I love seeing the names of some of the lower seeds... Like IUPUI, I thought it was some sort of say it slowly thing and you get a funny word like ICUP Also a fan of Sam Houston St. That cheesy 80s jobber wrestler doesn't just have his own school but his own STATE
Okay my final 4 picks
Midwest: Kentucky West: Duke South: Xavier East: Louisville
Final: Louisville vs. Kentucky, with Kentucky winning. But really don't underestimate Louisville... I think it will be some interesting weeks for the state of Kentucky.
Was mentioned Three times, 3X, 3X. In the "Great Wieners" thread!
IUPUI...Say that five times fast. It's why I love this time of year.
My Final Four: Midwest: Kentucky West: Arizona South: Maryland East: Wake Forest
I'm picking Arizona to win it all (over Maryland) just because everyone else is picking Kentucky.
My big upset is Holy Cross over Marquette. Outside of that, nothing big, except for Dayton in the Sweet Sixteen, and a minor surprise in Maryland making it to the final.
[conspiracy mode] Am I the only one that thought for a split second that the whole BYU thing was intentional? I mean, the NCAA knows what big bucks are made this year by us degenerate gamblers, money that they don't get any part of, and by moving BYU around, it's going to blow up a bunch of brackets should they get that far. I wouldn't put it past the NCAA to put a stick up someone's ass like that. [/conspiracy mode]
"[Phil] Jackson named his kidney stone "Kobe"...because it wouldn't pass."-Page 2
Upsets: UW-Mil over ND San Diego over Stanford Penn over Okla St. I can also see LSU knocking off Texas in the 2nd round and I can see Creighton taking out Duke in the sweet 1
Just a little food for thought when making your picks.
A lot of teams come out of the regular season with great records with high-tempo, high-endurance presses and fast breaks. However, once you gets past the first few rounds of the tourney, you'd better have a helluva half-court offense and/or defense.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the University of Kentucky Wildcats. The only question: Where is the NY Yankees World Series victory to accompany it? (Every time the 'Cats have won the NCAA Championship, the Yanks have won the Series.)
Late night has been the best ball in the 1st round. Wow. Maryland almost screwed me royally!!!! St. Joe's didn't do me any favours, but I've only lost 1 Sweet 16 team so far.
The limb I went out on for Troy St. broke early and left me laying too.
As always, the tournament rules. I love this time of year.
"You have the right to suffer. You have the right to feel pain. If you wish to have an attorney present, I'll hurt him too!" - The Big Bossman
I think my blood pressure has finally recovered from tonight. Man, those last-second finishes weren't good for the body at all.
I'm hurting on my picks a bit, but doing about how I normally do at this point in the year. Most everything major is still intact (with one small bump - let's hear it for stupidity on my part), but I didn't think I had a chance to win the brackets anyway.
Originally posted by DrewDewceLate night has been the best ball in the 1st round. Wow. Maryland almost screwed me royally!!!! St. Joe's didn't do me any favours, but I've only lost 1 Sweet 16 team so far.
The limb I went out on for Troy St. broke early and left me laying too.
As always, the tournament rules. I love this time of year.
This is where we differ...Maryland DID screwm me royally...them and UW-Milwaukee. Switch the ending to those two games and I'm a happy guy. I'd be 28-4...I'm still 26-6, but a couple picks screwed me up for Saturday.
Butler and Arizona State came through for me, but Wake Forest gave me a scare...
Looking forward to tomorrow...there's been some great games so far.
As for the games... DAMN, this is looking to be an exciting tourney. Definitely. I don't think I've seen a boring game yet. Of course, I haven't seen anyone seeded higher than 4 play yet, so I've missed the blowouts. I had 28 right at the end of the first round, but the second round's not looking so good right now. I've lost Colorado and Illinois, and it's starting to look like Missouri might cost me big.
On a side note, has anyone 'round here actually won a tournament pool? The highest I've ever finished is 4th, and it's not looking like I'll get that high this year, unless those Oklahoma "by-God" Sooners take it all. What's it like? Are the bragging rights as mystically wonderful as they seem?
Since my bracket died on the first day, I went back to my usual rooting for all the low seeds to win. And that Gonzaga game was just the heartbreaker of all heartbreakers. What a hell of a day though for good games, between that one and the Missouri/Marquette game. Wow!
Those who fought against this war's coming must now stand and say we stand behind our troops and wish them the safest possible future. May as few people as possible suffer for this effort to come to a conclusion. If war must come, let it come and go swiftly and as bloodlessly as it can.
Of all the close great games so far this weekend, the Gonzaga/Arizona game was truly a special affair, and I hope we get the full thing pretty quick on ESPN classic.
Nice to see the Badgers pull thru for me too.
I'm doing better than I have in the past few years, so at least there's that.
"You have the right to suffer. You have the right to feel pain. If you wish to have an attorney present, I'll hurt him too!" - The Big Bossman
Lost two Elite 8 teams (Stanford & Gonzaga) today so far which hurts like mad, but my bracket is still somewhat intact as I have yet to lose one of my Final Four.
Gonzaga just broke my heart. :(
Pearl Jam - Live in Little Rock: 80 Days & Counting
Despite having picked Arizona to win it all, those Gonzaga kids DESERVED to win. If you taped it, or they do show it on ESPN classic, take a look at their faces. They were having so much fun in that game. The Arizona kids were worried to death, the Gonzaga kids were throwing in threes from snout range (Where Arkansas' Alex Dillard used to launch them from) and they were touching nuthin' but net. At the start of the second overtime one of Gonzaga's tall trees left in the game said to one of the ref's "Hell of a game" and laughed. You could tell by the ref's body language he agreed. That's what I'll remember about that game.
Not quite as good as KY/Duke '92 and again, the more deserving team lost (IM Biased O), but a special game nonetheless.
"You have the right to suffer. You have the right to feel pain. If you wish to have an attorney present, I'll hurt him too!" - The Big Bossman
On a side note, has anyone 'round here actually won a tournament pool? The highest I've ever finished is 4th, and it's not looking like I'll get that high this year, unless those Oklahoma "by-God" Sooners take it all. What's it like? Are the bragging rights as mystically wonderful as they seem?
I've never even come close to winning, not even top 5. Most years I have a very early exit, like last year when Final Four pick Florida lost in the first round to Creighton. Although that was the best game of the tournament. This year no FInal Four picks out in the first round, so that's a big improvement for me. But Missouri is out in the second round, I had them in the Final Four. Also had Illinois in the round of eight so that one hurt too. I still have 6 of 8 from my round of 8 and 3 of my four Final Four teams. Probably not going to finish high, but better than most seasons.
Originally posted by BullittOh man...I don't think I've EVER seen a shooting display like I just did in that Butler/Louisville game. Fantastic...
I turned it on while they were going down the stretch, and hot damn if that wasn't unbelievable. I had had it on earlier when Louisville sliced Butler's lead to ribbons, and I thought they were going to win easily, but when I turned it on again with four minutes left...my goodness.
PS: I think Pitt has to be given a better than even chance to beat UK if they meet in the Elite 8. That performance today was nothing short of perfect.
The thing I love about Butler was what they said after the game. One of the players in the post-game interview basically said "We're not happy to be here, we want to win the national title." And I say good for them. If they keep playing at this level, they gave a shot, no matter how slight, to get through the East region.
There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. - Theodore Roosevelt, Ocotber 12, 1915
Surprised not to see a predictions thread for the season yet, but wanted to throw this up here anyway. Prediction for the Cleveland Cavaliers overall record this year: 55-29 with a 9-7 division record, and a 37-17 conference record.