|
|
Ok, let's pick Saturday and Sunday's games! We did reasonably well on
Thursday and Friday, but missed several, including half of Duke's bracket.
|
Ok, let's pick Saturday and Sunday's games! We did reasonably well on
Thursday and Friday, but missed several, including half of Duke's bracket. Oops!
East
- In the Duke-Notre Dame game, we'll go with Duke, but warily.
- We'll take Indiana over UNC-W, partly because IU won't be caught by
surprise. Can Wilmington do it again?
- Cal vs. Pitt. Ben Braun gets our vote.
- Kent State vs. Bama. We'll go with Bama here.
West
- Cincinnati vs. UCLA. UCLA plays poor defense. Cincinnati doesn't. On
the other hand, Cincinnati struggles offensively. Then again, UCLA usually
has one great moment in the tourney these days. We'll go with an upset
here, but it'll probably make us look stupid later.
- Missouri vs. Ohio State. Two small teams, but Quin's talent is
better.
- Wyoming vs. Arizona. They'll be where the deer and the antelope play
by the end of the day. Cats advance.
- Xavier vs. Oklahoma. OU as the bracket starts to break their way.
East
- Maryland vs. Wisconsin. This is a tough one. Wisconsin is the
type of team that can drive Maryland nuts: slow, patient, tough
defense. We still don't know enough about their offense to call an
upset here, so Maryland. But their instincts will be mightily
frustrated. If Dick Bennett were still there, we'd say Wisconsin, but ugly.
- Tulsa-Kentucky. We'll go with Kentucky.
- Southern Illinois vs. Georgia. The Salukis as Cinderella? Works for
us.
- N.C. State vs. UConn. We picked MSU to beat the Pack on Friday and
screwed up. Now we'll pick State on Sunday. But UConn will not
go down easily.
Midwest
- Kansas vs. Stanford. Hinrich is hobbled, and Kansas was tight
against Holy Cross. We'll go with an upset here.
- Creighton vs. Illinois. The Illini suddenly seem pissed. As a
matter of fact, this bracket could sharply tilt their way if they have a
lucky weekend. They'll win.
- Texas vs. Mississippi State. Rick Barnes, defense, and T.J. Ford say
Texas.
- Wake Forest vs. Oregon. Ok, our toughest pick. Wake has
matured sharply and suddenly. A lot of this game depends on Josh
Howard's ankle, but Oregon is not a particularly good road team.
Having played Duke thrice, Maryland twice, Kansas, Arkansas, Marquette, and
Cincinnati (Wake is the only team to play all four top seeds this season),
the Deacs are tough. Plus they are playing well now. We think they can
pull this off.
Things will be more obvious soon, but from where we sit now, Duke, Oklahoma,
Illinois and Maryland have reason to be optimistic.
|