Yep, most conference seasons are 1/2 way over. So here's my question - what are your final four picks. Here are mine:
Duke
Oklahoma State
Stanford
Conneticut
What say you?
Kevin
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (spurly @ Feb. 09 2004,9:33)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]Yep, most conference seasons are 1/2 way over. So here's my question - what are your final four picks. Here are mine:
Duke
Oklahoma State
Stanford
Conneticut
What say you?
Kevin[/quote]
I doubt it will be bracketed to work out this way, but I'd like:
Duke
Carolina
NC State
Wake
With Duke winning the championship.
Nick
Duke
Oklahoma State
Louisville
Mississippi State
with Duke winning it all :thumbup:
(http://www.knology.net/~gregfielder/duke/duke.jpg)
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (coachk @ Feb. 10 2004,2:01)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]Duke
Oklahoma State
Louisville
Mississippi State
with Duke winning it all :thumbup:
(http://www.knology.net/~gregfielder/duke/duke.jpg)[/quote]
You go, Coach K!
My nephew showed me some pictures taken of you with his family there on campus a couple of years back. A fine man you are for encouraging him in his career as a naval officer.
Win the belts in March!
Nick
UConn
Louisville
Stanford
Duke
Connecticut wins it all. The Notre Dame loss is a speed bump, but they have by far impressed me more than any team I have seen play this year. They're a well-coached team with two Player-of-the-Year finalists and a freshman just now moving into the starting lineup who may be the best player on the team.
Of the rest, I like Stanford.
How about that Alabama Crimson Tide finishing strong. But Mississippi St. lies ahead. Can we beat them twice?
Lee
I predict that once I again, I will not be there to see the final four. More's the pity.
Oh, I further predict that Texas won't get back there again this year.
If only Ford had stayed one more year!!!
WHAAAA!!!!!
San Jose State
Dartmouth
Texas A&M
Clemson
My predictions, they are a changing. I hope you all don't mind. Here's my predictions before I see the brackets and see who will have to play whom to get to the final four. (I will probably post a new final four next week after I actually see the bracket).
As of 3-7-2004, my final four:
Oklahoma State
St. Joseph's
North Carolina
Duke
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (JerryBrooke @ Mar. 07 2004,08:57)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]San Jose State
Dartmouth
Texas A&M
Clemson[/quote]
I love my A&M Aggies, but unless you are talking about the final four of the worst teams in College Hoops, they won't make it.
Kevin
Go St. John's :clap: At least the four of you who are left on the team. . . .
My Final Four:
Duke
Mississippi State
Kentucky
UConn
A few thoughts...
I think Kentucky, though not the great team it has been in years past, is just too dangerous at tournament time. I would not be surprised to Kentucky playing for a national championship. Hey, I picked Syracuse as national champion last year when the brackets were announced, and my co-workers thought I was a nut!
I think St. Joseph's will falter when faced with real competition. I would be surprised if they make the Sweet 16.
Teams to watch out for...
Several from Conference USA: My Memphis Tigers can beat any given team on any given night if they bring their "game." Cincinnati and Louisville are good, but they have been better. Watch out for UAB; they came out of nowhere to have a great season, and their RPI has consistently been in the mid-20s to mid-30s. I would not want to play them in the first or second rounds. Same for DePaul.
Southeastern Conference: Alabama could easily sail past the first couple of rounds and scare the heck out of some folks. If Vanderbilt somehow manages to get in, I sure wouldn't want to play them.
ACC: I like Georgia Tech a ton. I was tempted to pick them for the Final Four.
My Cinderella team is East Tennessee State. I saw them a couple of times this year, and they can be just absolutely dominating. If they are a 10 seed or better, they could wind up in the Sweet 16. And as North Carolina knows, Murray State is not fun to play in the first round.
Peace.
I miss football.
:announceit: Are there any volunteers from GCM to set up a bracket for us all to participate in at ESPN.COM ? If we win, by the way, we do get a pretty big prize.
Kevin
Have any of you all been watching the mid major conference's championship games on ESPN and ESPN 2 this week? Looks like there could be some upsets. I'm really glad Homer Drew got the Crusaders back to the dance! :clap:
I watched a little bit of the New Orleans - Louisiana Lafayette game last night. I'm not sure who won, but either of those teams could be dangerous in the first round.
Impressive win by a hobbled UConn in the Big East finals. I still can't believe that Maryland won the ACC tourney, though.
I just filled out my brackets, and I'm not crazy about the results. I may give it another go.
What I have right now is a final four of Kentucky, Pitt (in the weakest region), Texas (I think they can beat Duke, but the final being in Atlanta won't help) and UConn, with UConn beating Kentucky in the final. The toughest game of the tournament could be a Stanford/UConn regional final in Phoenix.
