My son is obsessed with basketball, although he can’t quite pronounce the word correctly. When we take our walk together as a family, he points out each basketball goal with pointed finger and an emphatic “bah-bah-ball!!!” In honor of my little one and in light of today’s opening round action, I submit to you my Final Four picks:
From the Atlanta region, I’m going with the Dukies, although many are picking Texas to knock of JJ and Coach K.
In Oakland, I’m going for a minor upset, picking Kansas to polish off Memphis in the Elite 8.
My DC pick is UConn. Honestly, I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have them coming out of this bracket. My homer pick: Tennessee advances to the Sweet 16 but loses to Roy’s boys.
My Minneapolis bracket is another upset special. I have Florida knocking off Ohio State and Villanova to advance to the Final Four. The Gators are playing well right now; we’ll see.
I’ve got Duke over Kansas, UConn over Florida for a Duke / UConn championship game, with Duke prevailing.
It’s almost tip-off time…wanna reveal your Final Four? Also, what upsets do you pick for the first round (Utah State, baby!)? And finally, I gotta know: how many games do you have my Vols winning?
Let me hear from you, people.
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Nikolaus Zinzendorf:
Preach the Gospel, die, and be forgotten.
already & not yet 
I’ll weigh in first. My picks are very simple:1. UConn2. Memphis3. Duke4. VillanovaDon’t just say that I only picked the number 1’s cause its the easy choice. In my recollection, NEVER has all the 1 seed teams made it to the final four, but I think this may be the year. I have Memphis beating UConn 75 to 68. And your boys from Knoxville will make it to the elite 8.
Wow, Elite 8? I hope you’re right, even though that would destroy my bracket. You’ve probably seen & heard more about Memphis than I have. So that might be that good. My only misgiving about Villanova is the injury to Allen Ray. Don’t think he’s at 100%, but clearly they’re a talented squad.Any big time upsets?
If I wasn’t a UT fan, I’d pick Winthrop. Instead, I picked UT to win 2 games and lose to Michigan State in the Sweet 16. Final 4 of Duke, UCLA, UConn and Boston College. UConn over Duke.
Let me tell you, Memphis is a really good team. I really think they can do it this year. Not only are the good, but their fans are tremendous. (I personally do not care for them, but you have to recognize talent). The only reason a lot of people aren’t picking them to go all the way is because they are so unfamiliar.Upsets…Several actually:1. Pacific over Boston College2. Air Force over Illinois3. George Mason over Mich. State4. San Diego State over Indiana5. Texas A.M. over Syracuseand finally6. Bradley over KansasI just feel in this crazy season we’ve had, there are bound to be a few upsets.
Wow. That’s a ton of upsets, man!BC seems to be everybody’s sleeper pick to make it to the Final Four. Listened to a guy on Mike & Mike this morning who picked them to make it to the Final game against Duke. I agree with SD State. I don’t claim to be Digger Phelps, but I think Indiana’s one of the more overrated programs in the dance. The one I’d disagree with is Kansas. They’re playing great since starting 3-4. Bill Self is a great motivator and even though they’re a young club, I think they’re poised to make a run.I know what you’re saying Matt. We’ve definitely limped into this postseason. Let’s hope Bruce gets the boys focused before tip off today.
That son of yours has his head on straight.Final Four:Semis:Duke v. Gongzaga (wishful thinking probably, but wouldn’t that be something!)UConn v. BCFinal:Duke v. UConnWinner (oh please, oh please): Duke1st round upsets: UAB over UK (only a mild one), USA over the Gators (that’s silly I know, but if I’m right, we’re talking big time points!)I’m not much of a Gator fan, but I do like their coach Billy Donovan. I had a chance to see him play for Providence in 1987 when the first two rounds were played in Birmingham. Donovan was the main show, and that team, coached by a previously unknown named Rick Pitino, went to the Final Four that year.The darling of those first two rounds was Austin Peay. They won their first game and then lost a heartbreaker against the Friars. I’ll never forget that entire crowd taking up the chant, “Austin-P, Austin-P!”Alabama also played in that sub-regional. They made it to the Sweet Sixteen with players like Derrick McKey, Jim Farmer and current Alabama coach, Mark Gottfried.
Looks like your Vols barely got past Winthrop. Maybe I was too optimistic putting them in the 8.
The Vols got pretty lucky. But maybe it only took that one win to get ’em going. Live to die another day, my friend.
Hey, I called it! Bradley beat Kansas. However, I did not have them going on past that…sigh…but my final four is still in tact!
I’m in big trouble. That’s what I get for picking Kansas.