Cutting down the nets

All right, you have waited long enough. Here is my official NCAA bracket. Yes, it may look very similar to CBS’ Seth Daivs, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl, and ESPN’s Bill Simmons, but I have to put out there that I finished my bracket on Tuesday afternoon, before all of these picks were released. If these picks are correct, I guess great minds think alike. If these picks are wrong, then those guys are just bad luck.


Midwest

1-FLORIDA over 16-Jackson State
9-PURDUE over 8-Arizona
5-BUTLER over 12-Old Dominion
4-MARYLAND over 13-Davidson
11-WINTHROP over 6-Notre Dame
3-OREGON over 14-Miami (Ohio)
10-GEORGIA TECH over 7-Unlv
2-WISCONSIN over 15-Texas A&M-C.C.

1-FLORIDA over 9-Purdue
4-MARYLAND over 5-Butler
3-OREGON over 11-Wintop
10-GEORGIA TECH over 2-Wisconsin

1-FLORIDA over 4-Maryland
3-OREGON over 10-Georgia Tech

1-FLORIDA over 3-Oregon

I think the Gators got the easiest draw of any team in the tournament. The two seed in this region, Wisconsin, didn’t do much of anything after center Brian Butch cracked his elbow against Ohio State at the end of February. The three seed Oregon is on a roll after their Pac-10 tournament title, but they are only as a good as their long range shooting. The two mid-major sleeper teams, Butler and Old Dominion, have to face each other in round one. Of all my final four picks, I feel safest about this one.


West

1-KANSAS over 16-Niagra
9-VILlINOVA over 8-Kentucky
12-ILLINOIS over 5-Virginia Tech
4-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS over 13-Holy Cross
6-DUKE over 11-Vcu
14-WRIGHT STATE over 3-Pittsburgh
10-GONZAGA over 7-Indiana
2-UCLA over 15-Weber State

1-KANSAS over 9-Villinova
4-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS over 12-Illinois
6-DUKE over 14-Wright State
2-UCLA over 10-Gonzaga

1-KANSAS over 4-Southern Illinois
2-UCLA over 6-Duke

1-Kansas over 2-Ucla

I had a very tough time deciding who to win that final between the Jayhawks and the Bruins. Even thought the game is in California (See my last tournament preview for more on that), I picked KU for two reasons. One, because I think they match up real well with the Bruins. UCLA’s strength is their backcourt with guards Darren Collision, Aaron Aflallo and Josh Shipp, but that goes right into what Kansas does well, which is perimeter defense. Reason number two is depth. The Jayhawks can go five deep on their bench, and I think they will have too much talent for UCLA to handle.


East

1-NORTH CAROLINA over 16-E. Kentucky
9-MICHIGAN STATE over 8-Marquette
5-USC over 12-Arkansas
4-TEXAS over 13-New Mexico St.
6-VANDERBILT over 11-George Washington
3-WASHINGTON STATE over 14-Oral Roberts
10-TEXAS TECH over 7-Boston College
2-GEORGETOWN over 15-Belmont

1-NORTH CAROLINA over 9-Michigan State
4-TEXAS over 5-Usc
6-VANDERBILT over 4-Washington State
2-GEORGETOWN over 10-Texas Tech

4-TEXAS over 1-North Carolina
2-GEORGETOWN over 6-Vanderbilt

2-GEORGETOWN over 4-Texas

Of the four regions, I would say this one is the hardest to predict and the most likely to make people furious all across the country. There are three teams (UNC, Georgetown and Texas) that are all playing great basketball right now and have a legitimate chance of cutting down the nets. And there are also a bunch of big game coaches (Bob Knight, Tim Floyd, and Tom Izzo) that are capable of engineering a major upset. I went with the Hoyas because I think UT will be worn out after a dogfight against UNC and won't be able to contain Roy Hibbert down low.


South

1-OHIO STATE over 16-Central Connecticut
9-XAVIER over 8-Byu
12-LONG BEACH ST. over 5-Tennessee
4-VIRGINIA over 13-Albany
6-LOUISVILLE over 11-Stanford
3-TEXAS A&M over 14-Penn
7-NEVADA over 10-Creigton
2-MEMPHIS over 15-North Texas

9-XAVIER over 1-Ohio State
12-LONG BEACH ST. over 4-VIRGINIA
3-TEXAS A&M over 6-LOUISVILLE
7-NEVADA over 2-MEMPHIS

9-XAVIER over 12-Long Beach St.
3-TEXAS A&M over 7-Nevada

3-TEXAS A&M over 9-Xavier

The South is going to be one crazy place during these next few weeks. I think that every team in this region is vulnerable to lose at any time, which is why there will be some crazy upsets. The best all around team I think is the Aggies, which is why I like them to advance to the A-T-L. (Though I have to say, I’m quite scared of a possible Louisville-A&M game in Lexington in round two.)


Final Four
1-KANSAS over 1-FLORIDA
2-GEORGETOWN over 3-TEXAS A&M

The Gators and Jayhawks already have faced off this year, but that was way back in November. While the Gators do have an incredible amount of talent, I think they tend to lose focus at certain times. That will be bad news for their goal in going back-to-back, because they Jayhawks will run all over them if they blink for a second.

A&M has the best clutch guard in the nation in Acie Law IV, but I don’t see how he will be able to do much against this dominant Hoya squad. Georgetown has too much size and athleticism for the Aggies to match up with.

National Championship

1-KANSAS over 2-Georgetown

Both of these teams have their obvious strengths. The Jayhawks are deep, play great defense and have a bunch of guys who can step up and make big shots. The Hoyas are athletic and long, play a difficult offense to prepare for and don’t give up easy shots on D. Both are coached by guys who have had a lot of regular season success but have never won much of anything in March. And both are legendary programs with a lot of history and aura. I say this night belongs to the Jayhawks and the fans in Lawrence will be rock, chalking it up.