BAM! Bracket Thoughts!

And I am back with some more bracket thoughts. Due to personal obligations (band practice, homework, spring break) I was not able to post my thoughts about the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds in a timely fashion, so I will give them to you now.

Pregame

• Candace Parker put on one of the gutsiest performances I have seen against Texas A&M. That just had to hurt.
  
• The Sweet Sixteen had three double-digit seeded teams. Props to these small schools for their performance.
  

Charlotte Region

• Tyler Hansbrough continued his phenomenal postseason play in wins over Washington State and Louisville. I don't watch a lot of college basketball, and I really hope I do not get scorned for his, but he may be the best college basketball player I have seen this decade/century/millennium.
  
• Louisville beat Tennessee to help my bracket out. I always feel Tennessee is a bit overrated. I do not know what it is, but they always seem overrated to me in (men's) basketball and football.
  
• The last minute of the Louisville-North Carolina game was so painful. The game is over. Please stop fouling. You are not going to get back into it. Thanks.
  
• The higher seed won every game of the Charlotte Region except for No. 9 Arkansas over No. 8 Indiana and No. 3 Louisville over No. 2 Tennessee.
  

Detroit Region

• I was not digging the raised court deal in Detroit. It just seemed way too dangerous for my liking.
  
• Kansas is in the Final Four after beating Davidson. I do not think a lot of people would expect to write that sentence this year.
  
• I have not read anything about this, but should Stephen Curry have taken the last shot of Davidson's 59-57 loss to Kansas? I personally think that Davidson could have tried to get him open better, but then again Kansas was playing tenacious defense.
  
• I have had four scenarios running through my head regarding the last bullet:
  
  • Curry takes the last shot, sinks it, and Davidson wins. Curry is regarded as a clutch hero.
    
  • Curry takes the shot, but misses it. He is regarded as a valiant hero going down.
    
  • Curry passes the shot to a teammate who sinks the winning basket. Curry is applauded as being unselfish.
    
  • Curry passes the shot to a teammate who misses. Curry is regarded as trying to be too unselfish (see: James, LeBron; 2007 NBA Playoffs).
    
• I have not heard anyone utter any of the above phrases, but they are in my mind, so I figured I would write them down.
  
• Wisconsin was really a silent team this year, even in losing to Davidson. They are perennial homegrown contenders. I would not count them out next year.
  
• Villanova was great in getting to the Sweet Sixteen. Even though I had Clemson in it instead of them.
  

Houston Region

• Memphis ended Michigan State's Drew Neitzel's career. I enjoyed watching Neitzel throughout his entire career. Bravo.
  
• Even though they beat Stanford, Texas just looked absolutely horrendous against Memphis. Horrendous.
  
• Memphis has a definite shot at beating UCLA. Just as long as Joey Dorsey can stay out of foul trouble.
  
• The higher seed won only one game in the Houston Region, No. 5 Michigan State over No. 4 Pittsburgh.
  

Phoenix Region

• This was probably the weakest bracket in the entire tournament.
  
• UCLA was not thoroughly challenged, although I was hoping Xavier would give them a run for their money.
  
• Western Kentucky, San Diego, and West Virginia get major props from this bracket.
  
• The lower seed won four games in this bracket.
  

Overtime

• I find it fascinating that Memphis point guard Derrick Rose has a phobia of needles.
  
• Also, Memphis backup point guard Andre Allen was suspended for violating team rules. I wanted to see him play one more time and marvel at his short length.
  
• I finally get what people mean when they say they are glad the four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four. The first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament are great to watch young teams no one has ever heard of win a few games and screw up your bracket. But once you get to the Final Four, you want to see good basketball. That's why you want to see the top four seeds make it in.
  

Peace.

Even More Bracket Thoughts

Pregame

• My bracket is screwed. My champion, Georgetown, is done.
  
• Now I'm rooting all out for Davidson to make the Final Four and all that good stuff.
  
• I still have seven of the Elite Eight, three of the Final Four, and one of the Final Two still in.
  
• I went 9-7 in picks in the second round, making me 31-17 for the tournament.
  
• I will finish with at least 21 "losses."
  
• This will go down as one of the hardest tournaments ever to pick, in my opinion.
  

Charlotte Region

• I lost two of the four Sweet Sixteen teams here.
  
