Let’s let the Madness begin. Before finalizing your bracket you may want to think about Aaron’s Bracketology insights on the first two rounds of the tourney. When I refer to the first two rounds I am not including the games on Tuesday and Wednesday because let’s be honest, those are just the final cuts to get into the big show. This year they decided they needed a second audition for the show and allowed eight more acts to give it one last go. The real show begins on Thursday. With no further ado here is what my studies have led me to conclude.
EAST
In the East, the Buckeye Nuts of Ohio State are the #1 seed. The Univ. of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) should be excited to have passed the audition and get some tickets. OSU will send them home right away and move on. Villanova is highly favored but George Mason is due for some more heroics like in 2006 and will take out the Wild Cats in a barn burner. George Mason will then play Ohio State and will go celebrate their dismissal with UTSA .
The Clemson Tigers will continue the cursed history of the 12-5 matchup and take out the WVU Mountaineers. The boys from Princeton will discover that book smarts does not directly translate to court smarts when Kentucky takes them to school. Kentucky will then send Clemson home in round 2.
Xavier will take out Marquette because they are the only school to have a name starting with the letter “X”. Indiana State has history in the tourney because of Larry Bird and his disgustingly short baby blue shorts but this will not help them in a battle with the Orangemen. Syracuse will also roll in round 2 against the big “X”.
The battle between Georgia and Washington will be “a real dog fight”. The Huskies will beat the Bulldogs by raining threes from all over. UNC plays Long Island in a game where Long Island would be better off staying home to make and drink their Iced Tea. UNC will then go down to Romar and the Dawgs in round 2.
WEST
The Hamptons are really extravagant but that doesn’t win basketball games. The Blue Devils will send Hampton back to their luxurious homes. As much as I hate to pick the Wolverines, I think they are too much for Scotty Hobson and his flat top. Michigan will move on to play Duke in a rematch of the days of the Fab Five. Duke will then end the Wolverines glory trail and roll to the sweet 16.
The Arizona Wildcats will have to claw their way to victory over the tigers of Memphis . In a major early upset the inconsistency of Texas will finally catch up with them as they will lose to the Oakland Grizzlies. Oakland will not have the energy for a repeat performance and will go back to Michigan with the Wolverines in round 2. Arizona moves on.
As much as I want to think that UCONN spent everything they have in the Big East Tourney I can’t get myself to pick Bucknell over them. UCONN will move on to play the winner of the “who cares” game between Cincy and Missouri. Cincy will get past Missouri because they have had to face relentless competition in the Big East Conf. In round 2 the magician known as Kemba Walker will keep the Huskies of UCONN rolling through to the Sweet 16.
The Penn State Nitny Lions have not been in the NCAA Tourney for ages but they have a good team this year. They face the Temple Owls. The slums of Philly may be rough but with a mascot as harmless as an owl Temple doesn’t stand a chance. The Nitny Lions will face the Aztecs of San Diego State in the second round after SDS sends the Bears back to the Rockies. The Aztecs will take out Penn State in the second round sheerly because we need a Cinderella Story not because they are better than Penn State.
SOUTHWEST
As much as I can’t stand the Kansas Jayhawks, I can’t deny that they have a good basketball team. On top of that they are playing Boston U who will probably be up till midnight studying the night before and will be sluggish. In the matchup with UNLV and Illinois the Illini will win. The “big gump” Mike Tisdale will be the hero for the first time in his seemingly never-ending career at Illinois. The Illini will go on to face another one of their former coaches Bill Self. Mike Tisdale will return to his gumpy self in this game and Kansas will roll to victory.
The Vanderbilt Commodores face the Richmond Spiders and if I am not mistaken commodores eat spiders as a primary source of food. Vanderbilt eats Richmond to move on. Louisville will ride the coattails of the “pimp” white suit of Rick Pitino over Morehead St. Commodores don’t eat Cardinals and therefore Louisville will take out Vanderbilt in round 2.
The Georgetown Hoyas have been on a slippery slope of late and this will cost them. Georgetown will lose to VCU in a close one. VCU will then go on to face Purdue who will steamroll over the Peacocks of St. Peters. On a side note, how does a school allow a mascot as lame as a Peacock to represent their school? I would be embarrassed to admit I am a St. Peters Peacock. Back to business, Purdue and Juwan Johnson are too good for VCU despite missing a key defender Kelsey Barlow.
Texas A&M and Florida St. are both not very good and really just need to play to give Notre Dame an opponent to play in the second round. Florida State will have the honor of playing the Fighting Irish but considering that its St. Patrick’s Day weekend, their luck will run out and Notre Dame will move on.
SOUTHEAST
The PITT Panthers will warm up with UNC Ashville and make them look like a high school JV team in a route. PITT gets so many second chance points off rebounds that UNC Ashville has no chance. Butler faces Old Dominion for a spot to play Pittsburgh. Butler had their glory run last year and now it is ODU’s turn. Old Dominion moves on to play PITT. PITT will beat ODU but it will be very close and it wouldn’t shock me if ODU pulled off a victory. I still pick PITT.
Kansas State may have one of the best 1-2 combinations with Jacob Poland and his beard and Frank Martin who may be the scariest man on this planet. Utah St. better “fear the beard” because Poland is going to take over the game. K-State wins but Frank Martin is still not happy. Their opponent will be the cheese fed and methodical robots of Wisconsin who will systematically take apart Belmont. The Badgers will then beat K-State in one of their typical low scoring boring fashion.
St. John’s has had a great season this year but they are inconsistent. They will not be able to handle the trees that Gonzaga puts on the court. Gonzaga will tower St. John’s and move on to play Jimmer Fredette and BYU. Fredette is on some sort of mission this year , be it his Mormon mission or to score the most points in NCAA history. BYU will then face Gonzaga and it will be Jimmer time again as he will single handedly beat Gonzaga.
Last but not least it is time to say how the Spartans will do. As many of you know March is the month of the Spartan. UCLA is really not that good this year and if Michigan State can stop the beast Josh Smith inside and Durrell Summers can hit a few buckets than MSU will move on. I pick Sparty to beat UCLA and move on to play Florida. Florida plays UC Santa Barbara who may decide to surf to the game. They will be too laid back though and Florida will send them back to their on-campus lagoon. Florida will then meet MSU for a rematch of the 2000 title game. Kalin Lucas will star as Mateen Cleaves and MSU will be victorious again and move on to the Sweet 16.
That’s all for now for Aaron’s Bracketology. Stay tuned as I will be giving more insight on rounds 3 and 4 after the conclusion of Sunday’s games and the Sweet 16 lineup is set. Until then, Enjoy the Madness!!!!
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