Last week I dutifully filled out my bracket and just knew that I had the insight that no one else had and that I was well on my way to winning the bracket challenges and office pool. Sound familiar? I think we all did. How is your bracket doing now? Having second thoughts about putting Duke into your final four? Wishing you take back the glowing reviews you were giving Georgetown going into the tournament?
Well here is your chance at a do-over...Time to pick a NEW final four.
Here are the rules: They say confession is good for the soul, so you have to own up to your original picks and either defend them or change them and give the reasons why your new pick is the one to make the trip to San Antonio.
I'll start:
My original pick from the East was North Carolina - in fact I picked them to win it all against Texas. After impressive wins over Mt St Mary and Arkansas, the Tar Heels look as strong as ever - albeit against subpar competition. I don't think Washington State will give them any more of a challenge than their first two opponents. Louisville makes me nervous in this bracket. Even though I am a devout Tennessee fan and love coach Bruce Pearl, I have trouble envisioning them getting past Louisville. In fact, if it weren't for early-season injuries to the Louisville squad, they may be the #1 seed in the tourney right now instead of North Carolina. Pitino's team matches up well against Carolina, are one of the hottest teams in the country and just dismantled Oklahoma by 30, while at the same time holding them to a season-low 48 points. Regardless, I'll stick with my original pick of North Carolina and hold out a faint hope that I am wrong and my Vols do the impossible and make it through this part of the bracket to the final four.
ORIG NOW
My original pick from the Mid-West was Georgetown. In hindsight - not one of my more sterling predictions. After watching the first two rounds, I have to say that I have been surprisingly impressed by Wisconsin and think that they will handle the Curry-led Cinderella squad from Davidson. Even more impressive, though, has been Kansas. As long as they can keep the tempo up and not let Wisconsin slow them down into a low-scoring half-court game, my new pick for this region will have to be Kansas.
ORIG NOW
My original pick for the South was Texas. I picked Mississippi State to knock off Memphis; and they were a late bucket from doing just that. Memphis cannot shoot free throws and sooner or later in the tournament that always comes back to bite a team in the nether-regions. I think that they will make it past Michigan State by simple out-manning them, but will not be able to handle D J Augustine and the Longhorns. It's gonna be a close game and Texas can hit from the charity-stripe late in the game. My pick stays with Texas.
ORIG NOW
My original pick for the West was Duke. Yeah...'nuff said. With who is left in this bracket, I think that UCLA is the odds on favorite, but that Xavier is the best team; and in spite of all of that, West Virginia will win it. Bob Huggins has a score to settle with UCLA dating back to when he was bounced early from the Tourney by them when his Cincy team entered the tournament as an overall #1 seed. He knows how to coach at this time of the year and by the looks of his players and the defense they played in the second half of the Duke game - they are buying what he is selling right now. My new pick from the West is - believe it or not - West Virginia.
ORIG NOW
I still think the final is going to be North Carolina vs Texas with the Tar Heels taking it by 7 points.
It happens no matter what sport I watch, from NFL football to NCAA Division III Lacrosse. I sit down with a cold drink, snacks and remote control; take off my shoes and prop my feet up on the stool in front of the couch. I switch on the TV and hear some talking head start the pre-game show and talk ‘till they have nothing left to say. Then, they bring out their resident expert to tell what the determining factors are that might give one team an edge over the other. Now, instead of saying something that is even remotely intelligent, this #### will start talking about the “X” Factor. The X-Factor this and the X-factor that. Aaaaarrrgh!
What the hell is an X-Factor? Why do I care? Out of the thousands of things you could choose to say, why X-Factor? It’s gotta be the single most annoying, and overused phrase in recent memory. It’s usually the same guy that describes any team that has won more than 5 games consecutively as “developing a swagger”…another phrase I could do without hearing for the next 40 or 50 years.
Am I alone on this one, or can you sum up 80% of everything these guys say into a list of about 10 stupid phrases?
1 The X-Factor 2 Team is playing with a swagger (they make corrective shoes for that) 3 They’ve gotta dig deep if they are gonna have a chance today 4 At the end of the day, all that matters is blah blah blah blah 5 etc...
AAaaaaaargh! Chris Berman shut up! I’m watching Sports Center and Boomer just dropped two X-Factors on me. It’s been nice, but I have to scream now!
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