I picked 23 out of 32 first round games correctly. Not terrible, I suppose, but I lost a couple of teams I had going pretty deep. In fact, I've lost 3 of my final 8 teams (Iowa, Kansas and MIchigan State), but thankfully none of my final four. So it's a mixed bag for me. And of course, I've lost one of my two favorite teams in Michigan State, which has had an incredibly disappointing year. They started the year ranked in the top 5, expected by virtually everyone to win the Big Ten and make a run at the final four. Instead they finished 6th in the Big Ten and got knocked out in the first round.
It makes no sense, either. On paper, it's a very good team. Three players that average over 17 points a game, a dominant big man in the middle, the 2nd best 3 guard rotation in the country (behind Villanova, of course), an above average point guard and a coach that has gone to 4 final fours in 7 years. How could this team be mediocre? It just seemed like they couldn't handle success, like they froze up when it mattered down the stretch in games. I don't get it at all.
Today's Duke game scares me. They're playing George Washington, which is exactly the kind of team that gives Duke trouble. GW has about 5 players that Duke has trouble covering - all in that 6'6 to 6'8 range, very athletic and long. They look a lot like Georgetown. This is definitely a game Duke could lose and a 2nd round exit for them would be a huge disappointment for a team ranked #1 almost all season (overranked, I think, but they're still in the top 5 or 6 regardless). So I'll be watching today's game nervously.
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Yea, I was rooting for the Spartans, but I didn't have them beating NC on any of my brackets, and wasn't too surprised by last night's loss. So much talent on the team, but I saw very few games of theirs this year where they out-hustled their opponents for the full game; it always seemed like they were counting on turning on the steam at the end of the game (or in this year's case, trying to turn it on at the end of the season), and they just didn't get away with it this year.
I thought this year's bracket was tough to pick, as there are a lot of second and third seeds that I think are just as good as the first seeds. Hell, even the lower seeds have been playing very inspired basketball; UConn and Gonzaga were both in trouble in their opening round games. Regardless, IMO the NCAA tournament is the most exciting sporting event of the year. I cut out of work yesterday for St Pats Day and made it to the bar just in time to see NW State's game-winning shot over Iowa; thrilling stuff.
I hate to say it, Ed, but I picked nearly as well (22). I know nothing about the sport and I pick the games by criteria unrelated to performance. Explanation: http://carpundit.typepad.com/carpundit/2006/03/if_your_bracket.html
Maybe 66% of the first round is an average performance. Any math guys know?
Kansas hurt me. I had them in the Elite Eight. Luckily, I only lost one other Sweet 16 team (Iowa). I was pretty peeved about Michigan State though. I wanted to see them play UNC, and I also could have done without another loss. I only picked 21 games correctly.
I'm doing alright. 24 out 32 for the first round. I can still go 7 out of 8 on the elite eight (Kansas' loss cost me) and 4 out of 4 for the final four (Duke, UCLA, UConn, Ohio State). As a fan, my team is UNC. Thankfully, they survived a bit of a scare from Murray State.
As I type this, Duke is up on GW at half time. If GW starts hitting some 3's this game could get interesting. GW is turning Duke over and winning the rebounding battle but nothing beats making shots.
24/32 (I picked George Mason to beat Michigan St), and only one missed sweet 16 (Syracuse) besides Kansas; I had them going to the final four. ouch.
Clarification: I had Syracuse to the Sweet 16, Kansas to the final four. At least Duke is looking good right now...
Well Duke's win was a lot easir than I figured it would be. It was the polar opposite of the first game where JJ and Shelden went for 29 points each and the rest of the team only 12 points. This time, the scoring was much more spread around. They played pretty good defense as well, and miraculously ended up fairly close in rebounding by the end of the game.
Hi
I don't follow college basketball, but I enjoy using various statistical tools and neural networks to play with pattern recognition. The algorithm this year picked 27 out of 32 correctly. Most promising however is the fact that all of the pciks for the semis and finals made it through the first round.
Did you see that BC/Pacific game on Thurday? Man, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
Also, the Duke game is over now, but from what I hear they didn't have any trouble with GW. I really didn't think they would (this time).
I hadn't seen Brandon Roy play before today, but wow. That kid is something special. Washington beats Illinois in a seesaw thriller.
Duke looks much better thus far into the tournament than they did coming down the stretch in the final season. If they keep playing at that level of intensity, I may regret taking Texas over them.
I am happy to say I am doing far better in the ScienceBlogs pick-em group than I expected at this point, or had any hope of after the first night. The Oakland braceket is killing me, though. I had Kansas going to the Sweet 16 and losing to the Zags. Typical Kansas, first they screw Texas out of a Big 12 title and now they screwed my bracket up. They deserve all the creationist crap they've got going on up there!
So far though, Kansas is my only Sweet 16 team not still in it, so there's hope. If Texas stays alive (a big if) I should do all right.
It's interesting to me the way this very large bracket pulls in people who are only marginal college basketball fans. There's something about the tactile feel of having a printout in your hands, being able to see all the way through to the end, that is very seductive. All those "What if" games are addictive.
Anyway, it's been fun, and will be up until Texas loses. Then I plan on turning into a bitter, bitter man hurling insults at those left in the tournament until finally I pass out on the lawn.
25/32 on opening round games, but my sweet sixteen isn't looking great as of right now. Final four's undamaged thus far, and Kansas is the only dent in my eight.
Ah well. Strange year.
I took a chance and had Iowa winning the whole thing. Their Big Ten tournament performance really snowed me. Say goodnight Gracie.
The office pool came around the other day. I'm a basketball fan, but NBA, not NCAA. I don't know anything about NCAA teams really. So I used a Blink-type strategy and filled out every game simply according to which team was ranked higher. The results so far? I've won 32 of 45, for a winning percentage of .71. I don't know how you guys are doing now, but that percentage is almost identical to Ed's 23/32.
Doing ok, most of my deep run teams are still going. I got 10 of 16 at the end of the weekend.