• In my last edition, I said that Arkansas could give North Carolina some trouble with their size. I was wrong. I still can't figure out who #51 on Arkansas is.
  
• I had Notre Dame riding Luke Harangody into the Sweet Sixteen, but Washington St. was quick to derail that. I'm dying to see WSU play, and given my market, I think I will see them play against UNC in a few days.
  
• Louisville slipped into the Sweet Sixteen rather easily, beating Oklahoma.
  
• I was hoping that Butler would upend Tennessee, but I was wrong. Tennessee could definitely beat Louisville, messing my bracket up even more.
  

Detroit Region

• This was another bracket where I split the Sweet Sixteen teams.
  
• Kansas continues their road to the Elite Eight by beating UNLV, and they now face Villanova, who dispatched upstart Siena. I'm taking Kansas.
  
• Wisconsin shut down the one man show of Michael Beasley. That game was the first time I had ever seen Beasley play for an extended period of time, and I was rather impressed. However, Wisconsin showed in the second half that if you shut down Beasley, you shut down Kansas State.
  
• Wisconsin faces Davidson who upended my champion Georgetown behind Stephen Curry's 30 points. That man has a sweet stroke. I'm rooting for Davidson now. I'm putting everything behind them.
  

Houston Region

• Memphis gave me a big scare against Mississippi St. They should a lot playing without Dorsey and Dozier, who both fouled out. In their defense, some of the fouls called on them did not look like fouls. I'm not a ref though, so what do I know.
  
• Drew Neitzel's senior season continues as Michigan St. put away one of my picks in Pittsburgh. Pitt just looked absolutely lethargic on the boards and was not fighting for the ball at all on the offensive glass. DaJuan
  Blair impresses me a lot. He's a good talent.
  
• I missed the end of the Stanford-Marquette game. I really want to see it.
  
• To my mother's chagrin, Texas ousted Miami. My mom put Miami in the Final Four. She also had USC in there. Ouch. But she went on a limb and picked UCLA to win it all, so it balances out somewhat. Miami showed a lot of heart at the end though, hitting some amazing three-pointers. Too little, too late.
  

Phoenix Region

• UCLA stayed true to my projected Final Four form, beating Texas A&M.
  
• Western Kentucky upended San Diego, who made a late charge at the end. I still picked San Diego over UConn, so HA!
  
• UCLA-Western Kentucky is either going to be a great game or a blowout.
  
• Purdue scared me a lot in the Xavier game, but the Musketeers pulled it out. #25 on Purdue is extremely skinny, I don't know if anyone else noticed that.
  
• West Virginia over Duke pleased the human but upset the bracket, ousting another Sweet Sixteen team.
  
• Xavier-West Virginia will probably be the best game of the Sweet Sixteen.
  

Overtime

• Ranking the eight Sweet Sixteen games:
  
• Xavier-West Virginia
  
• Tennessee-Louisville
  
• Texas-Stanford
  
• Wisconsin-Davidson
  
• North Carolina-Washington St.
  
• Memphis-Michigan St.
  
• UCLA-Western Kentucky
  
• Kansas-Villanova
  
• All of this can change though…
  

National Champion
Georgetown

Final Two
Georgetown
Memphis

Final Four
North Carolina
Georgetown
Memphis
UCLA

Elite Eight
North Carolina
Louisville
Kansas
Georgetown
Memphis
Stanford
UCLA
Xavier

Sweet Sixteen
North Carolina
Notre Dame (Washington State)
Louisville
Butler (Tennessee)
Kansas
Clemson (Villanova)
Wisconsin
Georgetown (Davidson)
Memphis
Pittsburgh (Michigan State)
Stanford
Texas
UCLA
Drake (Western Kentucky)
Xavier
Duke (West Virginia)

Second Thirty-Two
North Carolina
Indiana (Arkansas)
Notre Dame
Washington St.
St. Joseph's (Oklahoma)
Louisville
Butler
Tennessee
Kansas
Kent St. (UNLV)
Clemson (Villanova)
Vanderbilt (Siena)
USC (Kansas St.)
Wisconsin
Davidson
Georgetown
Memphis
Oregon (Mississippi St.)
Michigan St.
Pittsburgh
Marquette
Stanford
St. Mary's (Miami)
Texas
UCLA
BYU (Texas A&M)
Drake (Western Kentucky)
San Diego
Purdue
Xavier
West Virginia
Duke

More Bracket Thoughts

Pregame

• How many guys with the last name "Smith" does Tennessee have? I lost count.
  
