Sunday's Regional Finals

Last two Final Four spots available

Sunday's games could easily be mistaken for the Final Four instead of the battle to get there...let's pick 'em...

Michigan vs Florida

Both teams have strengths but both have been inconsistent at times....Florida by 9

Duke vs Louisville

Duke won early in the season but they have had big shooting games recently and if they hold to form...they are due for a let-down...Louisville by 6

Back with Final Four picks later in the week...

Picks for Sunday games

Eight more tickets for Sweet 16

Saturday proved to be another day of wild ones in the 2013 NCAA tourney with Marquette escaping again and Gonzaga not surviving.

Ok, straight into the picks for Sunday...

Iowa St. vs Ohio St.

Ohio St. by 7

Temple vs Indiana

Indiana by 11

North Carolina vs Kansas

What the heck...going on a limb...UNC by 9

Minnesota vs Florida

Upset!! Minnesota by 3

Florida - Gulf Coast vs San Diego St.

Gulf Coast does it again by 5

LaSalle vs Ole Miss

LaSalle by 1

Illinois vs Miami Fla.

Miami by 10

Creighton vs Duke

Duke by 7

See you later in the week....

Current Record: 31-13

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

Day 2 NCAA ...

Back for Day 2 predictions

I kicked off my 2013 Tourney picks with a 12-4 day so going into day 2...looking for more of the same..my pick of New Mexico for the Final Four in one bracket is truly dead but I'll soldier on.

Albany vs Duke

Do not think I'll be up at 2am for this one....Duke by 14

Ole Miss vs Wisconsin

Wisconsin by 7

Temple vs NC State

NC State by 8

Pacific vs Miami

And now in basketball...it's all about The U!! Miami by 15

Cincy vs Creighton

Will be a gritty one!! Creighton by 7

LaSalle vs Kansas St.

K-State by 5

James Madison vs Indiana

Indiana by 21

Colorado vs Illinois

Colorado by 4

Florida-Gulf Coast vs Georgetown

G'town by 17

Iona vs Ohio State

Ohio State by 22

Villanova vs North Carolina

UNC by 9

Northwestern St. vs Florida

Florida by 16

Oklahoma vs San Diego St.

San Diego St. by 4

Iowa State vs Notre Dame

Iowa State by 2

Western Kentucky vs Kansas

Kansas by 18

Minnesota vs UCLA

Minnesota by 7

Current Record: 16-4

Back with more tomorrow...enjoy the games..

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 Final Four

Final Four 2011

Well none of my Final Four picks from my personal bracket are playing this weekend but I am by no means on an island….several brackets were shattered during the course of this years tournament.

Ok, right to the picks.

VCU vs. Butler

In an oddity of sorts, the team that made it to last season’s championship game—Butler is still a Cinderella story this year. That being said one of these two underdogs will advance to the final. Both have been on amazing runs but for this one, I’ll take VCU to advance by 5.

Kentucky vs. UConn

Both schools are making headlines for the wrong reasons over the last day or so unfortunately. UConn has been on an unreal run through the Big East tournament and the NCAA’s but will need solid inside play to pull this one off. Hmmm….Kentucky by 3.

NCAA Regional Finals

Regional Finals Day Two

We are now two games away from knowing the final four teams in the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. After two exciting games on Saturday where I was wrong on both counts, UConn and Butler booked tickets for Houston next weekend.

In today’s games…..

EAST REGIONAL Final:

Kentucky (4) vs. North Carolina (2)

Back in December, North Carolina escaped with a two point (75-73) win over Kentucky and will be looking for another tough game this time around. Both teams have improved but look for Carolina to use its front line advantage to pull this one out by 6.

SOUTHWEST REGIONAL Final:

VCU (11) vs. Kansas (1)

Kansas is heavily favoured and on a roll but may be a bit too cocky when facing giant killers VCU. There was a lot of trash talking from the Jayhawks in the Richmond game … is that wise when you have to face another team from the same city?? Though the Rams had a loss to Richmond during the regular season, it does not equate an automatic Kansas win. Gut tells me VCU by 4.

