NCAA Blogging: Bracket Apology

I belatedly realized I haven't posted up my own picks yet. I've filled out so many brackets at this point that my head is spinning and, combined, I'm pretty sure I've made just about every permutation of selections up to and including the surely inevitable Mississippi Valley State-Portland State Finals match-up. Which is to say, I've spent so much time looking at RPIs and point-differentials and average shoe sizes that I've lost all sense of perspective. I'm no longer sure of the outcome of any game save that one team - or the other - will win. Still, here's what I'd have picked as of yesterday, before the games started.

EAST

• 1North Carolina over 16Mount St. Mary
• 2Tennessee over 15American University
• 3Louisville over 14Boise State
• 13Winthrop over 4Washington State
• 12George Mason over 5Notre Dame
• 6Oklahoma over 11St. Joseph's
• 7Butler over 10South Alabama
• 9Arkansas over 8Indiana

Round of 32

• 1North Carolina over 9Arkansas
• 2Tennesse over 7Butler
• 3Louisville over 6Oklahoma
• 13Winthrop over 12George Mason

Sweet 16

• 1North Carolina over 13Winthrop
• 2Tennesse over 3Louisville

Elite 8

• 2Tennesse over 1North Carolina

MIDWEST

• 1Kansas over 16Portland State
• 2Georgetown over 15Maryland-Baltimore County
• 3Wisconsin over 14Cal State-Fulterton
• 4Vanderbilt over 13Siena
• 5Clemson over 12Villanova
• 6USC over Kansas State
• 10Davidson over 7Gonzaga
• 9Kent State over 8UNLV

Round of 32

• 1Kansas over 9Kent State
• 2Georgetown over 10Davidson
• 6USC over 3Wisconsin
• 5Clemson over 4Vanderbilt

Sweet 16

• 5Clemson over 1Kansas
• 6USC over 2Georgetown

Elite 8

• 5Clemson over 6USC

SOUTH

• 1Memphis over 16Texas-Arlington
• 2Texas over 15Austin Peay
• 3Stanford over 14Cornell
• 4Pittsburg over 13Oral Roberts
• 12Temple over 5Michigan State
• 6Marquette over 11Kentucky
• 10St. Mary's over 7Miami
• 8Mississippi State over 9Oregon

Round of 32

• 1Memphis over 8Mississippi State
• 10St.Mary's over 2Texas
• 6Marquette over 3Stanford
• 4Pitt over 12Temple

Sweet 16

• 1Memphis over 4Pitt
• 6Marquette over 10St.Mary's

Elite 8

• 1Memphis over 6Marquette

WEST

• 1UCLA over 16Mississippi Valley State
• 2Duke over 15Belmont
• 3Xavier over 14UGA
• 4UConn over 13San Diego
• 5Drake over 12Western Kentucky
• 11Baylor over 6Purdue
• 7WVU over 10Arizona
• 8BYU 9Texas A&M

Round of 32

• 1UCLA over 8BYU
• 2Duke over 7WVU
• 3Xavier over 11Baylor
• 5Drake over 4UConn

Sweet 16

• 1UCLA over 5Drake
• 3Xavier over 2Duke

Elite 8

• 1UCLA over 3Xavier

FINAL FOUR

• Tennessee over Clemson
• Memphis over UCLA

Championship

• Tennesse over Memphis

As you can see, my picks are already hopeless failures. I bet heavily against the Big Ten - I mean I had to pick against MSU, no other way I could have gone (See also: Notre Dame) - and they've proved flawless so far. While a lot of my upset specials have been recalled by the manufacturer.

The Midwest was my upset bracket where the top seeds would crumble leaving the field open for my favorite underdog, Clemson, to advance. But so far, I've picked the wrong upsets - I figured USC would go deep after Mayo finished off Beasely and his inferior supporting cast. Whoops.

On the other hand, I played it conservatively in the East except in my wacky bracket. Where I had both George Mason and Winthrop advancing. An idea that has turned out to be, in fact, wacky.

Have the South right so far. I'm expecting that to be the bracket where some weaker teams get the fluke wins and advance to the sweet sixteen paving the way for a heavy favorite - Memphis in my case although I could see Texas or Pitt pulling through, too - to make it to the finals.

And I'm doing okay in the West although I had BYU breaking their streak against A&M but I still had that winner going out in the next round against Pitt (A lot of people like them, I take it. I don't see it personally.) so it should be alright. That region looks like it could be the one that get upset wacky, though, as both Georgia and Belmont gave me a scare yesterday.

Overall, although I tried to stick to the maxim that at least a few upsets would shatter some brackets, as you can see, I played it safe with two #1 seeds reaching the finals.