NCAA Championship pick...

For the title...

Michigan vs. Louisville

The Championship Game of the 2013 NCAA Men's basketball tourney is set to tip off in a couple of hours with Michigan going in as slight underdogs to Louisville.

The Wolverines have had some last second heroics along the way and will hope their shooting touch holds up against the Cardinals. Louisville has used a stifling defense and clutch offense to advance through the rounds.

Overall, Michigan is a relatively young team and though they beat the tough Syracuse zone in the Final Four, they may be due for an off night. Louisville will need consistency on the offensive end to pull it off. 

Ultimately I think I will go with the old adage of good defense beats good offense.

Louisville to win title by 8

Final Four predictions...

Down to Four

There are four teams left in the 2013 NCAA Men's Tournament and by the end of the night...we will have our Championship game set. Both matchups should be entertaining so I suppose I'll make my predictions.

Wichita State vs. Louisville

At the start of the tourney, I picked a Louisville-Miami final...well Miami fell by the wayside but the Cardinals are in the hunt. Wichita State has had a great run and will be looking to pull off the upset. Overall I think Rick Pitino will get the Cards to the title match.

Louisville by 7

Michigan vs Syracuse

Syracuse has been brutal on defense through the tournament but were prone to lapses during the regular season. Michigan may have the answers to the Orange zone with their shooting from the outside, a decent inside game and a premier point guard. I think the Orangemen may fall just short...

Michigan by 4

Back with Championship pick in a day or so... 

Two tickets to Final Four up for grabs...

Regional title predictions

Two regional finals are set for Saturday....

My picks for the day...

Syracuse vs Marquette

Marquette returns to Final Four after winning by 3

Wichita State vs Ohio State

Ohio State by 6

We are at 16!!

NCAA Sweet 16 picks

The 2013 NCAA tournament has reached the Sweet 16 and we will have a final four by the end of the weekend. I survived relatively well last Sunday going 6-2 on the day with North Carolina and Minnesota being the losses.

Ok...here we go for the first four games of the weekend that still has a couple of Cinderella's alive.

Marquette vs Miami Fla.

The Hurricanes seem destined.....Miami by 8

Arizona vs Ohio State

Ohio St. by 10

Syracuse vs Indiana

Could be a tough one for the Hoosiers....Indiana by 3

LaSalle vs Wichita State

LaSalle by 2

Short but sweet ...back tomorrow with the other four games....

Meanwhile in Australia......

The Semi Finals of the 2012-2013 NBL season got under way yesterday with both Perth and New Zealand picking up easy wins. Expect both the two to meet in the Final as they have been the dominate forces throughout the season.

Elite Eight picks...

Final Four spots available!!

I had a decent day, prediction wise yesterday with only NC State not getting through from my picks. Oh well…today I will give my picks for all four regional championship games.

Here we go:

West Region:

Florida (7) vs. Louisville (4)
Louisville is healthy and the Cardinals have shown it in this UConn like run through the Big East tourney and the NCAA field thus far. This matchup is also a teacher versus pupil game with Rick Pitino facing off against his former player Billy Donovan. 


I will give an edge to “teacher” in this one…Louisville by 8.

East Region:


Ohio State (2) vs. Syracuse (1)
This region went to form in the end with a 1 vs. 2 for the ticket to NOLA. But Syracuse may have survived as long as they can without being exposed. Ohio State has been brutal inside and has gotten good results from beyond the arc.


Ohio State by 3 in a close one…

South Region:


Baylor (3) vs. Kentucky (1)

Hmm….I will predict the end of the line for Kentucky here. 


Baylor by 5.


Midwest Region:

Kansas (2) vs. North Carolina (1)

Carolina is hurting … Kansas has overachieved…Roy Williams vs. former school … this one has a bit of everything…not to mention a few “Duke” fans I know who would love to shut me up if Carolina loses!! Well, in spite of it all. Look for the ‘Heels to roll on. 


Carolina by 7.

Back later in the week with my Final Four picks….remember I predicted Carolina over Baylor for the title!!!

Sweet 16 picks...

Bracket Sweetness (16)

We are down to the Sweet 16 in the men’s 2012 NCAA tournament with the West and East Regions in action Thursday night (Friday morning Aussie time).

East Region:

Wisconsin (4) vs. Syracuse (1)

So far…the Orangemen have survived but the end is here….Wisconsin by 6.

Cincinnati (6) vs. Ohio State (2)

Two of the four Ohio teams meet for a spot in the regional final…Cincy in an upset…by 7

West Region:

Louisville (4) vs. Michigan State (1)

Mich. St.by 9

Florida (7) vs. Marquette (3)

Marquette by 10

Back tomorrow with Friday's picks....

