Thursday, March 20, 2014

Bracketology '14: Let The Madness Begin

I'm riding Sparty all the way to the brass ring this year- I'm hoping that's a decision that won't come back to bite me in the ass, but I feel good about it.  Sparty is jelling at the right time, they're healthy and they've got Izzo, who has tons of tournament experience is probably itching to cut down the nets again.  You give Coach K a healthy team and some momentum going into the tourney and he can do damage- maybe enough damage to win.  Same thing applies to Izzo.  In Izz I trust.  At least until next Monday when my bracket is sure to be in chaos and my brief hopes of bragging rights have turned to ashes.

So let's break it down and start in the South:

So far so good in the upper half of the region.  Florida worked up a sweat but pulled away from Albany.  Colorado and Pittsburgh made me sweat a little picking the bracket, but I went with Pitt and it paid off big as the game wasn't even close.  VCU-SF Austin gave me some pause as well but I went with SF Austin.  Hopefully that doesn't screw me.   I swallowed my bile and picked UCLA.  Ohio State screwed me a little by losing to Dayton, but 'Cuse came through and I'm liking New Mexico and Kansas going forward.

The South: Florida-UCLA, 'Cuse-Kansas, Florida-Kansas and Kansas goes to the Final Four.  In Wiggins I trust- rock, chalk, Jayhawk.

Over To The West:

Arizona to advance (obviously) but Gonzaga and Oklahoma State made me sweat a little- but ultimately, I gotta go with my 'Zags.  Oklahoma-San Diego State advance, I'm rooting for an all Nebraska implosion of basketball goodness with Nebraska and Creighton advancing.  And at the very bottom of the bracket, Oregon and Wisconsin took care of business to advance.

The West: Arizona-San Diego State, Creighton-Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Arizona and Arizona goes to the Final Four.  Sorry, Bucky.  I tried.

Down To The Midwest:

Let's see what the Shockers are really made of- personally, I think if they can get past Kentucky they can go the distance.  If they can get past Kentucky and Louisville, they can win the whole damn thing.  (So obviously, I picked Wichita State, Kentucky and Louisville to advance along with St. Louis- for the sheer pleasure of having the word 'biliken' roll off my tongue.  Obviously, Iowa's loss to Tennessee last night sucked, but I had the winner of that game getting past UMASS before running into the buzzsaw of Duke.  Then I advanced Texas and Michigan.

The Midwest: Wichita State-Louisville, Duke-Michigan, Wichita State-Michigan and Michigan goes to the Final Four.   Go Bl-...   Go Blu- man, this is hard.  Go Blue!  (Ugh.  Well that's out of the way.)

Finally, The East:

HARVARD!  Woot, woot!  That was very nice.  But, from the top:  Virginia, Memphis, Sparty, UNC, Iowa State, St. Joe's and Villanova all advance.  St. Joe's is going to make me nervous, but they're playing really well lately and a St. Joe's-Villanova clash in the 2nd Round?  (Or 3rd round or whatever the eff they call it now)  Philadelphia might literally implode. Or explode.  Or both at the same time.  I'm riding St. Joe's to the Sweet Sixteen, Iowa State to the Elite 8 and Virginia to the Elite 8 where they lose to Sparty.

The East:  It all comes down to Sparty and the 'Clones and Sparty takes it to go to the Final Four.

The Verdict: Sparty beats Kansas, Arizona beats Michigan and Sparty beats Arizona for the brass ring.

I'm going to enjoy this scenario for the next day or so before someone shits the bed and shatters it into a thousand tiny pieces.

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