Tourney Record: 40 right – 22 wrong

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 on tap!!!

NCAA Brackets crank up!!!

After two days of “First Four” games, the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament gets into full swing Thursday. Thus far I am a perfect 4-0 in picking tourney games. So time to jump into prognostications full swing!! Some of my picks may differ from my overall bracket in which I have picked Wisconsin, North Carolina, San Diego State and Notre Dame as my Final Four with Carolina taking the title from the Badgers.

My first round picks for Thursday are:

EAST:

Clemson (12) vs. West Virginia (5)

West Virginia by 5

Princeton (13) vs. Kentucky (4)

Kentucky by 12

WEST:

Penn State (10) vs. Temple (7)

Temple by 4

Northern Colorado (15) vs. San Diego State (2)

S.D. State by 14

Bucknell (14) vs. Connecticut (3)

UConn by 17

Missouri (11) vs. Cincinnati (6)

Cincy by 8

SOUTHWEST:

Morehead State (13) vs. Louisville (4)

Louisville by 10

Richmond (12) vs. Vanderbilt (5)

The 5 vs. 12 upset!! Richmond by 7

SOUTHEAST:

Old Dominion (9) vs. Butler (8)

ODU too strong on the boards…..Monarchs by 11

UNC-Asheville (16) vs. Pittsburgh (1)

Pitt by 20

Cal-Santa Barbara (15) vs. Florida (2)

Florida by 22

Wofford (14) vs. Brigham Young (3)

BYU by 16

Belmont (13) vs. Wisconsin (4)

Wisconsin by 8

Michigan State (10) vs. UCLA (7)

Michigan State by 4

Gonzaga (11) vs. St. John’s (6)

St. John’s by 3

Utah State (12) vs. Kansas State (5)

Utah State by 2

Ok, there are my first day regional picks. Enjoy the games…….

My current record: 4-0

College Hoops....

The Madness Ensues

It has gotten to that time of year again, look for a few weeks of bloodshot eyes, hoarse voices and sick days taken from work. Yep, March Madness is upon us. With the action in full swing all around the USA this weekend as teams vie for one of the 68 available places in this seasons NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships.

A few teams already have tickets to the big dance. In thus far are (Conference in parenthesis):

Belmont (Atlantic Sun)

UNC-Asheville (Big South)

Northern Colorado (Big Sky)

Old Dominion (Colonial)

Butler (Horizon)

St. Peter’s (MAAC)

Indiana State (Missouri Valley)

Long Island (Northeast)

Morehead State (Ohio Valley)

Wofford (Southern)

Oakland (Summit)

Arkansas-Little Rock (Sun Belt)

Gonzaga (West Coast)

Sizing up the rest:

America East http://www.americaeast.com/

Stony Brook vs. Boston U for conference championship and lone NCAA bid on Saturday.

ACC http://www.theacc.com/

While it is a lean year nationally by ACC standards look for bids to go to North Carolina, Clemson, Duke and Virginia Tech.

Atlantic 10 http://www.atlantic10.com/

Xavier, Temple and Richmond should all be dancing from the A-10.

Big East http://www.bigeast.org/

Conference set to have an unprecedented 11 teams in tourney…..we’ll see on Sunday.

Big Ten http://www.bigten.org/

Five bids to the Big 10 with the possibility of Michigan State making it six.

Big Twelve http://www.big12sports.com/

Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Kansas State and Colorado should be in.

Conference USA http://conferenceusa.cstv.com/

Alabama-Birmingham could be out of NCAA play after failing to consolidate their regular season championship….Memphis and UTEP are favourites to meet in tourney final with the winner going on to NCAA play.

Ivy League http://www.ivyleaguesports.com

Harvard plays off against Princeton for the leagues automatic bid.

Mid America Conference http://www.mac-sports.com/

Conference tourney down to semis with Akron playing Western Michigan and Ball State playing Kent State. Kent State is regular season champ and most likely to win tourney and NCAA bid.

MEAC http://www.meacsports.com

Semi Finals are up with Morgan State playing Bethune-Cookman and Norfolk State meeting Hampton. Cookman should get the bid but do not rule out Morgan State.

