Tuesday, March 13, 2007
63 games, one champion
Editor's Note: I did this on my old site last year, and I had my best finish in a college pool yet, finishing just points out of first place. Since I've now moved over here and don't have the chance to talk college hoops, I have to do this here. This is how every game will shake out. Mark my words. -Pradamaster
St. Louis Bracket
FIRST ROUND
Florida 98, Jackson State 54
Purdue 62, Arizona 54
Old Dominion 70, Butler 55
Maryland 67, Davidson 66
Winthrop 66, Notre Dame 62
Oregon 69, Miami (OH) 61
UNLV 77, Georgia Tech 68
Wisconsin 66, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 56
Notes: Arizona has the talent, but has no fight left in them...Old Dominion's arguably a better team than Butler, so that won't be much of an upset at all...Drew Nicholas hits a running buzzer beater to give Maryland an improbable one-point victory over UNC-Wilmington. Oh, this isn't 2003? So replace Nicholas with DJ Strawberry, and UNC-Wilmington with Davidson...Winthrop will break through one of these years, and Notre Dame's the type of team who relies too much on the three to put them away...Georgia Tech has one true road win all season. Don't pick them for an upset.
SECOND ROUND
Florida 88, Purdue 69
Maryland 70, Old Dominion 65
Winthrop 75, Oregon 68
Wisconsin 58, UNLV 55
Notes: I'm not a fan of Oregon. They started off really well with wins over UCLA and Georgetown, but have been so-so recently. The Pac-10 title is deceiving, because they beat an awful Arizona team, California, and a so-so USC squad. Winthrop is also very, very good...Wisconsin barely gets by a really good UNLV team.
SWEET 16
Florida 85, Maryland 81
Wisconsin 57, Winthrop 50
ELITE 8
Wisconsin 59, Florida 55
I see a lot of similarities between Florida and that 1998 Arizona team in terms of the yearly journey. They both play different styles, but they also were defending champions who arrived a year early and then were the best team in the nation throughout the next year. Arizona was beat by Utah, a team that slowed their fast break and forced them to win in the halfcourt. I see Wisconsin befuddling Florida the same way Utah did so many years ago.
San Jose Bracket
Kansas 76, Niagara 58
Villanova 70, Kentucky 63
Virginia Tech 69, Illinois 54
Southern Illinois 58, Holy Cross 49
Duke 66, Virginia Commonwealth 63
Pittsburgh 58, Wright State 52
Gonzaga 70, Indiana 59
UCLA 75, Weber State 52
Notes: Illinois did not deserve to make it to the field over Drexel...Duke is very vulnerable, but they tend to lose to teams with more pure talent, not to mid-majors. VCU is good, but I think Duke barely gets by...Wright State is going to scare Pitt...I'm having trouble believing Indiana is a 7 seed, even if Gonzaga's the 10.
SECOND ROUND
Kansas 70, Villanova 57
Southern Illinois 56, Virginia Tech 54
Pittsburgh 59, Duke 55
UCLA 66, Gonzaga 65
Notes:Pitt has just enough to get by Duke...UCLA beats Gonzaga on a buzzer beating coast-to-coast layup by Darren Collison.
SWEET 16
Kansas 69, Southern Illinois 52
UCLA 72, Pittsburgh 58
ELITE 8
Kansas 79, UCLA 77 (2 OT)
Kansas and UCLA play the game of the tournament in the Elite 8, and the Jayhawks survive after Arron Afflalo misses a wide-open three pointer for the victory. Darrell Arthur and Julian Wright abuse the Bruins inside, but Afflalo lights up Kansas for 34 points before missing the game-winner.
East Rutherford Bracket
North Carolina 70, Eastern Kentucky 63
Michigan State 66, Marquette 60
USC 72, Arkansas 70
Texas 88, New Mexico State 74
Vanderbilt 75, George Washington 72
Washington State 66, Oral Roberts 55
Boston College 68, Texas Tech 64
Georgetown 60, Belmont 50
Notes: Eastern Kentucky, a team that made the tournament last year, keeps things close against a North Carolina team that plays too many guys and never gets into a rhythm...Sans Jerel McNeil, I'll take Michigan State and their lack of road wins...USC-Arkansas comes down to a really exciting finish...Boston College slips by Texas Tech in an interesting one.
