acie Law IV. Joaquim Noah. Greg Oden. Kansas. North Carolina. Georgetown. And so on....
1st round games: We took all the #1 seeds over the #16. Don't get too clever, this will not be the year a #16 finally beats a #1. Though we find Wisconsin and Memphis weak, take all the #2 over the #15s. Not brain surgery. And so on...
So what about the harder to call games? Butler (5) over Old Dominion (12). Notre Dame (6) over Winthrop (11). We took Georgia Tech (10) over UNLV (7); UNLV looks lost lately. This might be the one decision we'll regret - UNLV, if they start clicking again can be quite good. Arizona (8) over Purdue (9) - like Simmons, we lack respect for the Big-10. Villanova (9) over Kentucky (8) - always bet on the Big East team in the first round, they are tested. Remember: Syracuse didn't make the tourney (nor did West Virginia), and they are both better than 1/3 of the teams that did. Southern Illy (4) is for real - take the Salukis over the Holy Cross (13).
Break time: We just found out the other day that the Salukis are a dog. We had no idea. We really thought that Southern Illinois was nicknamed after a Lithuanian. What? It's not that unlikely - it is Illinois, so there are lots of Lithuanians around; their last names end in -kas (Ilgaukas!), -tis, or -kis. So there. Plus, it's not like Illinois colleges are above naming their teams after ethnic groups (ahem, the University Illinois Fighting Native American group).
Back to the brackets: Duke (6) will win against VCU (11). Yes, Duke sucks. Yes, they don't deserve a 6-seed. But they'll justify it by winning a game before Pittsburgh knocks them out in the second round. George Washington (11) beats Vanderbilt (6).
Gonzaga (10) over Indiana (7). Big-10 sucks. Nevada (7) over Creighton. Watch Nevada, they got skills. Tennessee (5) over Long Beach State (12) - yeah, we want the LB to win, and we don't believe in Tennessee, so we were very tempted to pick this as the annual 5-12 upset. But honestly, who has LB played? Who do they have? Let's give Tennessee some respect. Texas Tech (10) over Boston College (7) - we like BC, we do, but we think Texas Tech is good for one upset. No harm in picking Tech, the Hoyas are crushing whoever advances anyway. Roll the dice on this one for SML. Marquette (8) over Michigan State (9) - who let the Spartans out of the NIT?
2nd Round: Florida, NC, OSU, Kansas (1) all advance. Maryland (4) over Butler (5). Notre Dame (6) beats overrated Oregan (3) team. Wisconsin (2) advances despite sucking, by beating Georgia Tech (10). So. Illy (4) over Va Tech (5). Pittsburgh (3) puts an end to the Blue Devils (6). UCLA (2) wins historic rematch against Gonzaga (10). Texas (4) beats USC (5), Durant continues to shine. George Washington (11) continues Cinderella storyline, beats Washington State (3). Virginia (4) over Tennessee (5), Texas A&M over Louisville, and Nevada (7) upset over Memphis (2). I understand Memphis getting the #2-seed... what I don't know is why Memphis has 30 wins. I don't care how many bad teams they've played, that's still alot of bad teams. Nevada is not one of them, though, so sorry Memphis.
Sweet 16: Florida (1) over Maryland (4). Wisconsin (2) over Notre Dame (6). Kansas (1) over South Illy (4). UCLA (2) edges Pittsburgh (3) in a great game. NC (1) over Texas (4) in another great game. Durant is amazing, but NC finds a way. Georgetown (2) over Cinderella from around the way, GW (11). OSU (1) over Virginia (4). Texas A&M (3) puts an end to Nevada's (7) run.
Elite Eight: Florida (1) over Wisconsin (2). How did Wisconsin get this far? Kansas (1) over tired UCLA (2). UCLA has to go through Gonzaga, then Pittsburgh, to get to Kansas. Too bad. Georgetown (2) beats NC (1). OSU (1) beats Texas A&M (3).
Final Four: Kansas beats Florida. OSU edges Georgetown. We were very tempted to put Georgetown over OSU, it was that close a call.
Championship game: Kansas over OSU 73-65.
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