NCAA Tournament Picks

There's something about March Madness that brings out the best, worst and most importantly unlucky side of me. As far as sports go, this time of year is about as exhilarating as it gets, especially given that my former institution of higher learning, (New Hampshire) has about as much chance of being invited to the dance as Nancy Pelosi does at being invited to the next RNC.

Quite simply it is 63 games. Sixty-three of the best games of the year, all packed into a 20 day stretch. The beauty is that all of us: from the casual sports fan, to the diehard bracketologist, to the person who had a brief, but moderately enjoyable encounter with an orange ball around the age of six, will try to predict the outcome of them all.

I will join the nation in pretending to be nostrahoopous, but I issue this warning first, to all of you who will live and die with your picks, eat, sleep and live the tournament, close your mind to your day job only to gaze hopelessly into the streaming video of games online. Your picks will be wrong, as will mine, but remember, it is that one chance that you will be right, that one special year, that makes it all worth it.

Midwest Region: Ohio St. Emerges

The odds on favorite to come out of the midwest is indisputably Kansas. They earn the distinction as the number one overall and I think they've got a pretty clear run into the round of 8.

The bottom part of this bracket is absolutely loaded: Tennessee, Georgetown, even Georgia Tech have really good teams that could make a run, and that doesn't even mention Ohio St.

When making picks, I look at two factors above all else, how strong is the conference you play in, and who's got the best player. For me, Georgetown played in the best conference and Ohio St. (Evan Turner) has the best player. The Hoyas get into the sweet 16, but their inconsistancy bites them there. Turner wins the game for Ohio St. and the Buckeyes go onto beat Kansas for a spot in the final four.

West: Orange Talent Too Much

There's not much to say here. Syracuse has the best team in this bracket. What killed the Orange in the Big East tournament was lack of momentum and momentum is something Syracuse will have and have thrived on in the past (who can forget Gerry Mcnamara).

Kansas St. is incredibly talented, don't get me wrong, but I think Syracuse is just more prepared for this tournament. The zone will be firing on all cylinders by the time they play in the elite 8, and by then, it will be too late for K- State.

East: Might as Well Throw a Dart (But aim it at Kentucky)

By far the most intriguing regional. In my eyes West Virginia deserved a #1 seed, but still ends up with a tougher road than the other #2 from the Big East Villanova (we'll get there). This bracket has the second most entertaining five-twelve matchup in Cornell taking on higher seeded Temple. Potential story line is that IF Cornell does get past Temple, they have a chance to make a nice run into this thing, at least the best an Ivy League school has done in about 100 years.

Kentucky has the most talent, and that's why I think they will ultimately emerge out of this bracket, but they will face some tests along the way. The Wildcats youth (now a staple of John Calipari teams) sometimes makes them play down to the opponents level, but in the end, the combination of Wall, Cousins, Patterson and Bledsoe is the most talented in the country by far.

Look for one of the epic battles in the last 10 years when Kentucky plays West Virginia in the elite 8.

South: Wait, Didn't the NIT Start Yesterday?

Filling out the bracket, I looked at the South and my jaw dropped. Duke is overrated, and Villanova by no means deserves a #2 seed. Then I start asking myself the all important question: which of the other teams can beat these overrated teams? And in this bracket, I truly don't know.

The argument could be made that Villanova has the easiest road in the tournament, period. Louisville is not that good of a team, but they will find a way to beat Duke and subsequently find themselves pitted against Nova in the elite 8 for a great Big East matchup which Louisville will somehow win and will face Kentucky in one of the biggest hyped semifinal games in tournament history.

Purdue got hosed when they got a #4 seed and will be ousted by Siena, who actually has a chance to make it to the final four if they play some inspired basketball here.

Final Four and Championship:

I won't analyze this yet because as I said before, I will be proven wrong shortly anyway, but here are my predictions on the outcome.

Ohio St. over Syracuse

Kentucky over Louisville

Championship: Kentucky over Ohio St.

There it is folks, my shot in the dark that may possibly be right. We'll see 63 games over the next 20 days, but only one team will be a national champion.