SECOND ROUND
Michigan State 72, North Carolina 71
Texas 80, USC 68
Vanderbilt 70, Washington State 64
Boston College 64, Georgetown 62
Notes: Georgetown is officially this year's winner of the "2006 Ohio State Annual Trendy Title Team Award" for the squad that's overhyped too much because of a recent hot streak. We forget that the Big East is down, and Georgetown won a lot of those games against bad teams. I like BC, a team that's been there before, to pull off the upset...Michigan State wins on a buzzer-beating three from Drew Neitzel with 4.2 seconds left, and Ty Lawson proceeds to miss a potential game-winning three...Vanderbilt is better than Washington State.
SWEET 16
Texas 82, Michigan State 70
Boston College 68, Vanderbilt 66
ELITE 8
Texas 78, Boston College 70
The bracket opens up nicely for Kevin Durant and company, who have quietly been playing arguably the best in the country late in the season. They nearly beat Kansas after playing in 4 games in 4 nights, and they're finally starting to figure out how to use Durant.
San Antonio Bracket
Ohio State 66, Central Connecticut State 43
Xavier 70, BYU 61
Tennessee 65, Long Beach State 63
Albany 70, Virginia 69
Louisville 71, Stanford 66
Texas A&M 69, Penn 55
Creighton 74, Nevada 69
Memphis 97, North Texas 66
Notes: "It'sto Connelly to Wilson, for the win...GOOD! Jamar Wilson did it!!! Albany has won the game!! A miracle!! An absolute miracle!!"..."Lofton...for the win...OOOOHHH!!!!...
SECOND ROUND
Ohio State 62, Xavier 56
Albany 70, Tennessee 66
Texas A&M 68, Louisville 63
Creighton 72, Memphis 66
Notes: You have 10 seconds to explain why Tennessee isn't vulnerable. Go!...Memphis has exactly two wins against NCAA teams this year. One was against Jackson State, and the other was against Gonzaga post-shroomgate. And they're a two seed because?...
SWEET 16
Ohio State 70, Albany 59
Texas A&M 75, Creighton 66
ELITE 8
Ohio State 74, Texas A&M 71 (OT)
An Acie Law tying three pointer in overtime goes in, and somehow falls out.
FINAL FOUR
Kansas 78, Wisconsin 66
It's close for a while, but Kansas simply does what Wisconsin wants to do even better. Brandon Rush shuts down Alando Tucker, and the hot shooting of Kammron Taylor eventually wears off, allowing the Jayhawks to pull away late.
Texas 79, Ohio State 67
Kevin Durant scores 34 points, and DJ Augustine outduels Mike Conley, allowing Texas to overcome 25 and 15 from Greg Oden. On one play, Durant drives by Daequan Cook and slams it down over Oden with the left hand, prompting Bill Simmons to upload the video 500 times in his basketball blog. Two months later, the Celtics pass on Durant for Yi Jianlaun with the second pick, prompting Simmons to ditch the Celtics and root for the Milwaukee Bucks, who happily grab Durant.
TITLE GAME
Kansas 86, Texas 83
Absolute dandy of a championship game. Kansas builds a 15 point lead with 15 minutes to go, but Texas comes back to tie it with 2 minutes left. Mario Chalmers hits a three with 30 seconds left to give Kansas the lead, and Durant is forced to pass out to an open AJ Abrams. Abrams appears to have an open look, but Julian Wright comes out of nowhere to block the shot, sealing a Kansas victory.
The Jayhawks literally get the reverse scenario from the end of the 2003 title game, and finally win their first championship in a very long time.
St. Louis Bracket
FIRST ROUND
Florida 98, Jackson State 54
Purdue 62, Arizona 54
Old Dominion 70, Butler 55
Maryland 67, Davidson 66
Winthrop 66, Notre Dame 62
Oregon 69, Miami (OH) 61
UNLV 77, Georgia Tech 68
Wisconsin 66, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 56
Notes: Arizona has the talent, but has no fight left in them...Old Dominion's arguably a better team than Butler, so that won't be much of an upset at all...Drew Nicholas hits a running buzzer beater to give Maryland an improbable one-point victory over UNC-Wilmington. Oh, this isn't 2003? So replace Nicholas with DJ Strawberry, and UNC-Wilmington with Davidson...Winthrop will break through one of these years, and Notre Dame's the type of team who relies too much on the three to put them away...Georgia Tech has one true road win all season. Don't pick them for an upset.