For what it's worth, the other two teams I have in the Elite Eight are Gonzaga (in a ridiculously easy bracket) and WAke Forest. I don't think St. Joe's deserved a number one seed and have them bowing out in the second round to the Texas Tech/UNCC winner (I have UNCC, but that's based mostly on my feelings about Bobby Knight).
Duke has the toughest road, having to beat the Seton Hall/Arizona winner (I have Arizona in a blowout), and Illinois (or Cincy) just to get to the round of eight. They will be playing in a friendly arena if they make the sweet sixteen though.
But overall I'm not happy with my bracket. Not enough first round upsets. The four teams I think are the strongest being on the same side of the draw.
I haven't filled out my brackets yet, but because Duke's bracket is so good, I am not sure that they will make it to the final four. And Saint Joes should NOT have been a 1 seed. That should have gone to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They got ripped off!
Kevin
Okay,
I just filled out my brackets. My final four includes:
Mississippi State
Conneticut
Kentucky
Oklahoma State
(Thats three 2 seeds and 1 1 seed making it to the final four).
I have Oklahoma State playing Conneticut in the finall game, with UCONN winning by 5. (Even though my heart tells me to go with OSU).
Kevin
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (spurly @ Mar. 10 2004,00:32)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]:announceit: Are there any volunteers from GCM to set up a bracket for us all to participate in at ESPN.COM ? If we win, by the way, we do get a pretty big prize.
Kevin[/quote]
Kevin, and others,
I have created a group in the ESPN Tournament Challenge for us to participate in, like we did last year.
To get to the ESPN TC page, use this link:
ESPN TC (http://http://tcmen.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage)
You will need to register for a free ESPN account in order to play, or use yours from last year if you remember it.
Once you've registered, simply follow the instructions to enter the challenge and to add your entry to our group.
The name of our group is GCMagazine
This is a private group for those of us the visit the message board here, so you will also need to enter the group password (passion) to join the group.
I believe all entries need to be in by tip-off of the first game on Thursday - you don't have to pick the winner of the play-in game, just the winners of the remaining 63 games (not too hard, is it?).
Good luck to everyone, and may the best duck win.
Duckman
Duckman
Way to go!!! I'll be playing.
By the way, how 'bout those TERPS!!!! ACC CHAMPS!! Who woulda thunk it??
Steve
Duckman
I couldn't find the group under GCMagazine. Can you help?
Steve.
Considering I am a Kentuckian by birth.
I think you all know who I'm gunning for in the NCAA Tourney (no not U of Smell!)
(http://www.miami.com/images/miami/miamiherald/8187/67028728205.jpg)
My picks for the final four:
UK
Oklahoma St.
Uconn
Texas/Duke (I can't hardly put Dook/Puke in the final four!!!!)
The group has now been created at ESPN.COM. GCMagazine is the name of the group. The password is Passion.
Kevin
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (marc @ Mar. 14 2004,7:43)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--] I don't think St. Joe's deserved a number one seed and have them bowing out in the second round to the Texas Tech/UNCC winner (I have UNCC, but that's based mostly on my feelings about Bobby Knight).[/quote]
Half right, Marc,
Tech knocks off St. Joe's on the way to a surprise Final 4 appearance. RAIDER POWER.
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (segell @ Mar. 15 2004,2:22)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]Duckman
I couldn't find the group under GCMagazine. Can you help?
Steve.[/quote]
Steve,
I'm not sure why you might have had a problem. I noticed this morning that the group exists, and I also see a post in here from Kevin mentioning the group. When I looked at the group this morning on ESPN, it lists Kevin as the group creator, which surprised me, as I did create it yesterday morning. Could be that something went wrong, and Kevin recreated it after you had gone to look for it.
However, in case you are having troubles, once you create an entry in the challenge (by the way, you don't even have to make picks yet, just create the entry, or just pick quickly and go back and make adjustments if you need to) you should see an option on the screen to Create or Join a Group. Once you click that, you will see a box in which to do a search by Group Name.
Enter GCMagazine (case is not important) there, and you will find the group. Just follow the prompts to join the group (including the password Passion).
Best of luck - if you are still having problems, let me know.
Duckman
Please note, the password is case sensitive. I think it is all small letters, if that doesn't work use a capital "P".
Kevin
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (boringoldguy @ Mar. 15 2004,5:31)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--][!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--] I don't think St. Joe's deserved a number one seed and have them bowing out in the second round to the Texas Tech/UNCC winner (I have UNCC, but that's based mostly on my feelings about Bobby Knight).[/quote]
Half right, Marc,
Tech knocks off St. Joe's on the way to a surprise Final 4 appearance. RAIDER POWER.[/quote]
Okay Marc,
Let's see if your prediction was right.
