March Madness is back again

It’s back.

The ultimate sporting event aside from the World Cup has returned to claim the hearts of fans around the world. March Madness is here, with euphoria or sadness soon to follow.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament concludes a tumultuous year with a simple solution. Lose and you’re out. Win and you keep playing. If you win six games in a row, you’re the national champion.

Before we get started, I’ll quickly remind you how it all works. Thirty teams have automatic bids by winning their conference tournament; the Ivy League regular-season champion receives an automatic bid because the Ivy League has no conference tournament. Therefore, only 34 teams (the at-large bids) rely on the selection committee to secure them a spot in the tournament. These 34 bids are chosen by a special selection committee.

The field of 65 is then determined, with seeds from 1-16 assigned to teams in four different regions. The first game of the tournament is the play-in game, in which the two weakest deserving teams must play each other in order to play in the first round of the actual tournament.

One more thing: I wrote this article last year, fully knowing that everything I would say would probably prove to be untrue (I’m looking at you, Virginia Tech). So take these predictions with one grain of salt, at least. And remember, this is a unique time in which even getting the wrong answer can be fun.

South Region:

Summary: Number one overall seed North Carolina is the heavy favorite. Their road to the Final Four in San Antonio doesn’t leave the state of North Carolina, landing them a heavy advantage. The 2-4 seeds are Tennessee, Louisville, and Washington State. 12-seed George Mason, the ultimate Cinderella story from two years ago finds itself pitted against a very good Notre Dame squad, one of a tournament high 8 teams from the Big East.

Regional Final: The battle of the top seeds sends Tennessee to the Final Four

Team to Avoid: In the toughest section of the whole bracket, you must stay away from Oklahoma. A first round upset to 11-seed St. Joseph’s is increasingly likely as the Sooners’ freshman phenom Blake Griffin is struggling with a knee injury.

Sleeper Team: There is too much talent for there to be many upsets in this region. I’m looking for a first round surprise out of 10-seed South Alabama, who face off against Butler. South Alabama got a very high seed for an at-large bid out of the puny Sun Belt Conference. Watch out for their guard play.

Best Game of First Round: South Alabama vs. Butler

Midwest Region:

Summary: It has been a consistent story for the last three years. A deep and talented Kansas team comes into the tournament and severely underachieves. This year, they are better then ever and have garnered the number one seed in this relatively weak region. Rounding out the top four seeds are reigning Final Four representative Georgetown, Wisconsin, and Vanderbilt. Despite my feelings about the region, there is no denying the star power, especially of the freshmen class. In one of the juicer matchups of the year, 6 seeded USC take on the Wildcats of Kansas State. USC has been surrounded by hype ever since top recruit OJ Mayo recruited himself to USC. Kansas State, on the other hand, sports the likely top pick of next year’s NBA Draft in Michael Beasley. A battle of talented titans will surely produce memorable fireworks.

Regional Final: Kansas finally gets over the hump and defeats a resilient USC team on their way to San Antonio.

Team to Avoid: Wisconsin is a high seed, but be cautious. They play defensive basketball, and don’t have a star player. Oh, and pundits call them the Polar Bears, because of their 4 white, blonde haired players. ‘Nuff said.

Sleeper Team: This is difficult, because I believe in a defensively proficient Trojan team to upset Wisconsin on their way to an Elite Eight appearance. But I have to go with the Davidson Wildcats, given the 10-seed despite their 22-game win streak and a national rank of 23. This year’s Winthrop is almost expected to defeat Gonzaga in the first round. I’m willing to go further and say that on an essentially home floor in Raleigh, North Carolina will defeat 2-seed Georgetown and make the Sweet 16. Davidson has possibly the best point guard in the nation in Jason Richards, and shooting guard Stephen Curry (son of former NBA player Dell Curry), averaging 25 points per game, has the kind of stroke that can’t be taught.

Best Game of First Round: USC vs. Kansas State.