SECOND ROUND
Florida 88, Purdue 69
Maryland 70, Old Dominion 65
Winthrop 75, Oregon 68
Wisconsin 58, UNLV 55
Notes: I'm not a fan of Oregon. They started off really well with wins over UCLA and Georgetown, but have been so-so recently. The Pac-10 title is deceiving, because they beat an awful Arizona team, California, and a so-so USC squad. Winthrop is also very, very good...Wisconsin barely gets by a really good UNLV team.
SWEET 16
Florida 85, Maryland 81
Wisconsin 57, Winthrop 50
ELITE 8
Wisconsin 59, Florida 55
I see a lot of similarities between Florida and that 1998 Arizona team in terms of the yearly journey. They both play different styles, but they also were defending champions who arrived a year early and then were the best team in the nation throughout the next year. Arizona was beat by Utah, a team that slowed their fast break and forced them to win in the halfcourt. I see Wisconsin befuddling Florida the same way Utah did so many years ago.
San Jose Bracket
Kansas 76, Niagara 58
Villanova 70, Kentucky 63
Virginia Tech 69, Illinois 54
Southern Illinois 58, Holy Cross 49
Duke 66, Virginia Commonwealth 63
Pittsburgh 58, Wright State 52
Gonzaga 70, Indiana 59
UCLA 75, Weber State 52
Notes: Illinois did not deserve to make it to the field over Drexel...Duke is very vulnerable, but they tend to lose to teams with more pure talent, not to mid-majors. VCU is good, but I think Duke barely gets by...Wright State is going to scare Pitt...I'm having trouble believing Indiana is a 7 seed, even if Gonzaga's the 10.
SECOND ROUND
Kansas 70, Villanova 57
Southern Illinois 56, Virginia Tech 54
Pittsburgh 59, Duke 55
UCLA 66, Gonzaga 65
Notes:Pitt has just enough to get by Duke...UCLA beats Gonzaga on a buzzer beating coast-to-coast layup by Darren Collison.
SWEET 16
Kansas 69, Southern Illinois 52
UCLA 72, Pittsburgh 58
ELITE 8
Kansas 79, UCLA 77 (2 OT)
Kansas and UCLA play the game of the tournament in the Elite 8, and the Jayhawks survive after Arron Afflalo misses a wide-open three pointer for the victory. Darrell Arthur and Julian Wright abuse the Bruins inside, but Afflalo lights up Kansas for 34 points before missing the game-winner.
East Rutherford Bracket
North Carolina 70, Eastern Kentucky 63
Michigan State 66, Marquette 60
USC 72, Arkansas 70
Texas 88, New Mexico State 74
Vanderbilt 75, George Washington 72
Washington State 66, Oral Roberts 55
Boston College 68, Texas Tech 64
Georgetown 60, Belmont 50
Notes: Eastern Kentucky, a team that made the tournament last year, keeps things close against a North Carolina team that plays too many guys and never gets into a rhythm...Sans Jerel McNeil, I'll take Michigan State and their lack of road wins...USC-Arkansas comes down to a really exciting finish...Boston College slips by Texas Tech in an interesting one.
SECOND ROUND
Michigan State 72, North Carolina 71
Texas 80, USC 68
Vanderbilt 70, Washington State 64
Boston College 64, Georgetown 62
Notes: Georgetown is officially this year's winner of the "2006 Ohio State Annual Trendy Title Team Award" for the squad that's overhyped too much because of a recent hot streak. We forget that the Big East is down, and Georgetown won a lot of those games against bad teams. I like BC, a team that's been there before, to pull off the upset...Michigan State wins on a buzzer-beating three from Drew Neitzel with 4.2 seconds left, and Ty Lawson proceeds to miss a potential game-winning three...Vanderbilt is better than Washington State.
SWEET 16
Texas 82, Michigan State 70
Boston College 68, Vanderbilt 66
ELITE 8
Texas 78, Boston College 70
The bracket opens up nicely for Kevin Durant and company, who have quietly been playing arguably the best in the country late in the season. They nearly beat Kansas after playing in 4 games in 4 nights, and they're finally starting to figure out how to use Durant.
