March Madness

[Gordon]

With the Zags, Creighton, UCLA, & now W.F. gone, that whole section of the Albuquerque bracket is toast! It's going to be an interesting match up between W.V., and T. Tech next week. If Georgia Tech doesn't win today, I'm not sure who I'll pick as an eventual winner from there.

The wife and I were sitting there rooting for W.V. to win last night, even though I had W.F. as the winner. What a great game that was! Downey hitting big 3's when they needed it to put the game in O.T., that kid Gansey taking over in the O.T.'s, kids fouling out from both sides...and to think W.F. felt like it was a slap in the face to not be a #1 seed!

And Andrew Bogut is just a ball player! He may not be too athletic, but at 7', all you need to do is let your team give you the ball, and see how the Defense plays you...then make adjustments-which he did! What did that kid have? 6-8 assists? he just knew where to find his players, and that opened up the game for Utah!

And what about my Illini? If they hadn't slowed the ball down in the last 5-6 minutes, they would have had a 20 point lead. The zone "D" Nevada used at the end worked a bit...but something they should have used in the beginning. It was a bit more effective than the man-to-man, but that also would let Luther Head & Deron Williams shoot over the top of everyone, and Head was enfuego! Now it comes back to Chicago-look in the background next week, and see how much orange you see then!! What a fun time!

I'll check back in tomorrow, after the rest of my brackets get totalled!! By the way...what an upset it would be, if N.C. or Duke are ousted today!!

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Brian G.

Round 2, Day 2

Favorites:

Louisville over Geo. Tech rightid="blue">

N. Carolina over Iowa St. rightid="blue">

Florida over Villinova wrong

Wisconsin over Bucknell rightid="blue">

Upsets

N.C. State over UConn rightid="blue">

Vermont over Mich. St. wrong

Mississippi St. over Duke wrong

Something of a recovery today, now at 19id="blue"> - 16. No regrets on the Bulldog pick, we pushed 'em damned hard until the last couple of minutes. If only our guys cared about practicing free throws....oh well.

I'll pick the next round in a day or two.

Brian G.

The Exhausted Prognosticator [:-crazy]

[Brian G]

Holy cow, I didn't even know they were playing tonight. Here's the rest, before anyone else gets on air.

Arizona over Oklahoma St.

West Virginia over Texas Tech

North Carolina over Villinova

N. C. State over Wisconsin

Duke over Michigan St.

Kentucky over Utah

Didn't someone say Washington would be the first 1 seed out? [][:-dev3][] Oh yeah, I did. [^]

And I'll go ahead and tell you now that I'll take Illinois over whoever wins the Az - OK St. game, and Louisville over whoever wins between Tex Tech - West Virginia. I gotta wait on the rest. [:-basketb

Brian G.

The Tardy Prognosticator [:-dunce]

[Gordon]

I have Illinois playing in the championship game, and so far they haven't disappointed! I also said Washington would be the first #1 out, and I had them losing to Louisville...so that part of my bracket is still intact.

The rest of my picks:

Okl. St. over Az

W.V. over T. Tech

N.C. over Villa

N.C. St. over Wis

Mich. St. over Duke

Kentucky over Utah.

I'll pick the Final Four after Friday's games.

[kurt]

Oh baby; a coupla Big Ten'ers in the 8. Who'da thunk the Spartans would make a run?

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Brian G.

Arizona over Oklahoma St. rightid="blue">

West Virginia over Texas Tech rightid="blue">

North Carolina over Villinova rightid="blue">

N. C. State over Wisconsin wrong

Duke over Michigan St. wrong

Kentucky over Utah rightid="blue">

Now at 23id="blue"> - 18, having missed out on posting the first two games this round (dang it!).

Didn't someone say Duke would be the second 1 seed out? [][:-dev3][] Oh yeah, I did. [^] I guess I should have picked the Spartans over them, but I thought they had one more in 'em.

I gotta say what a tremendous job Villinova did to push Carolina to the wall without thier star player (out with injury). I though the Tar Heels would murder 'em...nope. The Heels get the win, but the Wildcats go out with heads held high.

Speaking of Wildcats, Kentucky hung tough yet again. I'm not sure how much farther they can go though, and the pick between them and the Sparts is a hard one.

Illinois and Louisville still look strong. Should be a great semi-final game...

The Carolina - Wisconsin game looks more interesting after the way Nova played the Heels. Is that a chink in the mighty armor I see? Hmmm. The Badgers play ugly, but dear God are they consistant and stubborn.

Brian G.

Big Dancin' My Fanny Off [:-basketb

[Gordon]

Let's see...3 Big Ten teams, only 1 ACC in the tournament left. And the media kept saying the ACC is better than the Big Ten...hhhmmm...maybe a little too much bias coming from the east wind bags!!

I really thought 'Nova would upset Tarheels last night, after that kid Lowry just started to exert his control on the game! Look out for him in the next couple years, if he stays in school! He's only a freshman! But it was a spectacular game to watch! I had NC winning, but found myself rooting for the 'Cats!!

Illinois is going to have their hands full today with AZ. AZ has a tall lineup, but I don't think they matchup well with quickness, and the 3 guard attack the Illini have. And if you remember correctly, when AZ won the tournament back in '97, they also had a small lineup with a 3 guard attack!! So the final outcome bodes well, and I'm staying with the Illini.

The Picks:

Illini over AZ

Louisville over W.V. (but I wouldn't be surprised if W.V. upsets them, the way they're playing)

I'll pick tomorrows games a little later.

Enjoy!!

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Brian G.