Mountain West

Brigham Young, San Diego State and UNLV have tickets to the dance, New Mexico could crash the party with one more win in conference tourney.

Pacific Ten http://www.pac-10.org

Arizona, Washington and UCLA should be in with USC as a hopeful.

Patriot League http://www.patriotleague.org/

Bucknell faces Lafayette for the NCAA bid.

Southeastern Conference http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com

Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Georgia should be in with Alabama hanging on to hope.

Southland Conference http://www.southland.org/

Favourites McNeese State should get a win over Texas-San Antonio and the NCAA bid.

Southwest Athletic Conference http://www.swac.org

Grambling meets Jackson State and Texas Southern plays Alabama State in the semis. Texas-Southern is favourite to get the bid.

Western Athletic Conference http://www.wacsports.com

San Jose State faces Utah State and Boise State meets New Mexico State in semi final round. Utah State is the crème of the crop in this conference and should go to NCAA’s even with a loss.

I will be back to size up the brackets and make a few predictions on Sunday. Until then…enjoy the Festival de Hoops.

The Weekend Ahead

NIT Over, Final Four up next

Dayton’s flyers pulled off a 79-68 win over last years NCAA Champions North Carolina in the final of the 2010 NIT tourney this week. The win helped to soften the blow for the Flyers who missed the NCAA tourney and finished their season with a 25-12 record. The Tarheels concluded their dismal season with a 20-17 ledger.

Final Four Predictions

Michigan State (32-4) – Butler (28-8):

The Bulldogs of Butler will attempt to gain their first berth in the Championship game in their own backyard against Michigan State who are looking to go one better than last years championship loss to North Carolina.

I will go with the locals and pick Butler to advance by 7.

West Virginia (31-6) – Duke (33-5):

This one pits the ACC against the Big East in a battle for the second berth in the Championship game. Duke seems to be the logical choice but the Mountaineers have been on a mission throughout the tourney.

I think Duke’s outside punch may prove to be the difference, Duke by 3, possibly in overtime.

College Hoops Roundup

Other Tourney News

Other than the NCAA Men’s Championship, we are also down to the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Tournament. Recently in Regional Finals, the Connecticut Huskies routed Florida State 90-50, Baylor’s ladies avenged the loss by their male counterparts by beating Duke 51-48, Stanford escaped 55-53 over Xavier, and Oklahoma routed Kentucky 88-68. Final Four Matches will see undefeated Connecticut (37-0) face Baylor (27-9) and Stanford (35-1) square off against Oklahoma (27-10) on Sunday US time with the winners meeting for the national title on Tuesday night.

NCAA Division 2

In the Division 2 Championship matches, Cal Poly Pomona defeated Indiana, Pa 65-53 for the Men’s title while Emporia State stopped Fort Lewis by an identical 65-53 score for the Women’s crown.

NCAA Division 3

In Division 3, Wisconsin-Stephens Point took the title with a 78-73 victory over Williams and Washington-St. Louis topped Hope 65-59 for the Women’s crown.

Also in the NAIA, Oklahoma Baptist won a thriller over Azusa Pacific 84-83 for the title. Unfortunately for Azusa Pacific, their ladies team also went down in the final losing to Union-Tennessee 73-65 in the title match. The win was Union’s second consecutive NAIA crown.

Elsewhere, in the CollegeInsider.com tournament, Missouri State topped Pacific 78-65. Virginia Commonwealth University won the two out of three series over Saint Louis University to claim the College Basketball Invitational tourney crown.

The Four Best Step to the Fore

We now have the Final four set for the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Over the weekend we saw Michigan state squeeze out Tennessee 70-69 to take the Midwest Region title, Butler earn a trip back home to Indiana by beating Kansas State 63-56 in the West Region, West Virginia end the dream for Kentucky’s young Wildcats 73-66 in the East Region and Duke end Baylor’s run to glory 78-71 in the South Region.

This weekend sees West Virginia face off against Duke and Michigan State match up against Butler in the Final Four.

