I've been trying to figure out the easiest way to do this, so here's what I'm gonna do. I'll separate this into four posts, one for each region (East, Midwest, South, West) and give you my picks and explanations where necessary. I'll get you to the Final Four, but after that you're on your own.
I'll start with the East because 1) it's the most straightforward, and 2) it's where the play-in game is.
Play-In Game
Mount Saint Mary's and Coppin State play an opening round (play-in) game to decide who gets to lose to North Carolina in the First Round. As you can see from the bracket below, this one's a no brainer. Mt. St. Mary's all the way. I may be a stupid American, but even I know that Coppin is not a state. I don't know who these clowns think they are. Plus they've lost 20 games.
First Round
No upsets in the first round of the East. (That means all the higher seeded teams beat all the lower seeded teams.) The #9 Arkansas vs #8 Indiana game is the only exception. But honestly, these #8/#9 games are usually the toughest first round games to get right and it's not really an upset either way. For the other three regions I'll share with you my proprietary method for picking the winners of the #8/#9 games correctly, but I didn't need to use it for this one. This one was easy: Indiana's playing like crap for an interim coach they don't believe in. Sorry Hoosiers. You should've hired Gene Hackman.
Let me also take a moment to point out that #11 St. Joe's is in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Big 12 Conference has twelve teams. The Pac 10 Conference has ten teams. However, the Atlantic 10 has fourteen. It's always risky betting on a team that doesn't understand simple math. When they're down 14 (and they will be against Oklahoma), they'll think they're only down 10. You just can't win games that way. However, the opposite is also true, and you can use it to your advantage. When Atlantic 10 teams are UP 14, they'll think they're only up 10, and as a result they will play harder, and you can win games that way. Remember this for later because there are two other Atlantic 10 teams in the tourney.
Second Round
Again, no upsets. #5 Notre Dame will beat #4 Washington State, but that's not an upset. It's just a fact of life.
Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight
The rest of the East bracket plays out like you would expect, or even like a kindergartener would expect, with North Carolina making it to the Final Four.
You can click on this bracket to make it bigger. I'll post the other three tomorrow (Monday). They're much more entertaining.
I've been trying to figure out the easiest way to do this, so here's what I'm gonna do. I'll separate this into four posts, one for each region (East, 
4 comments:
Since I teach at George Mason, I'm going to show a little school spirit (just a little since I am a Hoya) and pick GMU over Notre Dame. Yeah, that's kind of crazy, I know, but you never know, right? Also, I like to have at least one upset per region and I couldn't pick American (as much as I like them) over Tennessee, that's just retarded.
Whoa- this is so great, BT!
Can I vote for Lousiville even though you think they're gonna lose?
Voting against the city I'm from seems like it would be against nature or something. And maybe they could pull a win off? Maybe?
ha ha ha
I haven't read your other brackets yet, but if you've already dumped WSU then you'll surely be picking against the Pac-10, which means you'll advise everyone else to pick against the Pac-10, and in the end I'll be the only one left standing when UCLA cuts down the nets after the championship game.
Sometimes that east coast arrogance is a wonderful thing.
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