• Do the guys on the American Eagles shop at American Eagle?
  
• I doubt that anybody will have a perfect bracket after this one.
  
• Stephen Curry is a beast.
  
• Adam Emmenecker has to be one of the best all-around players I have seen. And that's not me echoing the announcers.
  
• Picking a slumping Indiana team over Arkansas was a bad choice.
  
• Whoever #51 on Arkansas is, he has awesome hair. I'd like to see his fashion sense.
  
• The people in Tampa Bay got quite the show yesterday. Four upsets, two in overtime. Lucky bums.
  
• I went 22-10 in the first round. Not good.
  

Charlotte Region

• If North Carolina was playing Indiana in the second round game, I would pick North Carolina by a mile. However, Arkansas intrigues with their size that could help to neutralize Tyler Hansbrough, but Ty Lawson's speed could cancel out the size factor. Still taking North Carolina.
  
• Notre Dame-Washington St. could be another good one. As I said before, I know nothing of how these two teams matchup. All I know is that Luke Harangody is a beast. So I think I'm leaning towards Notre Dame on this one to break through to the Sweet 16.
  
• I took a risk with St. Joe's over Oklahoma and that did not pay off. Most people complain about how all these small conference schools come out of nowhere to wreak havoc on their brackets. I hate the middle-of-the-road big conference schools that you do not hear anything about during the season and that come in to the tournament and wreak havoc on my bracket. Examples this year include Arkansas, Oklahoma, Miami, Villanova, Mississippi St., Texas A&M, and Purdue. Throw UNLV and Kent St. in there for good measure. Maybe I just need to follow college basketball closer.
  
• I think Louisville can definitely take Oklahoma. They better.
  
• Butler over Tennessee. The Smiths can't save the Volunteers this time.
  

Detroit Region

• Kansas should handle UNLV. I think. I know nothing of UNLV, so I'll have to watch this game to find out.
  
• Villanova and Siena both slightly messed up my bracket. Villanova knocked out Clemson, one of my Sweet 16 teams. I am happy to see Villanova and Siena win. If I had filled out multiple brackets like I usually do, I would have had both of them winning. I'm going to say the magic continues for Lucky No. 13 and Siena upends Nova.
  
• Wisconsin-Kansas St. intrigues as to who will guard Michael Beasley. Wisconsin is one of those teams that always sneaks up on me. After losing Alando Tucker, I did not think they could make it far into the tournament, but they always seem to do something right, sweeping the Big Ten crowns.
  
• Davidson-Georgetown is a scary one for me. I have Georgetown winning it all, but the way Davidson has been playing puts me on upset alert. As I said before, Stephen Curry is a beast.
  

Houston Region

• Memphis should run all over Mississippi St. Sorry for all you that wanted a Hansbrough family reunion in the finals.
  
• Michigan St.-Pittsburgh is a great matchup. I am a big Drew Neitzel fan and would love to see them advance, but I also really like Pitt and DaJuan Blair. I picked Pitt though, so Neitzel's great college career is almost over.
  
• Stanford is another one of those teams that has been sneaking around, but I have actually heard a lot of good things about them, especially the Lopez twins. Their size should be enough to stymie the Golden Eagles of Marquette.
  
• I had St. Mary's against Texas here, but Miami proved me wrong. Texas should handle Miami though. Should. My mom actually has Miami in her Final Four. Riiiiiiiiiight.
  
• This is the only bracket where the higher seed has one every game so far.
  

Phoenix Region

• UCLA's easier road continues against Texas A&M, who they can probably handle with help from Kevin Love. A&M might hang tough for a little while, but they will be overwhelmed eventually.
  
• The Western Kentucky-Drake game was the best game I have seen in a long, long time. I lost one of my Sweet 16 teams, but it was worth it for that excitement.
  
• San Diego-UConn was the second best game I have seen in a while. AND I PICKED SAN DIEGO!!!!! That aside, San Diego-Western Kentucky will be a great one. I think Western Kentucky has the edge though. Also, for all you out there who would like to learn more about San Diego, read about RobJones. He has quite the story that was covered in Sports Illustrated a while back that covered his and his father's past.
  
