And now there are 32

Predictions for Round of 32 Saturday

Compared to some, I had a reasonable Friday in NCAA Tourney Predictions going 11-5 for the day. Though there were a couple of "who'd have thunk it" results for the day...particularly Georgetown getting beaten and to a lesser extent Kansas State getting upset.

Anyhoo...here we go with Saturday's picks.

VCU vs Kansas

Here we go...could be a Rams run again this year...not really classed as a big upset anymore...

VCU by 4

Memphis vs Michigan State

Mich St. by 8

Colorado St. vs Louisville

Louisville by 14

Harvard vs Arizona

Harvard rolls on by 3

Oregon vs St. Louis

St. Louis by 8

Butler vs Marquette

Marquette by 2

Wichita State vs Gonzaga

Gonzaga by 5

Cal vs Syracuse

Syracuse by 10

Current Record: 27-9

Bracket kicks off today!!

The Madness begins

The 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament kicks into full swing overnight (2am) here in Australia with sixteen games on tap for the first day. Before I crash with the alarm set...I'll throw in my picks for the day. They may actually contradict some of my bracket picks but winging it!!

Valparaiso vs Michigan State

Michigan State by 14

Bucknell vs Butler

Butler by 3

Wichita State vs Pitt

Pitt by 7

New Mexico St. vs St Louis

St. Louis by 8....go Cody Ellis...Perth in da House!!

St. Mary's vs Memphis

Upset...St. Mary's by 2

Davidson vs Marquette

Marquette by only 5

Southern vs Gonzaga

Gonzaga by 17

Oregon vs Oklahoma St.

Oregon by 4

NC A&T vs Louisville

Loisville by 22

South Dakota State vs Michigan

Michigan by 8

Belmont vs Arizona

Arizona by 12

Cal vs UNLV

Cal by 6

Missouri vs Colorado St.

Missouri by 7

Akron vs VCU

VCU by 13

Harvard vs New Mexico

New Mexico by 24

Montana vs Syracuse

Syracuse by 20

Back with more tomorrow....

NCAA Hoops...

And now there are 32

As the NCAA Men’s tournament enters Saturday and Sunday games my bracket has gone kaput….my final four picks are all still alive but some of my other picks fell by the wayside. I did however tip both George Mason and VCU wins. For Friday’s games, I finished the same as Thursday…11-5.

Here we go for Saturday.

SOUTHWEST:

Morehead State (13) vs. Richmond (12)

Both teams come in off huge wins but I’ll take Richmond to move on by 7.

WEST:

Temple (7) vs. San Diego State (2)

San Diego State by 8.

Cincinnati (6) vs. Connecticut (3)

Big East survivors face off; I’ll call the minor upset, Cincy by 2.

EAST:

West Virginia (5) vs. Kentucky (4)

West Virginia sneaks through by 1.

SOUTHEAST:

UCLA (7) vs. Florida (2)

Florida moves on by 6.

Butler (8) vs. Pitt (1)

Pitt by 3.

Gonzaga (11) vs. Brigham Young (3)

Goodbye Jimmer, Gonzaga by 4.

Kansas State (5) vs. Wisconsin (4)

Wisconsin holds off K-State by 3.

Current record: 26-10

Back tomorrow for a look at Sunday’s action.

NCAA Play....

NCAA Regionals Day 2

NCAA Men’s tourney Round of 64 play picks up again on Friday with another 16 games on tap. On Thursday I finished 11-5 for the day, with Richmond’s win over Vanderbilt my best tip of the day. Other upsets included Morehead State eliminating Louisville and Gonzaga bouncing St. John’s from the field.

Friday’s action includes:

EAST:

Villanova (9) vs. George Mason (8)

Another Big East team bites the dust. GMU by 3.

Texas-San Antonio (16) vs. Ohio State (1)

Ohio State by 23.

Long Island (15) vs. North Carolina (2)

UNC by 18.

Marquette (11) vs. Xavier (6)

Xavier by 7.

Georgia (10) vs. Washington (7)

Washington by 6.

Indiana State (14) vs. Syracuse (3)

Syracuse by 13.

SOUTHWEST:

Akron (15) vs. Notre Dame (2)

Notre Dame by 17.

Florida State (10) vs. Texas A&M (7)

A&M by 3.

Boston University (16) vs. Kansas (1)

Kansas by 30.

St. Peter’s (14) vs. Purdue (3)

Purdue by 16.

Illinois (9) vs. UNLV (8)

UNLV by 5.

Virginia Commonwealth (11) vs. Georgetown (6)

VCU does it again by 4.

WEST:

Oakland (13) vs. Texas (4)

Texas by 11.

Tennessee (9) vs. Michigan (8)

Tennessee by 2.

Memphis (12) vs. Arizona (5)

Another #12 wins, Memphis by 4.

Hampton (16) vs. Duke (1)

Duke by 23

My current record: 15-5

See ya’ tomorrow!!!

NCAA Basketball kicks off!!!

NCAA Basketball is Back!!!

The excitement returns in earnest this week after a smattering of games over the last week or so.

Firstly, I will not openly be anti-Duke this year!! Not necessarily a fan but now have family there so good luck to Josh Hairston and Coach K’s Blue Devils, except maybe in your two games versus the Tar Heels!!!

Do not be surprised to see the ACC take its third NCAA tile in a row come April 2011. May not necessarily be the Duke squad though. North Carolina is looking for blood after a sub par season by lofty Tarheel standards.

Elsewhere around the country, Michigan State looks solid again and should go deep into the post season. Ohio State will be good, Kansas will be solid, and Kansas State may be better than their in state rivals.

As the season progresses look for St. Mary’s, CA and Gonzaga to pop up as always from the West.

Inevitably there will be mid major and small conference surprises so look out big time programmes, it only takes one game to change a season.

My Current NCAA Top 10

1. Duke
2. Michigan State
3. North Carolina
4. Pitt
5. Kansas State
6. Kansas
7. Villanova
8. Ohio State
9. Florida
10. Syracuse

The season cranks up big time tonight on ESPN….can’t wait!!!