Bracketology

Yes, I have to use that word at least once (The one in the title). But I won't use it anymore! It's the word we have heard too much the past week and an outrageous amount the next three weeks. But it's that time of the year again!

Time to make picks based on play of the past five months of watching hours upon hours of college basketball. I hope all those hours will give me the advantage with my bracket. But everyone knows, this will not be the case. It's a sport, isn't it? Sports are full of surprises and unpredictable. So the person who chooses the winners based on which college mascot is better may (probably will) have a more accurate bracket than me.

For the average bracket filler, the schools with the big names will dominate the brackets. This is a weakness that needs to be overcome.  For example, most people may have Missouri losing to Michigan State, but Missouri is a great team (I have Michigan State losing to Louisville though). I have problems with putting schools like Xavier and Gonzaga on to the second round because of their history of screwing up my brackets.And with my Big East bias, it will be a hit or miss!

For the next two days, I will be updating my bracket with matchups I'm going back and forth on. This year, the toughest first round matchup will probably be #6 Temple against #12 Cal/USF. I don't know how tough the A10 was this year. I have South Florida making this upset. So do you go with your heart or with the "professional" on ESPN? Listen to your heart!

In terms of which teams will make the Final Four, I will have to go with UConn (No bias there), Syracuse, Missouri, and Kansas. The National Champions will have UConn over Syracuse.

Upsets I see in the first round:
#9 UConn over #8 Iowa State
#10 West Virgina over #7 Gonzaga
#10 Virgina over #7 Florida
#11 NC State over #6 San Diego State
#13 Mexico State over #4 Indiana (I'm not a full Hoosier yet)
#12 USF (Assuming they make it to the first round) over #5 Temple
No magic for VCU this year, sorry!

Notice: These picks are based on what I have seen this year. These picks were not affected by the mainstream media since I do not have cable.