Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Bracket Picks
Here are my picks for this year.
First Round Upsets
Atlanta Bracket
UNCW over GW, only because it's in Greensboro and Pops Mensah-Bonsu may not be back (and if he is, is he going to be 100%).
Cal will survive NC State and Syracuse will do the same against Texas A&M.
Oakland Bracket
Bucknell over Arkansas. Sure, Fayetteville is far closer to Dallas than Lewisberg, PA, but did that stop the Bison last year (beating KU in Oklahoma City).
San Diego State over Indiana. Hoosiers are playing with a lot of emotion, but the Aztecs have too much size for a team whose only post presence is Marco Killingsworth.
Minneapolis Bracket
Wisconsin over Arizona. The Big Ten style will wear down an underachieving Wildcats squad.
Milwaukee over Oklahoma to set up the battle of the alma maters on Saturday. Panthers aren't as good as they were last year, but the Sooners are very inconsistent and ripe for an upset.
Northern Iowa over Georgetown. Panthers get out of their funk to beat a Hoya team that struggled to end the year.
UF will barely survive the mentor/student matchup with John Pelphrey's South Alabama Jaguars.
Nevada will beat Montana more easily than most think.
Washington Bracket
UAB over Kentucky. The Wildcats are exposed by an opponent they lost to two years ago.
Utah State over Washington. Huskies are a team who tend to play to the level of their opponents. Aggies will rough them up and knock them out. (Not bad considering they shouldn't even be in the bracket.)
Michigan State will have an easier time of it against George Mason than they would have had if only Tony Skinn not punched Loren Stokes in the groin.
Wichita State will beat a Seton Hall team that's on a downswing.
Second Round Upsets
Atlanta Bracket
West Virginia is too good for an inconsistent Iowa team.
Oakland Bracket
Pitt over a young Kansas squad, who's just not quite ready for primetime.
Washington Bracket
Wichita State over Tennessee. The Vols are running out of gas.
Regional Semi Upsets
Atlanta Bracket
West Virginia will continue another great run by knocking out a Texas team that doesn't do well in big games.
Oakland Bracket
Pitt gets Memphis. Tigers youth and lack of tough competition over the last couple of months will catch them by the tail.
Regional Finals
Minneapolis Bracket
Ohio State will pound Villanova inside to make it to Indy.
My Final Four
Three of the four teams that were in St. Petersburg seven years ago. Ohio State gets to replace their 1999 banner with a 2006 one in a matter of weeks.
Duke over UCLA.
UConn over Ohio State.
Final--Duke runs out of gas and loses to a veteran UConn squad.
First Round Upsets
Atlanta Bracket
UNCW over GW, only because it's in Greensboro and Pops Mensah-Bonsu may not be back (and if he is, is he going to be 100%).
Cal will survive NC State and Syracuse will do the same against Texas A&M.
Oakland Bracket
Bucknell over Arkansas. Sure, Fayetteville is far closer to Dallas than Lewisberg, PA, but did that stop the Bison last year (beating KU in Oklahoma City).
San Diego State over Indiana. Hoosiers are playing with a lot of emotion, but the Aztecs have too much size for a team whose only post presence is Marco Killingsworth.
Minneapolis Bracket
Wisconsin over Arizona. The Big Ten style will wear down an underachieving Wildcats squad.
Milwaukee over Oklahoma to set up the battle of the alma maters on Saturday. Panthers aren't as good as they were last year, but the Sooners are very inconsistent and ripe for an upset.
Northern Iowa over Georgetown. Panthers get out of their funk to beat a Hoya team that struggled to end the year.
UF will barely survive the mentor/student matchup with John Pelphrey's South Alabama Jaguars.
Nevada will beat Montana more easily than most think.
Washington Bracket
UAB over Kentucky. The Wildcats are exposed by an opponent they lost to two years ago.
Utah State over Washington. Huskies are a team who tend to play to the level of their opponents. Aggies will rough them up and knock them out. (Not bad considering they shouldn't even be in the bracket.)
Michigan State will have an easier time of it against George Mason than they would have had if only Tony Skinn not punched Loren Stokes in the groin.
Wichita State will beat a Seton Hall team that's on a downswing.
Second Round Upsets
Atlanta Bracket
West Virginia is too good for an inconsistent Iowa team.
Oakland Bracket
Pitt over a young Kansas squad, who's just not quite ready for primetime.
Washington Bracket
Wichita State over Tennessee. The Vols are running out of gas.
Regional Semi Upsets
Atlanta Bracket
West Virginia will continue another great run by knocking out a Texas team that doesn't do well in big games.
Oakland Bracket
Pitt gets Memphis. Tigers youth and lack of tough competition over the last couple of months will catch them by the tail.
Regional Finals
Minneapolis Bracket
Ohio State will pound Villanova inside to make it to Indy.
My Final Four
Three of the four teams that were in St. Petersburg seven years ago. Ohio State gets to replace their 1999 banner with a 2006 one in a matter of weeks.
Duke over UCLA.
UConn over Ohio State.
Final--Duke runs out of gas and loses to a veteran UConn squad.