San Antonio Bracket
Ohio State 66, Central Connecticut State 43
Xavier 70, BYU 61
Tennessee 65, Long Beach State 63
Albany 70, Virginia 69
Louisville 71, Stanford 66
Texas A&M 69, Penn 55
Creighton 74, Nevada 69
Memphis 97, North Texas 66
Notes: "It'sto Connelly to Wilson, for the win...GOOD! Jamar Wilson did it!!! Albany has won the game!! A miracle!! An absolute miracle!!"..."Lofton...for the win...OOOOHHH!!!!...
SECOND ROUND
Ohio State 62, Xavier 56
Albany 70, Tennessee 66
Texas A&M 68, Louisville 63
Creighton 72, Memphis 66
Notes: You have 10 seconds to explain why Tennessee isn't vulnerable. Go!...Memphis has exactly two wins against NCAA teams this year. One was against Jackson State, and the other was against Gonzaga post-shroomgate. And they're a two seed because?...
SWEET 16
Ohio State 70, Albany 59
Texas A&M 75, Creighton 66
ELITE 8
Ohio State 74, Texas A&M 71 (OT)
An Acie Law tying three pointer in overtime goes in, and somehow falls out.
FINAL FOUR
Kansas 78, Wisconsin 66
It's close for a while, but Kansas simply does what Wisconsin wants to do even better. Brandon Rush shuts down Alando Tucker, and the hot shooting of Kammron Taylor eventually wears off, allowing the Jayhawks to pull away late.
Texas 79, Ohio State 67
Kevin Durant scores 34 points, and DJ Augustine outduels Mike Conley, allowing Texas to overcome 25 and 15 from Greg Oden. On one play, Durant drives by Daequan Cook and slams it down over Oden with the left hand, prompting Bill Simmons to upload the video 500 times in his basketball blog. Two months later, the Celtics pass on Durant for Yi Jianlaun with the second pick, prompting Simmons to ditch the Celtics and root for the Milwaukee Bucks, who happily grab Durant.
TITLE GAME
Kansas 86, Texas 83
Absolute dandy of a championship game. Kansas builds a 15 point lead with 15 minutes to go, but Texas comes back to tie it with 2 minutes left. Mario Chalmers hits a three with 30 seconds left to give Kansas the lead, and Durant is forced to pass out to an open AJ Abrams. Abrams appears to have an open look, but Julian Wright comes out of nowhere to block the shot, sealing a Kansas victory.
The Jayhawks literally get the reverse scenario from the end of the 2003 title game, and finally win their first championship in a very long time.
13 Comments:
I can't believe you have BC scoring any points, let alone winning a few games. The Ohio State fad pick last year was working alright, until it met up with Georgetown...
Good blog
nice articles
I hope everybody read this article.
thanks
Great post! I like your predictions, however I have to disagree of course...
My Final Four....
UCLA over Florida
Ohio St. over Georgetown
Ohio St. over UCLA!!!!!!
Texas will win it all like Syracuse did with carmelo
Good stuff... I agree with a lot of stuff, though I strongly disagree with Wisconsin and BC.
Wisconsin has looked very medicore offensively since the loss of Butch, and BC just doesn't have the depth, and Rice is still a little inconsistent.
Nice pick of Albany... I've been considering taking them myself.
Did nobody else notice how Ohio State manhandled Wisconsin? Yet they get no love.
Oh yeah, Kansas is overrated. They played a tired Texas team.
Bryce Drew...Yes!
Where is Syracuse?
Not all of this makes complete sense, but that's because not everything that happens in March Madness makes complete sense.
As for BC, remember the rule of the MASOSSETIGOF. It happens without fail, and it's never someone you expect.
And I'm inclined to think that Wisconsin is vulnerable, but with the exception of UNLV, nobody scares me in that bracket until the Florida game. And Wisconsin matches up really well with Florida, IMO. They're the type of slowdown, disciplined team that can bother the Gators.
And please, Kansas is overrated? Please explain. You try beating Kevin Durant twice like that.
Kansas is not overrated. However I do believe that their SOS is 53 in the country. That is because they played in the weak division in the Big 12.
They looked fantastic against Texas, yet it was a tired Texas team, like anonymous said. There is a little bit of truth to that.
Fair point.
But they also beat Texas in the regular season and Florida in a neutral site. They have solid double-digit wins over fellow NCAA teams USC and Boston College, and have won 11 in a row.
They're 4th on the S curve, behind Florida, UNC, and Ohio State. I don't see how they can be overrated when they're playing the best ball in the country as of late.
I got Kansas, Florida, Ohio State and Georgetown with Kansas over Georgetown in the final.
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