Editor’s note; this will be updated throughout the day. Times updated will be noted (last update 2:25 am 3/18)
2:00 pm 3/17 – It is not a good day to be from the Big 10 – Wisconsin and Iowa both lose, Wisconsin blown out, Iowa upset on a last-second shot 64-63. Throw in Bucknell with a 59-55 skinning of the Razorbacks and there goes my first Sweet 16 team out of the West. At least Ohio State is still alive after getting a scare from the smartest team in the tourney.
6:53 pm 3/17 – The carnage continues. I lose my first Elite Eight team in SIU (in guess what bracket – South) and another game. At least I’m guaranteed of going .500 in the first round as I hit 16 wins.
8:45 pm 3/17 – There’s just no stopping the South carnage. I lose my 3rd Sweet 16 team, and my 2nd in the South. At least the other 3 teams won, with UConn waking up late to put away Albany to avoid being the first #1 to lose since the NCAA went to at least 64 teams, to pull me back to .500 on the day and 20-9 going into the final 4 games of round 1. My Final Four remains intact.
2:25 am 3/18 (last update) – Owie, stingie. I should’ve known that Conference USA would screw my only perfect regional. Throw in the Kansas Chokehawks and I ended up 21-11 on the round and 22-11 overall. At least I didn’t lose any more Sweet 16 teams.
Winning calls from the prediction post underlined, losers and losing calls struck out, future picks still alive in bold, and substitute teams for early eliminations in italics:
Play-in – Monmouth 71 over Hampton 49
First round, Midwest: Villanova (1) 58 over Monmouth 45, Wisconsin (9) 75 over Arizona 94 (in the battle of fading programs, the Mildcats have fallen further than Bucky), Montana (12) 87 over Nevada 79 (your historic 12-5 upset split, plus a Milwaukee connection with Montana coach Larry Krystowiak, a former Buck), Boston College (4) 88 over Pacific 66, UW-Milwaukee (11) 82 over Oklahoma 74 (too much offense from Rob Jeter’s group), Florida (3) 76 over South Alabama 50, Northern Iowa (10) 49 over Georgetown 54 (no, there’s no anti-Thompson bias here :-) and Ohio State 70 (2) over Davidson 62
First round East, er, DC: UConn (1) 72 over Albany 59, UA-Birmingham (9) 64 over an over-seeded Kentucky 69, Washington 75 (5) over Utah State 61, Illinois (4) 78 over Air Force 69, George Mason (11) 75 over Michigan State 65, North Carolina (3) 69 over Murray State 65, Wichita State (7) 86 over Seton Hall 66, Tennessee (2) 63 over Winthrop 61
First round South, er, Atlanta: Duke (1) 70 over Southern 54, UNC-Wilmington 85 (9) over George Washington 88, Texas A&M (12) 66 over Syracuse 58 (this 12-5 upset’s for you, Owen), Iona (13) 64 over Louisiana State 80, Southern Illinois (11) 46 over West Virginia 64, Iowa 63 (3) over Northwestern State 64, California (7) 52 over North Carolina State 58, Texas (2) 60 over Pennsylvania 52
First round West, er, Oakland: Memphis (1) 94 over Oral Roberts 78, Arkansas (8) 55 over no-longer-a-surprise Bucknell 59, Pittsburgh (5) 79 over Kent State 64, Kansas (4) 73 over Bradley 77, San Diego State (11) 83 over Indiana 87, Gonzaga (3) 79 over Xavier 75, Alabama (10) 90 over Marquette 85 (sorry CareBears, Novak and a bunch of freshmen can’t get it done), UCLA (2) 78 over Belmont 44 in the battle of the Bruins
Second round Midwest: "˜Nova over Bucky (if one Wildcat doesn’t beat you, the other one will) Arizona, BC over Montana, UWM over Florida (that’s right, the Panthers are Sweet-16 dancing again), Ohio State over Northern Iowa Georgetown
Second round East: UConn over UAB Kentucky, Illinois over Washington, UNC over George Mason, Tennessee over Wichita State
Second round South: Duke over UNC-Wilmington George Washington, Texas A&M over Iona LSU, SIU over Iowa West Virginia vs.Northwestern State (dead game), California over Texas vs NC State (dead game)
Second round West: Arkansas over Memphis vs. Bucknell (dead game), Pittsburgh over Kansas Bradley, Gonzaga over San Diego State Indiana, UCLA over Alabama
Midwest Semis: "˜Nova over BC, Ohio State over UWM (too much inside from the Buckeyes)
East Semis: Illinios over UConn, Tennessee over UNC
South Semis: Duke over A&M, SIU over California TBD vs TBD (dead game)
West Semis: Pittsburgh over Arkansas TBD, UCLA over Gonzaga
Final Four: "˜Nova, Tennessee, Duke, Pittsburgh
Champion: Duke over Tennessee, Bruce Pearl still gets hoisted off the court on his players’ shoulders
my bracket isn’t looking much better. my saving grace is that all of my elite eight teams are still there, and my surprise final four team (pittsburgh) knocked out the lights. still, I’m short three sweet sixteen teams, and have lost nine first round games so far. picked all three wisconsin games wrong. my losses are really evenly distributed around the regions though.
and you know, I’d tend to agree with you on the north/south/midwest/west thing, but I always thought it was a little messed up to have UNC playing in the midwest, or Gonzaga in the east. oh well. bottom line is, it’s the one time a year I can get away with leaving the tv on all day at the office, and I’m relishing it…
I’d rather lose 9 first-round games and keep all 8 of my Elite Eight teams than lose 6 and lose one of the Elite Eight because that’s worth a lot more.
I knew I should’ve taken Bradley over Kansas. They’re up 10 at the half on a last-second bank shot NBA 3 after forcing a turnover.