Picks as Promised

It's Thursday, and you know what that means. Yep, more basketball.

I think I've probably said this before (and you'll have to forgive me if I'm repeating myself), but around our house the four seasons are football season, basketball season, baseball season and hockey season. There are actually six seasons in the year if you count volleyball and soccer, which of course, we do.

The problem with dividing up the year this way is that all the seasons overlap. At least with spring, summer, fall and winter you get a definite division - a date on the calendar that marks the change - one day it's winter, the next it's spring. Not so with sports, unfortunately, but to us that just means we get to enjoy more than one season at a time. Volleyball and football, for instance, run pretty much concurrently, with football going on just a bit longer. By the time football has wound down, basketball has started, and so on, with soccer and hockey (which is simply soccer on ice, by the way) throwing themselves rather haphazardly into the mix.

So, with the crimson red of my alma mater running deeply through my veins, I am settling into the Sweet-16 round of the NCAA tournament with the following predictions, and yes, I will carry it through to the finals.

Disclaimer. I am not a sports expert. I do not study the teams and determine which have the better chance of winning based on win-loss percentage, strength of schedule, or any of that rot. I just pick them for fun. Thus, if my "predictions" are less than accurate by the time it's all said and done (you know, next Monday night, April 2nd, somewhere around 10:00 or so Central time), then so be it. End of disclaimer.

Round 3

East Region:
1. North Carolina over USC. Because, well, it's North Carolina.
2. Vanderbilt over Georgetown. Yes, I'm crazy. But hey, this is Nashville. How can I not pick the home team?

South Region:
3. Ohio State over Tennessee. See #1. Yes, I know, I live in Tennessee, but that doesn't mean I bleed orange. Quite the contrary. See #2.
4. Memphis over Texas A&M. Don't ask me why. I just think Memphis is under-rated. They will not, however, make it past Ohio State in the next round.

West Region:
5. Kansas over Southern Illinois. The Salukies have shown themselves to be feisty little scrappers, but I just don't think they can beat the Jayhawks this time around.
6. Pitt over UCLA. This game will come down to the wire. Buzzer-beater or overtime, I'm guessing. Both very strong teams. But we (Indiana) held tight with UCLA, and Pitt's a stronger second-half team.

Midwest Region:
7. Florida over Butler. Yes, I did pick Butler to win over Maryland and was right about that. But I think it's going to be Oregon who finally takes Florida down (see below).
8. Oregon over UNLV. Vegas pulled a shocking upset of Wisconsin out of the hat, but I think the Ducks are going to live up to their stronger seeding.

So, carrying on from the above, my Final Four predictions read as follows:

East: North Carolina
South: Ohio State
West: Pitt
Midwest: Oregon

East and South, no big surprises. But Pitt and Oregon? Yep. The West and Midwest brackets have been the ones to see all of the very few upsets of this tournament (the 8-9 matchups notwithstanding). And except for my pick of Vandy over Georgetown in Round 3, I'm pretty much keeping with the higher seeds, at least to this point. But I'd like to think that Florida and Kansas, while being very strong teams, have their vulnerabilities that the number 3's will be able to capitalize on. Given those matchups - Florida v. Oregon and Kansas v. Pitt, I'm predicting the upsets.

We'll see.

For the finals, I've chosen Oregon and Ohio State. If Oregon does make it this far, they'll beat Pitt, and I have to stay with Ohio State, even if North Carolina brings their best game.

And the championship?

Ohio State's going to win it all.

Again with the disclaimer, all of the above was done just for fun, and I gave you my reasons, lame as they may be.

We'll see where we stand come Sunday afternoon.

Today is going to be a more normal day. Writing most of the morning, work in the afternoon. I do have to pay the electric bill today. Ah, the joys of a mundane existence.

Read a book. If you're low on candidates, I have a few ... or 80 ... that you could borrow.

=) JB