« Building Anticipa-NCAA-tion | Main | Manovich, "Data Visualization as New Abstraction and as Anti-Sublime" »

Monday, March 17, 2008

Brackedoo

Hey, is that a glittery Kent State Golden Flashes fan-too on your cheek?

I have filled out my brackets, but the process didn't seem to have the same pop for me that is has had in years past. Game after game, I read hundreds of pages of expert, insider commentary, and still nothing smells like upset.

If there is anything in the brackets this year, perhaps it is something--a maybe--about:

  • #10 South Alabama over #7 Butler.
  • #12 George Mason coming close (but then losing on free throws the end) against #5 Notre Dame.
  • #10 Davidson over #7 Gonzaga: Another seven-ten split and hardly an upset.
  • The winner between #11 K-State and #6 USC pouring in 52 points against #3 Wisconsin in the second round and, thus, outscoring the Badgers.
  • I don't care how many seven-footers #3 Stanford has, #6 Marquette will run a layup drill on them.
  • #5 Drake-#4 UConn winner startles #1 UCLA.

See what I mean? I'm tired of this already. My picks are overwhelmingly top seeds with very few upsets this year. And although I recognize the folly in this technique, I am hard-pressed to identify viable underdogs. To beat me in the pick-'em, you will have to take chances on some lower seeds. Just for you, I recommend Coppin State, Georgia, and Oral Roberts. But you will have to come up with the other Final Four team on your own.

Bookmark and Share Posted by at March 17, 2008 2:15 PM to Sport
Comments

I went out on a limb in the first round (not so much the second round) and picked 9 "upsets". But after that it's higher-seed heavy. I used to be good at this. We'll see if I've lost it (probably have).

At least my school is actually IN the tournament. Ooooh.

Posted by: JM at March 17, 2008 10:07 PM

The Cougars are in, indeed, and I know even less about them than I do about the rest of the PAC Ten (because USC, UCLA, and Stanford have gotten some national broadcast recently). The pundits say WSU is unusual because of their style of play. But I'm not even sure what that means. It seems like they don't score many points, and I tend to be wary of the teams that play great defense but score only 50-60 points every night as a result. We'll see, I guess. Maybe this will be the year for teams that play great ball-control styles.

Posted by: Derek at March 18, 2008 9:29 AM

I think I picked too many upsets in the first round. Only a few worked out. :( But I was looking at a totally busted bracket if Belmont had won the game (they did, but not by points, I say) so I can't complain.

Posted by: JM at March 21, 2008 10:52 AM

I have a perfect first day to brag about. Possibly the very mention of that fact will doom me to a bracket-busting second day of the tournament. On the bright side, I'm in the writing center all day, so I won't suffer through it minute by minute if I picked losers all Friday long.

Posted by: Derek at March 21, 2008 1:28 PM

MT Random Line