South Region:

Summary: An extremely talented Memphis Tigers team takes the one seed in this region, led by Senior Chris Douglas-Roberts and freshmen phenom (are you sensing a theme yet) Derrick Rose. Texas, Stanford, and Pittsburgh fill out the top four. Pittsburgh is coming off their victory over Georgetown in the Big East tournament final, and look to ride their wave to the Sweet Sixteen. In possibly the brainiest matchup ever, Stanford takes on Cornell, with bonus points awarded to the team with a higher cumulative SAT score. Texas, if they reach the Sweet Sixteen and beyond have the luxury of staying in the state of Texas for their games.

Regional Final: Stanford, represented by the twin tower tandem of the Lopez twins, overcomes Memphis on their way to a Final Four berth.

Team to Avoid: Despite phenomenal guard play, I feel like Marquette is overrated. The Golden Eagles might get by Kentucky in the first round, but only because Kentucky is missing star freshmen Patrick Patterson. After that, their lack of size will haunt them against bigger Stanford.

Sleeper Team: Temple might have the best chance at an upset against an inconsistent and inefficient Michigan State team. The Owl’s received an automatic bid after shockingly winning the Atlantic 10 tournament, and were rewarded with a relatively favorable matchup. They won’t go far, but even a first round victory garners some praise.

Best Game of First Round: Michigan State vs. Temple

West Region:

Summary: The UCLA Bruins take the top seed in the West Region, followed by Duke, Xavier and Connecticut. Bruins are led by freshmen Kevin Love, who has been dealing with back spasms. Despite that, they still have a favorable path to San Antonio. Key players include Arizona freshmen Jerrod Bayless, West Virginia’s Joe Alexander, and Xavier point guard Drew Lavender.

Regional Final: I’m a believer in the Bruins, and I expect them to overcome Xavier in the Elite Eight.

Team to Avoid: Like last year, don’t get lost in Arizona’s immense talent. They are underperformers who can’t play defense. A much more disciplined Duke team, led by yet another freshmen Kyle Singler should bounce the Wildcats out.

Sleeper Team: Western Kentucky won the Sun Belt tournament and face off against another mid-major in Drake. I believe in this team enough to see them defeat UConn for the right to lose to UCLA.

Best Game of First Round: Georgia is riding high off an inexplicable SEC tournament win for an automatic bid. They aren’t a good team, but they’re beating the odds. I can see them scaring Xavier into overtime. Ultimately, they are just not good enough.

Final Four:

A matchup of Pac 10 teams shows the conference’s strength. UCLA, for the third time this year, defeats Stanford en route to the final. On the other side, Tennessee takes it to Kansas.

National Champion:

My pick for this years national champion is similar to my choice of Texas A&M last year. I’ve been following this team all year, and love their players and coach. Perhaps the fatal flaw is that I want them to win. I am a volunteer.

Tennesseee-67
UCLA-63

10 Responses

1. 2:16 PM on March 19th, 2008Yusef:

   Wow… who cares… I mean I’m sure there are a ton of people who do but in the grand scheme of things doesn’t it feel like you’re just wasting your time?

2. 7:27 PM on March 19th, 2008Ohad:

   Yusef,

   Give me one reason why it was necessary for you to write that.

3. 8:47 PM on March 19th, 2008Jose:

   This article says there are two “South Regions.” That should probably be fixed.

4. 10:30 AM on March 20th, 2008Anonymous:

   i just dont get what the big deal is….its friggin college sports…and its basketball! not even a good sport!

5. 8:44 AM on March 21st, 2008Anonymous:

   wadibana

6. 6:58 PM on March 21st, 2008gooner bb:

   what is this? i’m guessing it’s barely 10% the importance of the champions league (not even mentioning euros/world cup)

7. 8:14 AM on March 26th, 2008a true boss:

   i agree with your prediction of tennesee. whoever said “its friggin college sports” probably isn’t even getting into college anyway

8. 8:14 AM on March 26th, 2008a true boss:

   wadibana

9. 12:11 PM on March 28th, 2008chris lofton:

   you jinxed us bruh

10. 8:30 AM on May 6th, 2008geto boy:

    jer
    rod
    Bay
    less

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