Here we go....Saturday's picks...

After a day of surprises….we have 32!!

Friday was definitely “freaky” for some of the higher seeded teams in this season’s NCAA Tournament. Overall I had a relatively good 10-6 picking record that saw San Diego State, Missouri, Memphis, Duke, Michigan, St. Mary’s, Temple and Notre Dame lose to lower seeded teams.

I’m back for more so here we go with Saturday’s picks:

East Region:

Kansas State (8) vs. Syracuse (1)

Syracuse may survive one more round before crashing…they beat K-State by 7

Gonzaga (7) vs. Ohio State (2)

Ohio State by 5

Vanderbilt (5) vs. Wisconsin (4)

Vandy by 4

West Region:

Murray State (5) vs. Marquette (4)

Marquette by 8

New Mexico (5) vs. Louisville (4)

New Mexico by 2

South Region:

VCU (12) vs. Indiana (4)

Why not…VCU by 8

Iowa State (8) vs. Kentucky (1)

Not yet Kentucky but soon…Kentucky by 12

Colorado (11) vs. Baylor (3)

Baylor by 14

Ok…see you tomorrow!!

Let the Madness Begin!!

Finally….”The Chuck” has come back to his basketball blog…and not a moment too soon…..it is March after all.

We are at the final weekend of the regular season for most NCAA teams with conference tournaments going into full drive next week. But before next week, my focus will be on the rematch between North Carolina and Duke Saturday night!! Most of my Facebook friends who follow the Devils from Durham have been quite delighted that my background at: www.facebook.com/ChuckDownUnder has been the Duke logo since February 8. Well Dookies….let’s see if any of you will take up the challenge of using the UNC logo as yours after we #OccupyCameron on Saturday!!

Ok…now looking through the conferences here are my observations:

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

Currently Stony Brook, Vermont and Boston University are battling for the conference regular season crown. Only the tourney winner will go dancing from this conference.

Atlantic Coast: http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-baskbl/acc-m-baskbl-body.html

There are three locks…Duke, North Carolina and Florida State from the ACC for NCAA action. Duke and Carolina are expected to go deep … hmm…will we finally see Duke vs. Carolina in the Big Dance?

Virginia will need a quality win or two in the ACC tourney to go dancing. The story is similar for NC State and Miami, Fla. With both needing a run in the ACC tourney.

Atlantic Sun: http://www.atlanticsun.org/mbasketball

Belmont looks to be head and shoulders above the rest of the conference but will still need to sweep through the tournament.

Atlantic 10: http://www.atlantic10.com/sports/m-baskbl/atl10-m-baskbl-body.html

Temple is pretty much a lock with St. Louis nearly there. One, possibly two more bids will go to teams from the group of St. Bonaventure, Xavier, St. Joe’s, UMass, LaSalle and Dayton.

Big East: http://www.bigeast.org/Sports/MensBasketball.aspx

Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame and Georgetown have pretty much punched their tickets to the dance. Louisville is just about there with S. Florida, Cincy, Seton Hall and possibly UConn or West Virginia advancing.

Big Sky: http://www.bigeast.org/Sports/MensBasketball.aspx

Expect Montana or Weber St. to advance.

Big South: http://www.bigsouthsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4800&SPID=1987&SPSID=25346

UNC-Asheville will face surprise finalist VMI for the NCAA bid in the championship game.

Big 10: http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/big10-m-baskbl-body.html

Michigan State has battled to the top of the conference and there are some who will say they are a #1 seed. To that I remind them of losses to both Duke and North Carolina!!

Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana should be in with Purdue needing at least two more wins to get a look. Northwestern….I’m rooting for you to make a run in the conference tourney to finally get that bid!!

Big 12: http://www.big12sports.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=10410&SPID=13134&SPSID=106110

The Big 12 will get at least five bids with either Kansas State or Texas joining Kansas, Missouri, Baylor and Iowa State.

Pending tournament performance, both teams could go dancing.

Big West: http://www.bigwest.org/sports/mbball

Long Beach St. has stormed through conference play without a loss and has played enough quality competition outside of the league to gain a bid.

Colonial: http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8500&ATCLID=204843910

Though the conference will only get 1-2 bids, they deserve more. Drexel, VCU, George Mason and Old Dominion are the challengers for the title and all are capable of another NCAA run from the conference.

Conference USA: http://www.conferenceusa.com/sports/m-baskbl/c-usa-m-baskbl-body.html

Memphis and Southern Miss look to be the cream of the crop…probably only one team from this conference will go dancing.