Hey, I've been away from my computer since last week, so I think I missed the opportunity to fill out brackets with everyone. However, here's my Final Four:
Kentucky
Pittsburgh
Duke
UConn
I have the classic matchup in the final: Kentucky v Duke. And Kentucky wins!
I went 11-5 Thursday. Not great. My big first round upset was Valpo over Gonzaga, and that didn't happen! No real upsets on tap today, unless you consider a 10 seed (Louisville) beating a 7 seed (Xavier) an upset.
Peace.
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (slu_magoo @ Mar. 19 2004,09:14)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]Hey, I've been away from my computer since last week, so I think I missed the opportunity to fill out brackets with everyone. However, here's my Final Four:
Kentucky
Pittsburgh
Duke
UConn
I have the classic matchup in the final: Kentucky v Duke. And Kentucky wins!
I went 11-5 Thursday. Not great. My big first round upset was Valpo over Gonzaga, and that didn't happen! No real upsets on tap today, unless you consider a 10 seed (Louisville) beating a 7 seed (Xavier) an upset.
Peace.[/quote]
From reading your political posts and now reading that you are for Kentucky over Duke, I can only draw the conclusion that you are a card-carrying member of the communist party!
GO DUKE!!!!
Nick
Roll Tide!!!
Any comments on their surprizing performance so far?
:clap:
You'd probably get a more enthusiastic response if they weren't causing people to tear their brackets into tiny shreds.
Not that they're the only ones (sue, I picked Vandy to make the Sweet Sixteen :frowning: ). . . .
And now UAB beats Kentucky. :help: C'mon' let's get serious folks! I feel like I did a few years back when the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl; okay, that was a nice practice; now let's have the real gme! :doh:
Okay, two of my final four (UK and Mississippi State) are gone. But my two picks for the final game (Oklahoma State and Conneticut) are still rolling. My brackets are ruined, so from now on I will just cheer for the big twelve. By the way, don't look now, but the Big 12 has 3 teams in the top 16 (the same as the ACC and Big East, 1 more than the SEC, 1 more than the Atlantic 10, 3 more than the Pac-10, and 2 more than conference USA).
Speaking of that, let's look at some conference records. The best I can tell, here's how it breaks down.
Big 12: 7-1
ACC: 9-3
Big East: 8-3
SEC: 6-4
PAC 10: 1-3
Atlantic 10: 4-2
C-USA: 5-5
Big 10: 3-2
:announceit: Looks like the Big 12 may have been better than people thought.
Kevin
Woe is me. Alas, after the first round, my pride went before my fall.
My Terps are gone. Two brackets demolished. Like Kevin, I have Oklahoma State and Connecticut remaining. Waht happened to KY and Miss St? Wow, what a tournament. What games!!!
Being an ACC kind of guy, I have to tip my hat to the Big 12. The next round will be fun - although I don't have quite the rooting motivation I once enjoyed.
Steve
I watched the first half of the UAB game. They were up by about 10 at the half. But I figured Kentucky would have to come back using depth as a factor.
Boy that didn't happen. I was stunned. That's one of the biggest upsets I've ever witnessed.
So now we have Alabama vs. Syracuse. Any predictions? And what about Vandy? I pulled for them and was thrilled when they pulled it off.
So..the Tide...how far can they go?
Lee
If Alabama gets past the Syracuse zone I will be greatly surprised. I think Syracuse playing a zone has a great advantage, because so many teams have gone to a man defense, the zone ??? confuses their opponents.
Kevin
The Syracuse 2-3 zone certainly confused Maryland for a good 3/4 of the game. The Terps almost had another comeback. At least they had a last shot to tie/win.
As I was watching the Syracuse/Maryland game early on, it suddenly occured to me that I had picked Maryland. "What was I thinking?" I said out loud. I have seen both teams play multiple times this year, and I clearly knew which team was better.
Can I go back and change my pick? ???
I am, strangely enough (considering my severe dislike of the Syracuse football program) a Jim Boeheim fan (one of his disciples is currently in the process of turning the WVU program around). I'll probably root for Syracuse as long as they stay alive, which I think will be one more round at least.
And hey, I have at least three of my final four remaining (Pitt, Texas, and champion UConn).
I would thump my chest cause my bracket leads the rest of yours (not by much), unfortunately, since I picked Kentucky to win it all, I have less potential points remaining.
Three of my final four (Pitt, UConn, and Duke) are still alive.
My two best picks in the first 2 rounds I really can't take too much credit for. I picked Manhattan over Florida, mostly because the experts said that was the most likely 12 vs. 5 upset.
And I picked Bama over Stanford, only because I had to have at least one game where I picked with my heart (Bama is my alma mater) over my head (my head has taken back over, as I picked Syracuse over them in the next step of the bracket).
Right now, looking at the first weekend, Duke, UConn and OKState seem to be rolling more than the other teams.
