Thursday, March 21, 2013

Well, at Long Last, I Did It! (Part 1)

A couple of days ago, a coworker friend of mine was passing out copies of the bracket for the 2013 NCAA Division 1 men's basketball tournament to other crew members.

When I got home this past Tuesday night (as this year's tourney started out with two of four first-round games), I did something I'd never, ever done before:

I actually filled out the bracket sheet.  

So, right now, with the second-round contests starting later on today, I'd like to offer my predictions on how what could turn out to be one hell of a men's D-1 tournament could shape up. (Yeah...I know four games already are on the books!)

FIRST ROUND: North Carolina A&T over Liberty
                            St. Mary's over Middle Tennessee State
                            Boise State over La Salle
                            James Madison over LIU-Brooklyn

SECOND ROUND: Midwest-  Louisville over North Carolina A&T
                                                     Missouri over Colorado State
                                                     Oregon over Oklahoma State
                                                     St. Louis over New Mexico State
                                                     Memphis over St. Mary's
                                                     Michigan State over Valparaiso
                                                     Creighton over Cincinnati
                                                     Duke over Albany
SECOND ROUND: West-  Gonzaga over Southern
                                               Wichita State over Pittsburgh
                                               Wisconsin over Mississippi
                                               Kansas State over Boise State
                                               Arizona over Belmont
                                               New Mexico over Harvard
                                               Iowa State over Notre Dame
                                              Ohio State over Iona
SECOND ROUND: South-  Kansas over Western Kentucky
                                                 North Carolina over Villanova
                                                 Virginia Commonwealth over Akron
                                                 Michigan over South Dakota State
                                                 UCLA over Minnesota
                                                 Northwestern State over Florida (!)
                                                 San Diego State over Oklahoma
                                                 Georgetown over Florida Gulf Coast
SECOND ROUND: East-  Indiana over James Madison
                                              North Carolina State over Temple
                                              UNLV over California
                                              Syracuse over Montana
                                              Butler over Bucknell
                                              Marquette over Davidson
                                              Colorado over Illinois
                                              Miami (FL) over Pacific
THIRD ROUND: Midwest-  Louisville over Missouri
                                               St. Louis over Oregon
                                               Michigan State over Memphis
                                               Duke over Creighton
THIRD ROUND: West-  Gonzaga over Wichita State
                                          Kansas State over Wisconsin
                                          Arizona over New Mexico
                                          Ohio State over Iowa State
THIRD ROUND: South-  Kansas over North Carolina
                                           Virginia Commonwealth over Michigan
                                           UCLA over Northwestern State
                                           Georgetown over San Diego State
THIRD ROUND: East-  Indiana over North Carolina State
                                        Syracuse over UNLV
                                        Butler over Marquette
                                        Miami (FL) over Colorado
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS: Midwest-  Louisville over St. Louis
                                                                 Duke over Michigan State
                                              West-  Gonzaga over Kansas State
                                                           Ohio State over Arizona
                                              South-  Virginia Commonwealth over Kansas
                                                             Georgetown over UCLA
                                              East-  Indiana over Syracuse
                                                         Butler over Miami (FL)
REGIONAL FINALS: Louisville over Duke
                                    Ohio State over Gonzaga
                                    Virginia Commonwealth over Georgetown
                                    Butler over Indiana
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS: Louisville over Ohio State
                                             Butler over Virginia Commonwealth
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Louisville over Butler  

If you're one of the millions of Americans who filled out a bracket this week, how does yours look? Do you think Rick Pitino's Cardinals are going to cut down the nets at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA on 4-8-2013?

Let me know what YOU picked.

When I come back, I'm going to show you how I think this year's NCAA Division 1 women's basketball tourney will end up. Stay tuned!

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