• Xavier's tenacious defense will be too much for Purdue, putting the Musketeers into the Sweet 16.
  
• I have Duke over West Virginia, but the Belmont game really scared me. West Virginia can definitely beat Duke, which I would like them to do, but for the sake of my bracket, Duke, please get to the Sweet 16.
  

Overtime

• I really enjoyed yesterday. Being off from school and watching basketball all day was awesome. However, the one thing that I absolutely hated was watching North Carolina beat up on Mount St. Mary's. That was horrible. No team should have to go through that. The Mount was thoroughly overmatched, but I guess there is not much they could do. It was still painful to watch while there were three other quality games going on.
  

So here are my picks:

National Champion
Georgetown

Final Two
Georgetown
Memphis

Final Four
North Carolina
Georgetown
Memphis
UCLA

Elite Eight
North Carolina
Louisville
Kansas
Georgetown
Memphis
Stanford
UCLA
Xavier

Sweet Sixteen
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Louisville
Butler
Kansas
Clemson
Wisconsin
Georgetown
Memphis
Pittsburgh
Stanford
Texas
UCLA
Drake
Xavier
Duke

Second Thirty-Two
North Carolina
Indiana (Arkansas)
Notre Dame
Washington St.
St. Joseph's (Oklahoma)
Louisville
Butler
Tennessee
Kansas
Kent St. (UNLV)
Clemson (Villanova)
Vanderbilt (Siena)
USC (Kansas St.)
Wisconsin
Davidson
Georgetown
Memphis
Oregon (Mississippi St.)
Michigan St.
Pittsburgh
Marquette
Stanford
St. Mary's (Miami)
Texas
UCLA
BYU (Texas A&M)
Drake (Western Kentucky)
San Diego
Purdue
Xavier
West Virginia
Duke

Bracket Thoughts

Thoughts on March Madness:

• I have to hand it to the Maryland schools. With University of Maryland suffering a horrible collapse at the end of the season, the state was still represented by Mt. St. Mary's, Coppin State, and UMBC. If you extend along the I-95 corridor, George Mason, American, and Georgetown can be included. Morgan State was one game away, losing to Coppin in the conference championship game.
  
• Elaborating on the last point, Coppin State was a great story. These guys were 4-19 on February 2, and won 12 of 13 to make it improbably into the tournament before bowing out to Mt. St. Mary's in the play-in game.
  

Charlotte Region

• I really feel for Mt. St. Mary's in this one. They win their conference tournament, win a tough game against Coppin State, and what do they get? North Carolina. Ouch.
  
• I do not see Indiana going far at all in the tournament. Besides dealing with losing Kelvin Sampson, they do not seem like they will be able to go far in this tournament.
  
• I'll jump on the Luke Harangody bandwagon. The dude is a beast.
  
• Winthrop is one of the teams that I always like every March. I picked them to beat No. 2 Tennessee as a No. 15 seed two years ago, in a game where Chris Lofton hit a buzzer beater. I also picked them to get into the Sweet 16 last year. However, this year, the Eagles just did not seem was good. I took Washington State over them, and they were totally overmatched. Washington State is a mystery to me. Being on the East Coast, I never saw them play this season. I had seen they were ranked in the pre-season Top 10, but never saw them play. Hopefully I'll get to see how good they really are.
  
• The St. Joseph's-Oklahoma game is another mystery to me. I saw neither of these teams play this year, but they both come from tough conferences, St. Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 and Oklahoma in the Big XII.
  
• I would love to see Boise State-Oklahoma in the second round. That would just be an awesome matchup. However, Louisville will definitely have the Broncos' number, so no Cinderella from Boise this year.
  
• I feel that Butler was seeded a little low at No. 7. They definitely have the chance to go far. However, because they are seeded so low, I could see No. 10 South Alabama upsetting them.
  
• Right now, Tennessee-American is at the half 29-22. American looked good early, but Tennessee came back. I have a feeling Tennessee will run away with this one. Tennessee is an interesting team. Many people have them in the Final Four and some as National Champion, but they are also a team I feel comfortable with kicking out early.
  
• Must-see games: Indiana-Arkansas, Oklahoma-St. Joseph's, Butler-South Alabama.
  

