March Madness Week 2
I thought I had done pretty well with my brackets. I picked a couple of upsets (VCU over Duke; Winthrop beating Notre Dame) but I underestimated Tennessee. I also went with my heart and had 1-10 champ George Washington winning two games. Silly me, but my niece is going to school at GW next year. I also knew that the Xavier would give Ohio State a tough battle. The X-men had the win, but let Ohio State tie it by not fouling with a three-point lead. Anyway, my final total in Week One was 36-12. Not bad but in checking on-line I saw I was pretty pathetic compared to a dude that went 45-3. At least my final four are still in play: Oregon, Kansas, Georgetown and Ohio State.
The major disappointment was Texas losing to USC and eliminating Kevin Durant.
My Sweet Sixteen/Elite 8 pics are as follows:
Midwest
Florida beat Butler easily and Oregon has a tough battle, but gets by UNLV. I’m still going with the Ducks vs. Fla.
West
Kansas rolls by Southern Illinois while UCLA stops Pitt in a wild game. Kansas then beats the Bruins more easily than expected.
South
Tennessee and Chris Lofton have left an impression. Despite Greg Oden, Ohio State will fall to the Volunteers. Texas A & M defeats Memphis is a high-scoring affair, then goes on to defeat Tennessee and make the final four.
East
I didn’t get to see much of Southern Cal but I’m going with North Carolina to win. Georgetown will then smoke Vanderbilt and beat Carolina in a fantastic game.
A final note: After seeing the Sixers get smoked by 50 points, I’m back to wishing they keep getting better but keep losing. We need a serious shot at Durant or Oden in the lottery. After seeing Georgetown center Roy Hibbert playing his best ball in a long time, he wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.