Nobody has a perfect bracket. If you think you do, you are either lying to yourself, or you didn’t fill one out to begin with. Without seeing your bracket, how do I know you didn’t pick the opening weekend of games correctly? Simply put, you didn’t predict the madness correctly. Don’t worry, that is a big part of what makes the tournament so enjoyable. Here is a brief breakdown, region by region:
MIDWEST:
Here is where we find the Wichita State Shockers with the number one seed, undeserving in many eyes. In a matchup against high talented and overly hyped Kentucky, the Shockers were defeated in a classic March Madness game. Tennessee beat UMass in one of the First Four games, and advanced to the Sweet 16 by defeating the Mercer Bears. Speaking of Mercer, they pulled off a huge upset by beating the 3rd seeded Duke Blue Devils. Although I strongly dislike Duke, I had them advancing to the Elite 8. This is only by virtue of them playing my least favorite team, the one from Ann Arbor, who also took care of business in their first two games. I have the defending national champions, the Louisville Cardinals, making it to the Final Four from this region.
WEST:
The Arizona Wildcats received the number one seed in this region, and are my pick to make the Final Four and looked very good in their first two games. Up until the Baylor Bears defeated the Creighton Blue Jays to advance to the Sweet 16, the higher seeded (lower numbered) teams won all the games. The lone exception was the 12th seeded North Dakota State Bison, who won their first game, but lost to the 4th seeded San Diego State Aztecs. Nothing too exciting happened over the weekend here, but there was plenty of emotion on display.
SOUTH:
The Florida Gators got the number one overall seed, and are my pick to reach the Final Four from this region. They made quick work of their first two opponents. In what is seen as an upset, the Dayton Flyers defeated the Ohio State University Buckeyes, which is perfectly fine with me. However, Dayton pulled an even bigger upset, defeating the Syracuse Orange, in order to advance to the Sweet 16. There were two big upsets in this region during the opening weekend. First was the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, who defeated the VCU Rams in their first game, but lost to the UCLA Bruins in their second game. The Lumberjacks were riding a 28 game winning streak entering the tournament. The second upset came when the Stanford Cardinal defeated the Kansas Jayhawks to advance to the Sweet 16. Perhaps the glass slipper will fit the Cardinal or the Flyers perfectly?
EAST:
Virginia has the number 1 seed in this region, but will not get past the Sweet 16, if my predictions hold true. Why? Well, the Michigan State Spartans will defeat them; both teams faced a bit of a struggle in their second game, but came out on top. In another 12/5 upset, I correctly predicted Harvard to defeat the Cincinnati Bearcats. I did have Villanova losing in the Round of 32, but it was to St. Joseph’s, and not Connecticut. Sometimes that’s the way the cookie crumbles. This is all about Sparty, though. I have them defeating Louisville to cut down the nets as National Champions.
Overall, my bracket is looking pretty bad, as 7 of my Sweet 16 and 3 of my Elite 8 teams are eliminated already. How does your bracket look? Who is your pick to win it all? Enjoy the break from the games, but remember the Sweet 16 begins on Thursday!
- Brandon -
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