Wednesday, March 18, 2009
E.K.'S BRACKET PINATA
Here is the first-ever perfect bracket:
In the Midwest's first round, the winners will be Louisville, Ohio State, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia, North Dakota State (yes, upsetting defending national champ and #3 seed Kansas), USC and Michigan State. Second round winners will be Louisville, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Michigan State. The regional final will be Louisville defeating West Virginia.
In the West, we'll have Connecticut, Texas A&M, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, Maryland and Memphis winning in the first round. I'll still be rooting for Cal though, against Maryland. Second round winners will be Connecticut and Washington (setting up an all-Husky matchup), and Utah State and Memphis. Memphis will beat Connecticut in the West final.
Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Texas and Duke will win in the first round of the East regional. Pittsburgh, Florida State, Villanova and Duke will advance to round two, and the regional final will see Villanova beat Florida State.
In the South, North Carolina, Butler, Western Kentucky, Gonzaga, Temple, Syracuse, Michigan and Oklahoma will win their opening round games. North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse and Michigan will prevail in the second round, and North Carolina will win the regional final over Syracuse.
All of this means that you should look for the following upsets: The aforementioned North Dakota State-Kansas upset, Western Kentucky beating Illinois, and at least seed-wise, two #11s will perform upsets over 6-seeds, namely Utah State, which gets to play injury-hampered Marquette, and Temple over Arizona State, which must go all the way to Miami for the game. That doesn't usually work out for Western teams. In later rounds, look for #10 Michigan to stun #2 Oklahoma, Utah State to continue on, beating #3 Missouri, and Florida State to knock off title dreamer Pittsburgh.
Now for the Final Four: Memphis will return to the championship game, defeating Louisville, and North Carolina will take down Villanova. And look for North Carolina to take the title, beating Memphis.
On The Board: Haven't done this in a while, so let's get some picks in. Portland (-1.5) is a good bet against the Pacers tonight in the NBA. And in the first round of the NCAAs, let's focus on Butler (+2) over LSU, Virginia Commonwealth (+7.5) to cover but not win against UCLA, Cornell (+13) to cover against Mizzou, Ohio State to cover the measly 3.5 points against Siena in a game played in Dayton, and Xavier (-10.5) over Portland State.
In the Midwest's first round, the winners will be Louisville, Ohio State, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia, North Dakota State (yes, upsetting defending national champ and #3 seed Kansas), USC and Michigan State. Second round winners will be Louisville, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Michigan State. The regional final will be Louisville defeating West Virginia.
In the West, we'll have Connecticut, Texas A&M, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, Maryland and Memphis winning in the first round. I'll still be rooting for Cal though, against Maryland. Second round winners will be Connecticut and Washington (setting up an all-Husky matchup), and Utah State and Memphis. Memphis will beat Connecticut in the West final.
Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Texas and Duke will win in the first round of the East regional. Pittsburgh, Florida State, Villanova and Duke will advance to round two, and the regional final will see Villanova beat Florida State.
In the South, North Carolina, Butler, Western Kentucky, Gonzaga, Temple, Syracuse, Michigan and Oklahoma will win their opening round games. North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse and Michigan will prevail in the second round, and North Carolina will win the regional final over Syracuse.
All of this means that you should look for the following upsets: The aforementioned North Dakota State-Kansas upset, Western Kentucky beating Illinois, and at least seed-wise, two #11s will perform upsets over 6-seeds, namely Utah State, which gets to play injury-hampered Marquette, and Temple over Arizona State, which must go all the way to Miami for the game. That doesn't usually work out for Western teams. In later rounds, look for #10 Michigan to stun #2 Oklahoma, Utah State to continue on, beating #3 Missouri, and Florida State to knock off title dreamer Pittsburgh.
Now for the Final Four: Memphis will return to the championship game, defeating Louisville, and North Carolina will take down Villanova. And look for North Carolina to take the title, beating Memphis.
On The Board: Haven't done this in a while, so let's get some picks in. Portland (-1.5) is a good bet against the Pacers tonight in the NBA. And in the first round of the NCAAs, let's focus on Butler (+2) over LSU, Virginia Commonwealth (+7.5) to cover but not win against UCLA, Cornell (+13) to cover against Mizzou, Ohio State to cover the measly 3.5 points against Siena in a game played in Dayton, and Xavier (-10.5) over Portland State.
