Trash My Bracket (Day 3)

Notes from Day 2

• I finished the first round 23 for 32, one pick away from the 75% barometer for success.

• In the first half against Bucknell, Arkansas center Steven Hill was swatting shots like he was on fire in NBA Jam. It’s too bad for Arkansas that Hill couldn’t do much of anything else. He’s like a shorter Shawn Bradley, which doesn’t say much for his NBA prospects.

• Bucknell hit their open shots and controlled the tempo against Arkansas. Memphis is probably the most athletic team in the field, but it would be a huge mistake on their part to look past the Bison.

• Ohio St. and Villanova let their low-seeded opponents hang around for a while before taking care of b’iness late in the game.

• UConn took a serious, serious scare from Albany. When I left work they were down 10 with 10 minutes to go. About five minutes into my drive, I realized I wouldn’t be home in time to catch the game, so I called my friend Pat and gave him the following orders. “If Albany wins, call and tell me so I can drive my car into something.”

• Iowa let Northwestern St. hang around for a while before putting them away in the second half……and then let them back in the game to make a miracle fade-away from the corner and simultaneously kick the first leg out from underneath my bracket. I had Iowa in the Elite Eight.

• I’m not sure which is more likely: Northwestern St. winning the national championship or Georgetown actually recruiting a white player.

• I went out for St. Patrick’s Day last night. After sucking down a potent combination of beer and Irish car bombs, I returned home to find my bracket even more destroyed than I was. Let’s just say I had Kansas in the Final Four. Ouch, baby. Very ouch.

Onto the picks…

Atlanta

1 Duke vs. 8 George Washington

4 LSU vs 12 Texas A&M

My bracket says:

Duke over George Washington

LSU over Texas A&M

This section of my bracket is like the lone, standing trailer home in a town that just got flattened by a tornado. It’s a miracle that it escaped the surrounding devastation.

I’m taking Duke to win 74-61 and hoping that the sportsbook accepts retroactive bets.

Minneapolis

3 Florida vs. 11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee

4 BC vs. 12 Montana

My bracket says:

Florida over Wisconsin-Milwaukee

BC over Nevada

It seems like an 11 or 12 seed makes the Sweet 16 every year. Wisconsin-Milwaukee was the big Cinderella story last year. Maybe they can pull it off again.

Washington

2 Tennessee vs. 7 Wichita St.

4 Illinois vs. 5 Washington

My bracket says:

Seton Hall over Winthrop

Washington over Illinois

I’m still pissed about the Tennessee buzzer beater over Winthrop. That game was going to be my crowning achievement as “the ass hole who won’t shut up about how he picked the big upset”.

Oakland

2 UCLA vs. 10 Alabama

3 Gonzaga vs. 6 Indiana

My bracket says:

UCLA over Marquette

Indiana over Gonzaga

Gonzaga was the perennial Cinderella team before they started getting love from the selection committee. Unfortunately, they’ve consistently folded under the pressure of being a high seed. If Indiana can pull it off, my bracket may have new life, since a lot of people have Gonzaga going to the Final Four out of this region.