I went 1 right three wrong, leaving me no chance to break even prediction wise this year for the tourney as I stand at 28 right, 32 wrong…ugh!!!! My year was as bad as the beloved Tarheels!!

Later in the week I will look into the shattered pieces of the Crystal Ball and soldier on with picks!! LOL!!

We Now Have The Elite Eight

With today’s wins by Duke over Purdue 70-57 and Baylor’s 72-49 thumping of Saint Mary’s, the South Region’s final two is set. The same for the Midwest where Michigan State put an end the Northern Iowa’s Cinderella story with a 59-52 victory that puts them in the regions title tilt against Tennessee who escaped with a 76-73 win over Ohio State.

The results of the last two days left me at 3 correct and 5 wrong for the Sweet 16 Round and 27 right, 29 wrong for the Tournament. Why quit now….I may just break even!!!

For the Regional Finals:

Kentucky by 3 over West Virginia in the East

Butler over Kansas State by 6 in the West

Tennessee over Michigan State by 6 in the Midwest

Baylor over Duke by 8 in the South

Ok, they’re out there, now I’m going to rest up for another early morning of hoops here in Australia.

(The) Butler does it to Syracuse

The Butler Bulldogs sent Syracuse packing in the semi-finals of the West Region in today’s NCAA action 63-59. With Syracuse leading by four, Butler scored eleven unanswered points before a late layup by the Orangemen. The Bulldogs will now meet Kansas State, 101-96 double overtime winners over Xavier in the West Regional final. A Butler win would send them on to the Final Four in their hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana.

The East Region results saw both West Virginia 69-56 over Washington, and Kentucky 62-45 over Cornell advance to a showdown for the Regional title and place in the Final Four.

Next up we have battles between Tennessee and Ohio State followed by Northern Iowa versus Michigan State in the Midwest Region. The South Region will see Saint Mary’s meet Baylor and Purdue lock horns with top seeded Duke.

Ok, I have yet another Crystal Ball (lucky I bought in bulk), and I’m seeing:

Ohio State over Tennessee by 4

Northern Iowa upsetting Michigan State by 3

Baylor over Saint Mary’s by 8

Duke over Purdue by 11

Ok, I’m out for now…..

Sweet 16 Time!!!

The 2010 NCAA tourney has reached the Sweet 16 phase with a few surprises along the way. On Friday morning ( Thursday night US time), the East and West Regions come to the fore with the Washington Huskies facing the West Virginia Mountaineers in game one followed by Cornell facing Kentucky in a David versus Goliath battle in the East. Out West it will be Butler against Syracuse followed by a matchup between Xavier and Kansas State.

EAST REGION

Washington-West Virginia

Washington comes into the game with a 26-9 record and on the crest of a two upset wave after pipping Marquette 80-78 in the first round and blowing out favoured New Mexico 82-64 in the second round. West Virginia heads into the game on a run of their own with relatively easy wins over Morgan State 77-50 in the first round and a 68-59 victory over Missouri in round two that pushed their record to 29-6.

In a bit of bad news for West Virginia, point guard Darryl Bryant suffered a broken foot in practice this week but the Mountaineers have a deep bench and should survive.

PREDICTION: West Virginia by 6.

Cornell-Kentucky

Cornell comes in from the lightly regarded Ivy League but with a giant killing reputation after topping Temple 78-65 and Wisconsin 87-69 in the first two rounds. The Big Red feature something most big time teams no longer have most seasons---seniors and chemistry. Kentucky is full of stars and prized recruits but at this time of year, under the spotlight, could be primed for a loss. In tournaments past, the Wildcats have been known to lose a big one or two.

PREDICTION: Cornell by 2.

WEST REGION

Butler-Syracuse

The teams enter the match with identical 30-4 records with Butler on a twenty two game winning streak. The Butler crew slammed UTEP 77-59 in Round one before escaping against Murray State 54-52. Syracuse ran rampant over Vermont 79-56 and Gonzaga 87-65 in the first two rounds.

Syracuse has been solid thus far and Butler will be hard pressed to match them in this one.

PREDICTION: Syracuse by 18.

Xavier-Kansas State

Not a lot of info on this one for me, just beware Xavier, they are rugged and proven.

