Thursday, March 17
Rebuttal: Peter's Tourney Thoughts
I generally agree with Andrew’s (as always) insightful thoughts, but let’s not kid ourselves—this is the NCAA tournament. If we all agreed, there’d be no need for office pools. So here are my own thoughts on each region, written comparatively with what Andrew’s already offered.
Chicago
I don’t disagree with much of anything here, though I like the Salukis to beat St. Mary’s. It’s a shame that these two mid-majors will have to play in the first round, as both have that potential to knock out big conference schools. Don’t be surprised if there aren’t many upsets in this region. The top seeds are all strong and all playing well. I love Oklahoma State to come out of this region. It’s hard to pick against a team that’s had a year like Illinois has, but I’m doing it. Stanford 2004, anyone?
Albuquerque
What a mess of a bracket. This one’s going to make a lot of people look silly. Any of the top five seeds could win the region and I think we’ll see some of the tourney’s wildest upsets coming from here. We’ll get a good taste of how strong the Pac 10 really is in this one. I think we’ll see UCLA get bounced by Tech and someone take out Washington in the 2nd or 3rd round. If you love to pick upsets, this is a region you can have some fun with. Wiggins nailed it: Wake is the pick. Chris Paul is going to have a big tourney…
Syracuse
Great minds think alike. UConn is the pick here. Wiggins and I think the Big East is overrated, but love the top teams. UConn, Syracuse, and Villanova are all scary. Speaking of Nova, what a shame they have to play my other sleeper: New Mexico. The Lobos with Danny Granger back are on a roll, but a first round matchup with Nova means one of them won’t get to wreck any brackets. I’m taking New Mexico to knock out Nova and Florida. I like UConn to get by Kansas, but if it’s UNC vs Kansas, don’t bet against the Jayhawks. Roy can’t win the big one. That’ll be a biggie…
Austin
Wiggins’ Syracuse pick is justified (they looked awesome in the Big East tourney and can beat anyone when they’re hot), but I can’t see them getting past Duke. Where Wiggo thinks his boys from Durham as overrated, I see them as hitting their peak. Sheldon Williams is the most underrated big man in college basketball. What a beast. I hate the Dukies, but this is theirs to win. This is going to be a heck of an interesting regional, and like Albuquerque, could wreck a lot of brackets. Those of you in Austin with tickets are lucky indeed.
Less than 2 hours until the Madness begins...
--PB--