And I'll go ahead and tell you now that I'll take Illinois over whoever wins the Az - OK St. game, and Louisville over whoever wins between Tex Tech - West Virginia.

Inching up to 25id="blue"> - 18 with those two. Those were two outstanding games, great stuff! If you didn't like those two you either have no feelings at all for college basketball or your team was on the wrong end of a comeback.

My heart goes out to West Virginia, who played one gutsy game after another in this tournament. Excellent run gentlemen.

I thought Illinois was gone. I could hear the fat lady clearing her friggin' throat fer Christ sakes, they were going down...but no! A few steals, AZ couldn't find the bucket all of a sudden, and the next thing you know we're going to OT. Amazing. If you did that sequence of events in a basketball movie the whole audience would be sitting there thinking "Yeah, right."

The Other Two:

Kentucky over Michigan State

North Carolina over Wisconsin

If they both went the other way I wouldn't be shocked a bit. I'm going for a balanced Final Four; 1 team each for the Big 10, ACC, SEC, and Conference USA. Why not?

Brian G.

The Equitable Prognosticator [:-angel]

[Gordon]

So I'm sitting there with with that sinking feeling, tellin my wife the Illini are done...then they turn up the heat, get some steals, find their long-lost shooting eye from another zip code...shouting at the screen, jumping up and down with excitement! I listened to the Louisville/W.V. game on the radio while running errands, but nothing was going to keep me from watching this game! Amazing finish, to an amazing game! It's too bad only 1 team gets to go to the Final Four here...both of them deserve it! I'm telling my wife after this game (she was just as fanatic as I was during this comeback) now you know why this is the best time of year, if you love basketball! Simply Amazing!!! Now on to St. Louis!!!

The other games:

I'm taking Michigan State over Kentucky, and N.C. over Wisconsin.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

[kurt]

Is this when the Michigan State alum starts getting excited, or should I wait until the Final?

Silliness aside, I think this weekend was some of the best, if not the best, college hoops games I've ever watched. Nothing but heart; the kind of games where there really shouldn't be a loser.

Whew! Unbelievable......

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Brian G.

The Other Two:

Kentucky over Michigan State wrong

North Carolina over Wisconsin rightid="blue">

26id="blue"> - 19, running out of games fast.

More great action, another double OT game, and then there were four. In four weekend games one finished in regulation, one went to OT, and two went to double OT. Incredible.

Kentucky squandered their golden opportunity at the end of the first OT, didn't even get a shot off. I also thought Tubby was way too conservative with his big man, allowing the Spartans to get a lot of second and even third chances. Oh well.

THE FINAL FOUR

Illinois over Louisville

North Carolina over Michigan State

Michigan St. is my Georgia Tech for this year. Last year I picked against GT from the first to the last, and they kept pulling wins until the final.

Brian G.

[Gordon]

Wisconsin had their chances to win this game...they panicked in the end, though. It was a good game, but after Saturday's games had so much emotion and suspense to it, it was a bit dull. Nonetheless, I think N.C. didn't win that game so much as Wisconsin let it slip away. But as the saying goes, that's how good teams win.

Mich. St. on the other hand, had more experience in the Tournament-and that's what I relied on. That kid Rondo is a very good defender, but still only a freshman...along with a couple other kids on that team. I didn't think they had it in them to pull it out. But it was a great game! I'm glad the refs decided to let the kids play it out, and not reverse a call that Sparks was on the 3 point line! Good officiating!

On to my picks:

Illinois over Louisville in a hard fought game (again)

Mich. State over N.C. (I think N.C. has shown too many chinks in their armor. I realize I'm picking an all Big Ten championship, but I like the Spartans for this game.)

[kurt]

Yes. Good officiating. It would have been horrible to have some ref mess up this sort of excellence.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Brian G.

THE FINAL FOUR

Illinois over Louisville rightid="blue">

North Carolina over Michigan State rightid="blue">

Pulling away a bit now at 28id="blue"> - 19, with only the big one left.

I was pretty unimpressed with both winners tonight, for the first 2/3 rds of each game. I couldn't believe Louisville didn't even make an effort in the last minute and a half, just ran their normal stuff and let Illinois run the clock down. Huh? After the miracle comebacks we've seen? I'd have made 'em show me some pressure free-throw shooting before I gave it up.

North Carolina looked low-effort a lot of the time, almost like they expected Michigan State to lay down for them. In the end the Spartans were just out-shot, not out-hustled.

The Championship

Illinois over North Carolina

My head says N.C. because of their big men inside and overall athleticism, my heart says IL because of their guards and overall team play.

Tiebreaker...my wife is from IL. [-crzwom][:-basketb

She'll be sitting here rooting like a maniac for the Fighting Illini, so I'll be reduced to being either with her or against her. All of you married men know the answer to that one. It's just a game, I gotta live with her. [:-fight]

I just hope it's close all of the way, well-played and officated. Did anyone else see the NIT Final between South Carolina & St. John's the other night? Great, hard-fought game with a fantastic finish. May the NCAA Final be as good, or better.

Brian G.

He Who Knows What Side of the Bread His Butter Doth Rest Upon [:-mischie

[kurt]

Originally posted by Brian G.

Originally posted by Brian G.

In the end the Spartans were just out-shot, not out-hustled.

Whaddaya mean?! NC closed 'em out! Michigan State is a fast team that can get to the basket w/guys that can finish the job. At the end, they were getting to the basket, but they just couldn't finish because NC's big boys were there before 'em, blocking & bumping. Michigan State was outhustled & outmuscled.

Great freakin' game though. Can't wait 'til Monday night.