Looks like I was wrong

I realize that I am a little behind on admitting this but I figure "better late than never." I was wrong... about the NCAA Tournament. (This is NOT an admission to being wrong about other things or very often for that matter) Out of my 5 Bold predictions, all of them have "Gone Wrong" as I predicted (so does that make me wrong and right?): BYU sadly did not make it to the Elite 8 as they were outplayed and just out manned by a Kansas State team with better athletes, Baylor did not make it to the final four although they were awfully close but were barely beat out by Duke whom I predicted would fall short of the final four, Cornell did pull off the upset of Temple on their way to the sweet 16 and lastly Kansas got beat in the 2nd round, far short of cutting down the nets in Indy, by Northern Iowa. My bold predictions have left my bracket in shambles. The only team I correctly "predicted/guessed" would end up in the final four is West Virginia. But, lucky for me everybody else had a very similar experience with their own bracket. All the bracket woes aside, this Tournament has been a tournament to remember. Here are just a few of the highlights for me:

1. Watching the opening round games at work with a big screen and lots of good food and better company. It was while I was at work that I saw the last second buzzer beater by Murray St to upset Vanderbilt, which was a great shot and a fantastic game. Also on that first day at work we saw the Villanova escape from Rob Morris, the Old Dominion upset of Notre Dame and the BYU double OT win over Florida. Which leads to my next highlight...
2. BYU winning a tournament game for the first time since 1993. Yes the Cougars have been plagued over the years with a lack of postseason success, but this year was finally the year that BYU broke through. Thanks in large part to Jimmer Fredette and Mike Loyd Jr, the guards combined for roughly 60 points in the Cougars double OT thriller. It was a great game and a lot of fun to watch.
3. Ali Farokhmanesh. Ali Farokhmanesh is the guy none of us had ever heard of. He plays point guard for Northern Iowa. I picked Northern Iowa to win in the first round over UNLV, but I never thought it would come down to a shot with less than 30 seconds remaining and his team down 1. That shot was a three from 5 feet behind the line, big time shot. What could he possibly do for an encore? See two days later, this time he was playing against the number 1 team in the country, Kansas. With his team up one, with the ball and less than 35 seconds remaining he gets the ball out in the open court with a decision to make. Does he a) hold the ball and make Kansas defend the possession/foul b) attack the rim and pass off to his big man standing on the other side of the only Kansas defender on this side of the court or c) hesitate and then shoot a completely uncontested yet unnecessary three pointer that would essentially be the dagger in the back of Kansas? While most people would say a or b, Farokhmanesh chose c, hitting the biggest shot of his life and the tournament. It was great!
4. I got to be at the Elite 8 game between Butler and Kansas St. Thanks to my uncle having tickets and a my aunt and cousin choosing not to go. It was a defensive battle that was a lot of fun to watch, and of course Butler the team for the Horizon league won and now gets to go to the Final Four in it's hometown of Indianapolis.
5. Watching the last 14 seconds and both overtimes of the Kansas St. vs Xavier game with my wife. That game was absolutely bonkers. Kansas St. looked to have the game won several times but Xavier hit big shot after big shot to keep forcing OT and Kansas St. to make another play. Which in the end Kansas St. did make just a few more plays.

Now I look forward to the Final Four this weekend. Go Butler and West Virginia! I hope everyone else has enjoyed the greatness of March Madness as much as I have. That's all for now folks.