*Note: I'm ignoring the "First Four" because they don't matter. I will also henceforth being referring to the actual First Round as the First Round.
My prognostication should go a little like this...
Let's get to it:
1/16 Games:
No ridiculous upsets here. Kentucky, MSU, UNC, Cuse all advance.
2/15 Games:
Detroit is good, but they're not "beat KU" good. I'd love to pick Norfolk St. over Mizzou, but they really wont. It's the most likely to happen though. Duke, Mizzou, OSU, KU all advance.
3/14 Games:
-Baylor should be able to beat SDSU, but it wouldn't surprise me to see it close. This is a definite trap game. That being said, Baylor should win by 20.
-Marquette is much better than BYU. Easy win for the Golden Eagles.
-FSU destroys the Bonnies.
-Belmont over Georgetown. It's a trendy upset pick for a reason.
The Reason.
4/13 Games:
-Another trendy pick is New Mexico State over Indiana, but I'm going with the Hoosiers on this one.
-Louisville should get by Davidson, but only because this Davidson team isn't really that good.
-Montana over Wisconsin. Jordan Taylor is garbage and a slower game place will keep it close, making the upset easier from the Grizzlies.
-Michigan over Ohio. Almost a huge rivalry. Instead, a boring first round game.
5/12 Games:
-Wichita State over VCU. Burgess is a great player, but the rest of the Rams can't hang like last year's team. Wichita should get by easy, but in true VCU fashion, the game should come down to the wire.
-New Mexico over LBSU. Long Beach has been one of the hip "watch out for these guys in March" teams all season long. They get rewarded by playing one of the hottest teams in the country in the first game.
-Vandy over Harvard. Elite academics on both sides. Elite athletes on one side.
-USF over Temple. USF is streaky, but they should be on the good side of their inconsistency for this one.
6/11 Games:
-UNLV over Colorado. Colorado had a great season following being the worst snub left out of last year's tourney (remember that, Hokies?) UNLV is playing way better ball though.
-Colorado State over Murray State. Sneaky Rams show up to play. Murray State isn't actually that good at basketball, I think they get shocked.
-NC State over SDSU. It would absolutely shock me if the Aztecs won this game. I think there are a couple 15 seeds with a better chance of winning their first game.
-Cincy over Texas. Cincinnati isn't very good (note their terrible conference), but they played pretty well last weekend. Texas is Texas, so they'll fail sometime early - most likely this game.
Great Picture. Mediocre Team.
7/10 Games:
-Notre Dame over Xavier. The Fighting Irish get over their recent tournament demons, if only to be able to play on St. Patrick's Day.
-Virginia over Florida. Complete homer pick. Could happen. Not going to say it wont.
-West Virginia over Gonzaga. How do you beat the Zags? Beat them up with physical play. How does West Virginia play basketball? Like a bunch of braindead farmhands.
-St Mary's over Purdue. Purdue has Robbie Hummel, but the Gaels have Australia's national team.
8/9 Games:
-Memphis over St. Louis. Rick Majerus is awesome. His team is not.
-KSU over Southern Miss. I get one step closer to winning a lot of money if the 'Cats win this game, so they better damn well win it.
-Creighton over Alabama. See rationalization of KSU/USM game.
-UConn over Iowa St. Oh, who am I kidding - UConn (my 2nd favorite team) has no business even being in the tournament. You don't halfass your way through an entire season and suddenly turn it on in the post season. It never works...
Oh. Right.
Well, there you have it. Sign up for our Bracket Challenge if you haven't. We've got an impressive group joined already. Enjoy today and tomorrow.
Great stuff, Pierce! I especially like the reasoning behind the Vandy over Harvard and the West Virginia over Gonzaga picks.
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