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OK, calm down. Take a deep breath. I know your bracket may look bad, but please, step away from the ledge; it’s not over yet — unless your champion is already knocked out.
Oh, you picked Pittsburgh?
Sorry about that.
Notre Dame?
My bad.
Syracuse and Purdue as sleeper picks?
You’d better wake up.
But don’t worry — you’re not alone. The thing with March Madness is that just about everybody is in the same boat as you. Well, unless you’re in a pool with the guy who picked Richmond to play Morehead State for a shot at the Sweet 16. In that case, you just wasted $5.
Moving past last week’s dreadful weekend — yours truly went 30-48, with losses pending with the Fighting Irish and Louisville Cardinals already ousted — there’s still hope for both your bracket and, more importantly, great basketball.
The biggest storyline of the first weekend had to be the small showing of the Big East Conference, which brought a record 11 teams to the dance, with just two slippers left in the University of Connecticut and the Marquette University — the lowest of the Big East seeds at 11.
The Huskies are in for a terrific contest with San Diego State in one of the West semifinals. The West was the most predictable of all regions, with seeds one, two, three and five remaining.
The other matchup, pits top-seed Duke against the University of Arizona. Both teams feature top-five potential in the upcoming NBA Draft — Blue Devils’ point guard Kyrie Irving and Wildcats forward Derrick Williams. However, the Blue Devils are superior in every aspect, but like the saying goes, that’s why we play the games.
No. 1 overall seed, Ohio State, has lived up to expectations, by winning the first two games by a margin of 30.5 points per game. The Buckeyes face the four seed University of Kentucky, who were lucky to make it past the first day after a near upset by the claws of the Princeton Tigers.
The winner faces the victor of the other semifinal between the Big East’s Golden Eagles and the University of North Carolina, whose trifecta of forwards John Henson, Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes has proved as good a threesome in the entire country, and should cut the Big East’s chances in half.
Last year’s tournament darling, Butler University, is at it again, knocking out the only No. 1 seed thus far in the Panthers. The Bulldogs have a great chance to make it to the Elite Eight, facing off against the University of Wisconsin, who put up just 33 points in a game two weeks ago against Penn State — the same Nittany Lions we beat by 10.
Thankfully this tournament’s darlings, junior guard Jimmer Fredette and his Brigham Young University Cougars, remain in the hunt and have a chance to set up the whitest game since the 1960s if they beat the University of Florida Gators to face the Butler Bulldogs.
Lastly, in by far the most confusing portion of the bracket, the Southwest region has three out of four double-digit seeds remaining, with No. 1 seed University of Kansas the sole contender standing.
The Jayhawks now have a tremendous shot at reaching San Antonio, only having to go through 12-seed Richmond University and the winner of the matchup between 10 and 11 seeds, Florida State University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Rams are the only team to have won three tournament games thus far, beating the University of Southern California in this year’s inaugural First Four.
Thankfully, my bracket isn’t so bad as my champion, Ohio State, still remains. My favorite team, UNC, also remains a viable threat to cut down the nets.
Unfortunately, they’re destined to meet in the Regional Final.
And if that happens, with the way March has worked out thus far, they’d probably find a way to both lose.