PREDICTION: Xavier by 7.

Cornell continues to surprise

The Cornell Big Red continued their tear through the NCAA tourney field with a dismantling of the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday by an 87-69 count. The only other minor upsets of the day were a 71-68 Xavier victory over Pittsburgh and Michigan States 85-83 squeaker over Maryland.

Purdue continued to survive with 63-61 overtime win over Texas A&M. Meanwhile, favourites Syracuse 87-65 over Gonzaga, Duke 68-53 over California, Ohio State 75-66 over Georgia Tech and West Virginia 68-59 over Missouri continued their run through the bracket.

We now have a few days off to recover from the excitement before the Sweet Sixteen games this weekend.

I rebounded for a respectful 5 right, 3 wrong day after the horrors of yesterday.

Overall for the tourney, I stand at a break even 24 right, 24 wrong for the tourney. I will be making my predictions for the Sweet 16 as soon as I put my Crystal Ball back together!!!

Half of Kansas Contingent ….. Gone!!!

The highly fancied Kansas Jayhawks were shocked by little known Northern Iowa

69-67 in the latest upset of this years NCAA tournament. The Northern Iowa Panthers looked like the favourites down the stretch as they calmly made their shots and free throws to preserve the win.

Meanwhile, the Kansas St. Wildcats put away the pesky Brigham Young Cougars

84-82.

It was a day that also saw the surprising Washington Huskies top New Mexico 82-64, Kentucky blow out Wake Forest 90-60, Tennessee ease by Ohio 83-68, Baylor trip Old Dominion 76-68, and Butler eek out a 54-52 win over Murray St.

The other big one of the day saw St. Mary’s send Villanova packing 75-68.

Today’s action reminds me of something a wise man (my grandfather) once said to me when I complained about having to show up for a game against a fellow baseball team in younger years, after getting our hats handed to us, he simply said, “that is why you play the game, you just never know when surprises are gonna happen and teach you a little humility”.

As for my predicting, ouch, I had a 2 right, six wrong day!!!!

There is always tomorrow!!!

Day Two of NCAA’s relatively quiet

Day two of the 2010 NCAA men’s tourney was relatively quiet compared to the opening day. There were a few upsets including Cornell’s 78-65 manhandling of Temple, Missouri getting by Clemson 86-78, and Georgia Tech sneaking by Oklahoma State 64-59. Top seeds Duke and Syracuse went through to the second round with relative ease.

As for my prognosticating, I went 10 right, 6 wrong. That puts me at 17 right, 15 wrong…..barely above 50%!!!

Now for The next round I am taking:

Tennessee over Ohio by12

Kansas over Northern Iowa by 12

Murray St. over Butler by 2

BYU over Kansas St. by 6

New Mexico over Washington by 8

Kentucky over Wake Forest by 4 (could be an upset though)

Villanova over St. Mary’s by 8

Old Dominion over Baylor by 10

Georgia Tech over Ohio St. by 6

Maryland over Michigan St. by 8

Syracuse over Gonzaga by 12

Xavier over Pitt by 6

West Virginia over Missouri by 8

Cornell over Wisconsin by 7

Texas A&M over Purdue by 9

Duke over Cal by 13

Let’s see how I go!!!!

True Madness from the start

It is only day one of the NCAA tournament but what a day!! We have seen that the Big East Conference is not necessarily the “Big Beast” of a conference that it was seen as coming in. Ohio University beat Georgetown 97-83, Old Dominion beat Notre Dame 51-50, Washington beat Marquette 80-78, and highly fancied Villanova had a scare, escaping with a 73-70 overtime win over Robert Morris.

The Southeastern Conference did not escape unscathed with Vanderbilt falling to Murray St. 66-65, Florida falling to Brigham Young 99-92 in two overtimes and Tennessee hanging on against San Diego St. 62-59.

In a minor upset St. Mary’s pulled out an 80-71 win over favoured Richmond.

For full coverage, check out the NCAA website.

As for my predictions……well, 7 right and 9 wrong, hope you are not taking my tips to the bookies!!!!

Back after day two with more!!!!