Welcome to March!! This Thursday/Friday mark the unofficial best days of the year for all hardcore, semi-hardcore and not-so-hardcore sports fans. And the madness has truly begun. Last week during the conference championship tournaments there were tons of upsets and great games. Some future pro stars came up big, while others were out-classed by guys who will never even get a sniff of the league. It was a lot of fun and a great lead in to this weeks official beginning of March Madness. I have a few things for you in store. First, we will get to my 5 Bold Predictions Sure to Go Wrong. Second, I will give you my first round upsets. And lastly, I will give everyone a link to play along in with our first View From the Upper Bowl March Madness Tournament Pool (I know the name is too long). Let's get right to it:
5 Bold Predictions Sure to Go Wrong:
The first thing you should know about my "expertise" with the tournament is that I have never won an office pool, yet I would be willing to bet that I pay more attention than virtually anyone you know to College Basketball. So with that said, research and study will get you nowhere in the annual office pool.
#1. Kansas is the best team in the country, with the best combination of senior leadership and NBA talent and therefore will cut down the nets in Indianapolis when the Big Dance is all over.
#2. BYU has an actual chance at going to the Elite 8, possibly even the Final 4. This is totally because of matchups. Both Florida (1st round match up) and Kansas St. (potential 2nd round match up) are teams that play right into BYU's game. They are up tempo and lack any true big man. If BYU were to win those 2 games, they would get to play the next two in Salt Lake City. Talk about home court. I have BYU in the Elite 8.
#3. Baylor will play in the final four. They are super athletic and really played well in the Big 12 all year.
#4. For one of the first times in years don't pick a 12 seed to beat a 5 seed. The 12's are always a sexy upset pick. I just don't see it this year. Utah State isn't quite good enough. Cornell is good but the smart kids don't get it done this time. New Mexico St. can't compete with Michigan St. And UTEP is full of athletes but Butler is a legitimate Elite 8 contender.
#5. Duke will fall short of the final four yet again. This one is for lots of reasons, but mainly because I hate Duke.
First Round Upsets:
Here are the upsets I expect in the first round, (this wont take long).
Midwest:
#9 Northern Iowa over #8 UNLV - UNLV gets too much respect, UNI is actually good.
#10 Georgia Tech over #7 Oklahoma St. - Georgia Tech got hot at the right time, and Derrick Favors is a beast in the middle.
West:
No first round upsets.
East:
No first round upsets.
South:
#9 Louisville over #8 California - Louisville is from the Big East, Cal from the Pac-10... Enough Said.
#13 Siena over #4 Purdue - Siena has been to the dance the past 2 years and won games both times, meanwhile Purdue's best player is out for the year.
That is all the upsets that I expect. There are certainly many other possible upsets to be aware of. Feel free to argue with me all you want.
Tournament Pool:
Our tournament pool is being held through Yahoo. Go on to check it out if you are interested. There is no buy in, but the winner will get an "awesome" trophy and the immense pride that comes with beating all the rest of us. If you are interested in having some fun go to yahoo and find our group using the info below. If you are having difficulty let me know and I will shoot you an email.
Group ID#: 24103
Password: upperbowl
Join us and have some fun. Good luck in your guessing!
