Women's Final Four picks....

Ladies Night...Final Four Style!!

The 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four comes to a head on Sunday night when UConn squares off against Big East foe Notre Dame in the first game before Baylor takes the court against Stanford for the two spots in Tuesday's championship game. 

UConn vs. Notre Dame

This will be the fourth meeting of the season for these two. Notre Dame swept the home and away regular season games before losing to UConn in the Big East tourney title game.

Both teams are on familiar ground in the Final Four. Neither team has been seriously tested thus far in the post season but this one could go down to the wire. I will give it to UConn purely on pedigree.

UConn by 3.

Stanford vs. Baylor

This one also shapes up well on paper as Stanford has only a loss to UConn and Baylor comes in undefeated. 

I think Baylor is slightly above the rest of the Final Four teams and will sweep past the Cardinal in this one.

Baylor by 11.

Back tomorrow with my pick for both Championship games (Mens&Womens).

Enjoy the games.

NCAA Final

NCAA Men’s Final

Well, the denouement is neigh for the 2010-2011 NCAA basketball season. Of course my bracket is shattered, of course my picks in the semi final games were wrong, of course I’ll attempt to pick the winner of the championship game and this will be my last prediction of this year’s college season.

The Final:

Butler vs. UConn

Well one UConn team has bitten the dust in the Final Four after the Husky ladies suffered a shock loss to Notre Dame in the semi finals. As for the men’s team, they come in a slight favourite over Butler although the Bulldogs are in the championship game for the second year in a row.

Prediction wise I will go with Butler due to their nucleus of players left over from last season. UConn will not get away with another bad performance like the one they put forward against Kentucky

So….

Butler wins 66-62.

My tourney picking record for 2011: 40 right-24 wrong

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...

Two Final Four tickets up for grabs

Saturday sees two of the four Regional finals on tap for the weekend. In yesterdays games I went a perfect 4-0 tipping both Kentucky and VCU for big wins.

For Saturday’s action…

SOUTHEAST Regional Final:

Butler (8) vs. Florida (2)

Butler has made another surprise run in this years tournament but this year I don’t think it will continue. Florida is a solid squad and Chandler Parsons will prove to be the difference in this one. Gators by 10.

WEST Regional Final:

Arizona (5) vs. Connecticut (3)

This one will be a barn burner, UConn have been on a hot streak lately while Arizona have been a surprise to many outside of the Western USA. I think UConn’s run will finally end. ‘Zona by 7.

Current Record: 40 right-20 wrong…….

NCAA Sweet 16

Sweet 16 …Here we go!!!

The 2011 edition of the Men’s NCAA basketball tourney is here. Well I did not get my six correct last Sunday but went 5-3 on the day. One of my Final Four picks…Notre Dame fell by the wayside thanks to Florida State so I’m down to North Carolina, Wisconsin and San Diego State with my title game picks of Wisconsin and UNC still alive.

Here we go for Thursday’s games.

WEST REGION:

Connecticut (3) vs. San Diego State (2)

UConn has had a good run thus far but San Diego State also has a chip on their shoulders and is out to prove they are an elite outfit. Look for the Aztecs to stifle Kemba Walker and pull out a 3 point win.

Arizona (5) vs. Duke (1)

My “Duke Beaters”…the Texas Longhorns were upset by ‘Zona so I will go with ACC loyalty for this game at least and put “the curse” on Duke by picking them to win by 7.

SOUTHEAST REGION:

Brigham Young (3) vs. Florida (2)

BYU have been the “darlings” of the tourney so far but the Gators are out to avenge last years early round loss to the Cougars…..could come down to a Jimmer miss. Florida by 2.

Butler (8) vs. Wisconsin (4)

Butler is as dangerous as ever but the Badgers are looking solid so I am sticking by them. Wisconsin by 8.

Current Record: 35-17

Back tomorrow for the second day of Sweet 16 pick

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 Women's Final

UConn Ladies Repeat

The University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team repeated as NCAA Division 1 Women’s champions after a scrappy victory over Stanford 53-47 in San Antonio on Tuesday night.

The Huskies started uncharacteristically slow, trailing 20-12 at halftime before righting their ship in the second half and putting on a blitz that turned the tables, bolting to an 11 point lead. Once the Huskies were on top by a 38-27 margin with 7:42 left on the clock Stanford could come no closer than five points for the remainder of the game.

The final score count was the lowest in NCAA Women’s title game history and was witnessed by a crowd of 22,936 in San Antonio, Texas.

NCAA Final

Duke Wins NCAA Crown in a Thriller

While a common thread of this season being a bit sub par compared to past offerings, Duke and Butler put on a show to remember in the NCAA Championship match. In the end the Blue Devils became the first team to score 60 or more points against the stingy Bulldog defence by scoring 61 and hanging on in the tumultuous final minutes for a 61-59 title win.

The game will ultimately be seen as a classic having gone down to the wire with a Butler last gasp heave just bouncing off of the rim as time expired. The win made it two titles in a row for the ACC after the conference was perceived as weaker than usual throughout the season.

Congrats to both teams on a match well played.

The final bit of NCAA business will be settled when the ladies from Stanford (36-1) attempt to end Connecticut’s (38-0) 72 game win streak in Tuesday night’s ladies final in San Antonio, Texas.