Tuesday, March 14, 2006

My NCAA Bracket

Alright, this was a tough one. This is the first time in years there is no front runner to win the men's tourney. Let me say real quick that I am still recovering from picking Illinois last year to win the thing which costed me more than $200. I ended up finishing fourth in a league that paid the top three, just my luck. This year, it took me over an hour to fill my bracket out after some serious research compliments of espn.com. A lot has been made of the fact there are many mid-major schools in the tournament this year, upsetting some people. I feel the contrary, I like having more smaller schools in the mix. I think it makes things more interesting. Anyways, without further adue, let me share with you my priceless pics...

Atlanta Region: I have Duke coming out of Atlanta. They have a lot of offensive firepower and Coach K always puts a quality team on the floor. J.J. Redick is amazing, and Sheldon Williams is always a force down low. However, their depth is not what it normally is, so I suppose an upset is possible, but the Blue Devils should take the region.

Oakland Region: I gotta go with Memphis. This is a tough region with teams like UCLA and Gonzaga, but Memphis has shown all season that they have the athletes to beat anyone on their best day. They are not from a top notch conference, but these guys can play.

Washington D.C. Region: UConn should come out of D.C. without much of a problem. This is probably the weakest region in the tourney this year with the only possible road block coming from last years winner North Carolina, but they arent what they were a year ago. Expect UConn to breeze to the Final Four.

Minneapolis Region: Im still going to take Ohio State, even after that horrible loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Championship. OSU is very tough and balanced, on their best day they can beat anyone, and they will have to as this is a hard region. They will have to go through teams like #1 seed Villanova, Boston College, Florida, and a decent Georgetown team. But if the Buckeyes play well, they can make it to Indy.

Finals: In the championship game I have UConn facing Memphis. I hope I am right because this will be one hell of a game. Two very physical and athletic teams should warrent a close and high scoring affair.

Champ: Im going with Memphis to win it all. They are an underdog, but a very formittable one. They have the talent to go all the way, I just hope their inexperience doesnt cause a breakdown early, because if so im screwed.

Goodluck to all.

-Brad

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