I’ll admit it: I don’t follow a lot of college basketball. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy March’s third biggest event next to my birthday and St. Patrick’s Day.
I fill out a bracket just like the rest of you. The difference is that I don’t agonize over the 8-9 games, or even the 7-10s. I go with my gut. That’s what the lunch lady at my former high school did and she took home the crown in 1998.
Common sense tells me to pick all the 1 and 2 seeds. After that, it’s game on.
Now, I’m not naive. I’d love to pick Cal St. Northridge, Binghamton or Stephen F. Austin (Who? Where?) to go all Cinderella on us, but I don’t have it in me. I can remember when Gonzaga and Valparaiso were nobodies and look at them now — well, not this year for that Indiana town.
It’s just as hard notto pick UCONN or Pittsburgh. But, since I’m writing this before I fill out my bracket, I have no clue if they’ll make it to Detroit on April 6. I don’t need my bracket to tell you any team with less than 20 wins won’t be there though.
So to all of you NCAA enthusiasts – and those lunch-lady-type fans — enjoy the games and your bracket – most of you will end up tearing it up by Thursday night.
Click here to view my completed bracket
Note: I’ll be updating you on my progress throughout the tournament. Keep checking back.
Round 1, Day 1 Recap:I’m not proud of going 10-6 during the first day of the tournament. That will win you very few pools. I am happy to report, however, that none of my losses were predicted to advance past the second round. UCONN, Duke, North Carolina, Memphis and Oklahoma were all guaranteed wins. Sure, Memphis put a scare into everyone for a short while, but so did Gonzaga, and I have both those teams going to my Final Four. Purdue, Washington, Texas and Villanova all gave me wins. Butler, Illinois, Clemson, BYU, VCU and California all gave me loses. You try to call the upset and it just backfires.
Round 1, Day 2 Recap: I’m attending a wake this morning, for Wake Forest. One of my Final Four teams is out after an upset loss to Cleveland State Friday night. The score wasn’t even close. I also failed on West Virginia, who lost to Dayton, and I had them going to the Elite 8. I can’t be more disappointed that the tournament just got underway and I already have nothing to look forward to in the Midwest Bracket.
Elsewhere, Siena, Arizona, USC and Wisconsin pulled out big upset wins for me. I’m proud to have gotten those right, especially with Wisconsin and Arizona being a 12 seed. I have Wisconsin beating Xavier and Arizona losing to Wake, which won’t happen anymore, in the Second Round. Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville were no surprises. Pitt, however, did give me and about 94 percent of Pick ‘Em Nation a scare when they were tied with East Tennessee State with about two minutes to go. I also won with Kansas and Missouri, but lost with Tennessee, Temple and Utah St., who I had going on to the Sweet 16.
Round 2, Day 1: I’m calling this portion of the tournament a complete success on my part. I made every right pick and couldn’t be prouder. UCONN, Purdue, Memphis, Villanova, Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga and Oklahoma all advanced on my bracket and in real life. Sure, they’re all top seeds, but I’m not going to find a down note about this one bit. Plus, knowing Gonzaga and Memphis had very good games gives me great hope that I’ll see them in the Final Four as I predicted.
Round 2, Day 2: Another good day in the Bracket Pool. As of Sunday night, I’m 12-for-16 in Sweet 16 selections — not too bad, right? My numbers were helped today by victories from Lousiville, Michigan St., Syracuse and Pittsburgh. A Wisconsin loss to Xavier was the only downside; however, I had Pitt beating them to advance to the Elite Eight.
Sweet 16, Day 1: That about does it for my bracket. No, actually, that does it for my bracket. Duke and Memphis both lost, meaning my two teams I had slated for the National Championship are officially out. The only thing I’m not disappointed in is not losing money in a pool. Thank goodness. The only game I did win was UCONN over Perdue. There’s one positive.
Sweet 16, Day 2: I was happy to see Pittsburgh move on to the Elite 8, which I correctly predicted. They’ll be going up against Villanova, who I had losing to Duke on Day 1. Since my pick was Duke in that contest, I am officially done in the East part of my bracket. In the South, I was 1-for-2 on Friday night. Gonzaga fell to North Carolina and Oklahoma easily moved past Syracuse. I picked Gonzaga over Oklahoma so I am also done in the South. I am proud of how I did in this region though, as I correctly predicted all four Sweet 16 teams.
Elite 8, Finals: I no longer have any of my teams moving on past this round. It was fun while it lasted.
"The Cheap Seats: Notebook" 