My complete bracket is below, click it to make it bigger.

Comment with thoughts or your own picks!

Three Thoughts: The Jets, Expanding the Field and Reggie vs. the Knicks

This blog hasn't been updated since Sean and my Super Bowl predictions of which I was once again proven wrong, but I'm back, and so is my karma (I hope) so here are some thoughts on the pressing issues of the my day.

1) Will Ex-Bolt LT Provide Green Thunder

Aside from that being a headline masterpiece, LaDainian Tomlinson's recent signing with the Jets has all the NY papers, NY fans, and yes even the likes of me feeling a little deja vu. After all, New York sports fans have grown a bit sour on bringing in high ego, low production and overpaid aging stars (see Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, Mo Vaughn etc.). But there is a little bit more to LT than the aesthetics.

It's clear that Shonn Greene will be the Jets feature back and while fans are upset about the departure of Thomas Jones for the heir apparent Tomlinson, consider the entirety of the Jets roster. Greene will be the feature back regardless of whether it's Jones or LT behind him. LT, coming off a few down seasons and sensing the end of his stories and hall of fame career isn't as likely to demand carries as Jones would. Jones, coming off his second straight stellar year was and is a class act, but it certainly wouldn't sit well with him to play second fiddle to Greene, at least not as much as it would to LT who seems to have accepted that role. Is it a great fit? I don't think so. If Greene gets hurt, LT is not a strong enough back to carry the load for a long period of time. The idea that he is a change of pace back is just false as him and Greene are virtually the same type of runners. Leon Washington is the change of pace guy here, and the Jets better be pretty sure he is healthy, and very sure that they won't lose him in free agency, or this figures to be a very one-dimensional Jets backfield.

2) Don't Expand the Field

I think I'll expand on this more in the weeks to come, but what is the use in expanding the NCAA tournament field? Sorry, I'll answer my own question, MONEY. But that is the only reason I can think of. Remember friends, by going from 65 to 96, or 128 teams, we're not increasing the amount of title contenders in the field. National Championship winners usually come from the top 16-20 teams if not higher. The teams that would be added go directly to the bottom and will mostly be around for that first game, before losing. You're adding another game in essence because of some possible disagreements regarding who does or does not get in at THE BOTTOM OF THE FIELD. Too much the focus is on the bottom, the last four in, who coincidentally are the FIRST FOUR OUT. These teams are better off in the NIT or another tournament where they actually have a chance to win. March madness is the greatest tournament that United States sports has to offer. I've long made the argument for college football to adopt such a system because it is so great. Quite simply, don't fix what isn't broken.

3) For Once, ESPN Shows No Bias

Like most Knick fans, I figured ESPN's 30 for 30 edition of "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the Knicks" would be another biased misinterpretation of one of the great rivalry's in NBA history. The idea that this was a one sided rivalry pains Knicks fans who know the truth: that Patrick Ewing, John Starks and the Knicks got to Reggie just as much as he got to them. Sure there was the 8 points in 16 seconds to win game 1 in 1995, but there was also the Knicks getting past the Pacers in 1993, 1994 and more currently in 1999-2000 (a short mention of this was made during the credits of last night's 30 for 30). I was happy to see that ESPN showed both sides of the rivalry and really captured how intense New York City was during that decade.

Instead of tear fans of the orange and blue down, this program reminded me how electric New York can be when good basketball is played at MSG. The emotion displayed in all the games the Knicks played against Indiana was more than the team has shown in the last decade and the children growing up now only know the Knicks as a loser. The NBA doesn't have a rivalry like the Knicks and Pacers, and given the softness of play and the constant curtailing of the league's diminishing image, the NBA may never again have a moment as significant as John Starks head butting Reggie, or Reggie grabbing his neck and crotch while staring down Spike Lee. All we can hope for is that somewhere out there, LeBron James saw the show last night and maybe just maybe Chris Bosh was watching too and the both of them realize how special this city can be, when basketball is special too.

I'll take you through the tournament soon and then Sean will come back and we'll do some spring training baseball.

Please comment with thoughts!