Detroit Region

• Kansas handled Portland St. as expected. It's a shame to see these small conference schools work hard to make it to the Big Dance, but then draw teams like Kansas and are one-and-don.
  
• UNLV-Kent St. was a matchup between teams I had never seen this year. So I picked Kent St. and they lost.
  
• The 5-12 game in this bracket is another enticing one. Clemson can definitely go far in this tournament, but so can Villanova. I am taking Clemson, but I would not rule out Villanova, even though some would say they were not deserving of the tournament.
  
• I was somewhat surprised to see Vanderbilt as a No. 4, but that is mostly because they are not a team I think of as being a high seed. They do have fire power though and have the potential to wreak havoc.
  
• Michael Beasley defeated O.J. Mayo in their lone matchup. Beasley cannot do it all by himself.
  
• I expect Wisconsin to thoroughly handle Kansas St.
  
• Gonzaga-Davidson is the best matchup in the first round. This is the must-see game of the tournament, but I am stuck watching American-Tennessee. I picked Davidson in this one. Gotta love the No. 10 seeds.
  
• Georgetown will definitely handle UMBC, which is another shame.
  
• Must-see games: USC-Kansas St. (it already happened, but it was), Gonzaga-Davidson.
  

Houston Region

• Memphis over UT-Arlington. Lock it up.
  
• Mississippi St.-Oregon is a tough one. I have not seen MSU play at all this year, I'm biased towards Oregon, and Tajuan Porter is one of my favorite college players. That young man can ball. This should be a good one. Little Hansbrough will get to show his stuff.
  
• Michigan St. and Pittsburgh both won. Pitt was scaring me early though…
  
• Marquette-Stanford is gearing up to be a great second-round game.
  
• I picked St. Mary's over Miami. This is another No. 7-No. 10 matchup that I desperately wanted to see. St. Mary's definitely has the opportunity to be Cinderella.
  
• I personally do not see why everyone is so high on Texas. I do not think they are that good, but that's just me. But they will win over Austin Peay. I don't even know how to pronounce Peay.
  
• Must-see games: Mississippi St.-Oregon, St. Mary's-Miami.
  

Phoenix Region

• UCLA's defense against Miss. Valley St. was amazing. I have never heard of a defense being that stingy (I didn't see the game or any highlights).
  
• I had BYU over Texas A&M. Oh well.
  
• Drake-Western Kentucky definitely has the firepower to usurp Gonzaga-Davidson as the best opening round game. I have Drake in the Sweet 16, but that could change quickly. It's 38-37, in favor of Drake, at half.
  
• My upset of the tournament is San Diego over Connecticut. Probably won't happen, but is definitely worth the risk in my opinion. Gotta watch those WCC teams.
  
• I am very impressed with Baylor's performance this year, and I was definitely rooting for them after all they have gone through this year.
  
• Georgia was a great story as well, but their luck ran out against Xavier.
  
• I picked West Virginia over Arizona. 'Zona has Lute Olsen coming back next year and Brandon Jennings coming in, so they look to be on the rise.
  
• Duke scared me big time.
  
• This is a very weak bracket. I can definitely see the roots of a UCLA conspiracy here.
  
• Must-see games: Drake-Western Kentucky, Connecticut-San Diego.
  

I just love March Madness. The first four days are the best four days of any sporting event ever.

So here are my picks:

National Champion
Georgetown

Final Two
Georgetown
Memphis

Final Four
North Carolina
Georgetown
Memphis
UCLA

Elite Eight
North Carolina
Louisville
Kansas
Georgetown
Memphis
Stanford
UCLA
Xavier

Sweet Sixteen
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Louisville
Butler
Kansas
Clemson
Wisconsin
Georgetown
Memphis
Pittsburgh
Stanford
Texas
UCLA
Drake
Xavier
Duke

Second Thirty-Two
North Carolina
Indiana
Notre Dame
Washington St.
St. Joseph's
Louisville
Butler
Tennessee
Kansas
Kent St. (UNLV)
Clemson
Vanderbilt
USC (Kansas St.)
Wisconsin
Davidson
Georgetown
Memphis
Oregon
Michigan St.
Pittsburgh
Marquette
Stanford
St. Mary's
Texas
UCLA
BYU (Texas A&M)
Drake
San Diego
Purdue
Xavier
West Virginia
Duke

So there ya have it. I'll be coming back through to update this list eventually.