Man, do I wish I were back in college. In those days, this week was always Spring Break and I could sit and watch basketball all day from Thursday through Sunday. I even remember being in Dayton Beach and sitting in my hotel room in front of the TV while everyone else was outside (of course that had nothing to do with a wicked sunburn and brutal hangover). Great times.
Life with a job and kids isn’t all bad (well, the kids part isn’t all bad), but it just doesn’t give me hoops-watching time I crave. I’ll have to do with long lunches at the sports bar and some good Internet scoreboards.
Anyway, enough with the wishful thinking. It’s nearly time to play ball and I want to get a few thoughts out there before the games start. I don’t have time to run through the whole bracket, so I’ll focus on the ACC teams.

All year long, the ACC has been the Big Three and the Eight Dwarves. Just because NC State and Georgia Tech squeaked into the Dance, I don’t think things have changed. Both State and Tech could lose in the first round. I very nearly picked the Jackets to get upset tonight, but decided not to (ACC pride and all). Instead, I have them bowing out to Louisville and State getting whacked by UConn. I wouldn’t be shocked if neither gets that far though.
As for the Big Three of Wake Forest, North Carolina and Duke? I have my concerns with them as well. Maybe it’s just that familiarity breeds contempt, but all three teams scare me. All three have Final Four talent, but I have a hunch that only one will make it.
I’ve said several times that I think Wake’s defense is too porous to make a deep run, and I’m sticking with that. I have them losing in the regional finals to the Ville. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them knocked out by Gonzaga a round earlier though.
With Carolina and Duke, I just feel that only one will make it. I couldn’t decide which one that would be, so I picked both to make the Final Four in my bracket. I know I’ll be wrong, but I decided to just play the odds.
All year, I’ve thought to myself that I’d pick UConn to make the Final Four. They just have so much talent, particularly up front. But when I was actually filling out my bracket I couldn’t shake the notion that this team has failed to show heart and has underachieved all year. I couldn’t put my trust in them. I sort of feel the same way about Kansas too. They shouldn’t have had as many rough spots as they’ve had this year. Florida? Same thing as Kansas and UConn – Final Four talent and first round loss heart. So, the Heels got my nod in the Syracuse Regional (God, do I hate those region names!).
Syracuse is the trendy pick in the Austin region. They’ve got Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara, but I’m a bit wary of teams that muddle along and then get hot and win their conference tourney. Everyone gets excited about them and picks them for the Final Four, but they end up losing to Western Michigan in the second round. There’s one team like that every year.
Another reason I feel that Cuse is in trouble is that they’re playing Michigan State in the second round. The Spartans are being overlooked, but they are a tough team. Both the Sagarin and Pomeroy ratings think they are better than the Orange.
So Syracuse is out and Kentucky and Oklahoma just aren’t that great. Duke wins the region by default.
Those are my four regions – Illinois, Louisville, UNC and Duke. I have Illinois beating the Heels in the Finals. Sounds pretty decent, huh? Won’t happen, of course, but it sure would be fun. The great thing about the NCAA tournament is that it’ll be fun no matter what.