Horizon League: http://www.horizonleague.org/mens-basketball.html

Butler is making a late season run and advanced to the conference semi-finals against regular season leaders Valparaiso. The conference tourney winner will have to only NCAA bid.

Ivy: http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/sports/mbkb/index

Harvard and Penn look to be headed for a playoff for the NCAA bid.

MAAC: http://www.maacsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17400&SPID=10446&SPSID=87906

Iona is the favourite for conference crown and NCAA bid.

Mid-America: http://www.mac-sports.com/Sports/BasketballM.aspx

The MAC has had a down year, expect only the tourney winner to go dancing and Akron goes in as the favourite.

MEAC: http://www.meacsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=20800&SPID=12094&SPSID=98180

Conference’s only bid will most likely go to Savannah State, Norfolk State or Delaware State.

Missouri Valley: http://mvc-sports.com/

Wichita State and Creighton both deserve a dance card!!

Mountain West: http://www.themwc.com/sports/m-baskbl/mwc-m-baskbl-body.html

Three bids should go to this conference….UNLV, New Mexico and San Diego State. Colorado State could sneak in with an upset in the conference tourney.

Northeast Conference: http://www.northeastconference.org/index.aspx?path=mbball&tab=mensbasketball

Wagner, Long Island and Robert Morris are still kicking in the conference tourney with one of them likely to go dancing….I’ll say Wagner.

Ohio Valley: http://www.ovcsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=6200&SPID=2443&SPSID=31039

Murray State has won the conference tournament and will be dangerous in the NCAA’s.

PAC 12: http://www.pac-12.org/SPORTS/BasketballM.aspx

The conference has had a quiet year and may get lucky with three bids. Figure them to go to Washington, Cal, Arizona or Oregon.

Patriot: http://www.patriotleague.org/sports/m-baskbl/patr-m-baskbl-body.html

Lehigh, Bucknell or American should go dancing after the conference tournament.

Southeastern: http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/SECSPORTS/SPORTS/BASKETBALLM.aspx

Conference should get six bids with Kentucky as a possible overall #1 Seed for the NCAA tourney. The question is can Kentucky avoid the upset on the big stage??

Expect Florida, Vandy, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi State to join the Wildcats in the Big Dance.

Southern Conference: http://www.soconsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=4000&SPID=1798&SPSID=22064

Conference tournament is underway with the always dangerous Davidson squad as favourites.

Southland: http://www.southland.org/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18400&SPID=10825&SPSID=90089

Texas-Arlington is the favourite to win the conference tournament.

SWAC: http://www.swac.org/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=27400&SPID=93277&SPSID=632830

Miss Valley State has run through the regular season impressively and will be tourney favourites.

Summit: http://www.thesummitleague.org

Oral Roberts is the favourite to advance here.

Sun Belt: http://www.sunbeltsports.org/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=4100&SPID=1825&SPSID=22326

Middle Tennessee State goes into the conference tourney as the favourite to go dancing.

West Coast Conference:

http://www.wccsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/west-m-baskbl-body.html

The conference has three worthy teams, St. Mary’s, Gonzaga and BYU….will they get the three bids?? Stay tuned….

WAC: http://www.wacsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10100&SPID=4126

Nevada looks solid for the NCAA’s. New Mexico State will need a run to get to the bubble.

That will do it for now….back with a look at the Aussie seasons and some NBA stuff in a few days.

NCAA Sunday games....

Sunday NCAA

After mixed results Saturday where I had an even 4-4 split, off we go to Sunday’s menu of games in the 2011 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. West Virginia, Pitt, Gonzaga and Cincy did not live up to my hype on Saturday so I’m looking for at least six correct picks today. Here we go.

SOUTHWEST:

VCU (11) vs. Purdue (3)

The Richmond area seems to be on a roll…I’ll take the Rams to keep it going over Purdue by 4.

Illinois (9) vs. Kansas (1)

Could be a tricky one for Kansas but they will pull this one out by 7.

Florida State (10) vs. Notre Dame (2)

This one could easily be mistaken as being in the wrong season, would be a vintage gridiron match with Bowden against Holtz back in the day. But they are on the hardwood and the Irish will get lucky by 8.

WEST:

Michigan (8) vs. Duke (1)

Duke moves on by 12.

Arizona (5) vs. Texas (4)

‘Horns “hook” ‘em by 9.

EAST:

Washington (7) vs. North Carolina (2)

Carolina by 10.

George Mason (8) vs. Ohio State (1)

George Mason goes down gallantly by 6.

Marquette (11) vs. Syracuse (3)

The second of the weekends Big East battles…..Syracuse gets through by 11.

Current Record: 30-14

That will do it for now….Sweet Sixteen up next!!!

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!!!

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.