NCAA Final Four

[segell]

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

[admin]

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

[spurly]

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

[segell]

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.

[marc]

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).

[duckman]

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

[spurly]

Here's my prediction:  The winner of the OSU/Pitt game tonight will play Conneticut in the final game.  Go Cowboys!

Kevin

[ConnieLard]

ROLL TIDE!   (My son's at Bama)

Also, Go Blazers!    (My Alma Mater)

[spurly]

[!--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

[admin]

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

[spurly]

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

[Gaylan]

[!--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

[segell]

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?

[spurly]

[!--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

[marc]

I'd given up on UConn.  At least it looks like I may have picked the champion (quite a while ago, really).

[marc]

[!--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?

[spurly]

Well, my Cowboys are out.  What a shame.  Eddie Sutton needs to win a championship.  Maybe next year.

Kevin

[spurly]

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