Since I have little hope of winning any pools, the teams I am pulling for are:
1. Bama - my strong favorite since I went to school there - I actually think they stand a chance against Syracuse's zone as they do have some good outside shooters, if they get hot, Bama could win.
2. Wake Forest - we live in Winston-Salem, my two daughters went to high school with Chris Paul, and I used to work with his mom - a great kid from a good family, I hope he continues to do well
3. Duke - I've always liked Duke, but I really think UConn will take them if it gets that far.
4. UAB - my wife went to UAB and we used to live in B'ham
5. Nevada - Hey, they're a 10 seed, ya gotta love an underdog! Plus, with the number 1 (Kentucky) and number 2 (Gonzaga) teams from their region already gone, they could quite possibly get to the Final Four.
But, what do I know, I picked Kentucky.
Duckman
Here's my prediction: The winner of the OSU/Pitt game tonight will play Conneticut in the final game. Go Cowboys!
Kevin
ROLL TIDE! (My son's at Bama)
Also, Go Blazers! (My Alma Mater)
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (ConnieLard @ Mar. 25 2004,11:12)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]ROLL TIDE! (My son's at Bama)
Also, Go Blazers! (My Alma Mater)[/quote]
If the Tide gets to the final game and has to play my OSU cowboys - watch out. If the cowboys can ride a bucking bronc, they can ride a wave any day.
They will just lasso Alabama and have them "hog-tide".
Kevin
Well.......maybe.
All I know is that everyone has bet against the Tide in every game so far. Even with N. Illinois people were saying, "Watch out, the Tide doesn't have the speed...or whatever."
Then it was, "Well, they beat N. Illinois, but there's no way they can beat #1 Stanford." Then it was, "Well, they beat #1 Stanford, but Syracuse will have that zone, and there's no way the Tide can beat them."
Now it's, "Well, they may have beat....."
:rolleyes:
So...Roll Tide!!! They are peaking at the right time.
Lee
My Cowboys had a tough game, but they are in the final four. By the way, they had the toughest road to get to San Antonio - and they persevered. That perseverence will produce the character needed to win a national championship! I'm looking from the cowboys to wrangle the Huskies in the final game!
(Nobody outside of the Big 12 was giving OSU their props all year! They will have them next Monday night!)
Kevin
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--](Nobody outside of the Big 12 was giving OSU their props all year! They will have them next Monday night!)[/quote]
But Kevin,
Seems alot of people didn't even DREAM the 'Boys would make it to The Four....
Have a friend back in the metroplex who graduated from Oklahoma State ... he is a 'Boy thru and Thru ...... is about to have mental breakdown..............
By the way congradts on your original picks at the start of the thread..... 3 out of 4...not bad at all....
'course I was all wrong in my thinking...Texas Tech...well lets just say they showed up with blanks in their "guns up!"
Go Cowboys!
Gaylan
While I picked Oklahoma St., Connecticutt looks awfully good. Duke will give UConn all it can handle. Georgia Tech will not go down easy, either.
I'm an ACC fan, big time which means I love Maryland and hate Duke. But respect has to be given to the ACC. Wonder what the records of the other schools would have been had they played the likes of Duke, Wake, Ga Tech, North Carolina, NCState, Maryland twice and maybe more each year. Heck, that's 12 games and we haven't considered Va and Fla. State - who weren't shabby either. That was one tough league this year. Lots of fun to watch.
Props, Big 12 and Big East?
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (spurly @ Mar. 21 2004,7:18)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--][/quote]
Now that we are to the final four, I thought I would post the updated conference records.
Big 12 10-3 (4 teams)
ACC 13-4 (6 teams)
Big East 10-5 (6 teams)
C-USA 5-6 (6 teams)
Atlantic 10 6-4 (4 teams)
SEC 7-6 (6 teams)
Pac 10 1-3 (3 teams)
Big 10 3-3 (3 teams)
MWC 0-3 (3 teams)
The biggest two surprises? It has to be the SEC not getting one team to the final four, and the Atlantic 10 almost getting two teams to the final four (Xavier and St. Josephs lost by a total of 5 points).
By the way - wouldn't it be great for Eddie Sutton to finally get his first National Championship? I think so. Go Cowboys. Do it for Eddie.
Kevin
I'd given up on UConn. At least it looks like I may have picked the champion (quite a while ago, really).
[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (ConnieLard @ Mar. 25 2004,8:12)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]ROLL TIDE! (My son's at Bama)
Also, Go Blazers! (My Alma Mater)[/quote]
You graduated from Portland? Of the NBA?
Well, my Cowboys are out. What a shame. Eddie Sutton needs to win a championship. Maybe next year.
Kevin
That had to be the worst championship game in years. I flipped over to Baseball to watch the Astros and the Giants. Even though it was the first game of the year, it was much more exciting than the NCAA championship game. Conneticut was in control from the get go.
Kevin