My Crappy NCAA Tournament Picks: Day 4

March 19, 2007

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Yes, my brackets have more red than your gf on her. — nevermind.

Pac-10 and SEC Dominate: Remember what I said about the tournament games being so close on Saturday? I used that information to explain that the conferences were evenly matched, concluding there was no true way to compare the major ones. But that was until USC defeated Texas! Now, I will proudly parade around saying that the Pac-10 is supreme for sending 3 teams to the Sweet 16. The SEC has put in 3 teams as well (after Vandy knocked off Wassou in double OT). Guess what? The almighty ACC and Big Ten have just one team apiece! But what does it mean if Ohio St. and North Carolina reach the Final Four? Or win it? Hmm, hard to judge.

Rooting for the Rival: Yes, college basketball is different from football. In college football, teams that win all or most of their games have a successful year. In college basketball, a team can win over 20 games without it mattering (so long as it’s not four straight or more to end the year). Therefore, in football season I almost always want my rival (USC) to lose, because each loss spoils their season. But in basketball, there are some situations (non-conference games and tourney time) when I want them to win. I’d much rather see USC beat up on Arkansas and Texas so it looks better for the Pac-10. Just as long as they don’t do anything spectacular like reach the Elite 8 or Final Four, because that would steal away UCLA’s thunder (kinda like when the Bruins start a football season off 6-0 or something) or Wooden forbid — knock UCLA out of the tournament (but that would have to be in the final this year). So congrats to the Trojans for embarrassing Texas.

Wisconsin Goes Down, No Surprise: If they had better teams in their path, I guarantee more people would’ve picked the Badgers to lose earlier. Even with the perceived “easy draw,” Wisconsin still managed to become the first highly seeded team to be knocked out of the tournament. Congrats on the stellar regular season boys — enjoy watching the rest of the games from your couch (or dorms).

Quote of the Day (via Awful Announcing): “I think that thing had a vibrating effect”- Jim Spanarkel

Here are what my crappy NCAA picks look like after the first two rounds of play

MIDWEST REGION