First round upsets - call your shot, look like a genius

Wow. I was just looking at my bracket and I am picking 3 of the 4 #5 seeds to lose to the #12. Marquette, Indiana, and Miami are all going down in my bracket.

BTW I have Kentucky winning that game against Valpo, but I think it will be close. They have been inconsistent, but I don't think battle-hardened players like Prince and Bogans will let this team lose in the first.

 

I have 12 Tulsa beating 5 Marquette, (I've seen Tulsa play, they almost beat KU earlier in the year) ,10 Michigan State over 6 NC State, 10 Pepperdine over 7 Wake Forest, and 12 Missouri over 5 Miami.

 

Here the upsets in my first round picks...

South Region

Utah over Indiana ; It's a 5-12 matchup so you have to look closely, and I'd give the coaching edge to Majerus. Plus if I'm not mistaken Majerus hasn't lost a first round game ever.


Penn over California; Just a gut call, I think Cal may not come out ready for this game and with the decided home court advantage for Penn, I smell an upset.

Kent State over OSU; Another gut call although a 7-10 game isn't too much of an upset. I don't have much to back this one up, but I haven't been impressed from what I've seen of Oklahoma State.

West Region

Missouri over Miami; Missouri did well last year in the tourny and I think Rush will step up his game again. Neither team has any home court advantage and I'll go Big 12 over the Big East any day.


East Region

Valparaiso over Kentucky; Kentucky's got a lot of talent but hasn't been able to put it together consistantly. Valpo's always played the role of spoiler and has played a lot of top teams tough this year. It'll be a close game but Valpo will come out on top.

Midwest Region

Pepperdine over Wake Forest; As much as I hate to do this to a fellow ACC school, I think the Deacons will come out flat against a good Pepperdine team that doesn't get a lot of recognition. Wake having to travel across the country for their first game doesn't help either.

Boston College over Texas; I don't have this down in any of my brackets, and it won't endear me to the majority of the posters here, but it's one to think about. If Troy Bell can find the magic he had at the beginning of the year, they're a team that could come up with an upset or two. But honestly, I think Texas is the more complete team, and home court advantage will make any upset very very unlikely.


Final Four Picks

Maryland vs. Oregon

Duke vs. Oklahoma

Championship Game

Maryland vs. Oklahoma


Winner

Maryland

 

Jaybird, that's another upset I have--BC over Texas. And I go to UT, go figure. I just don't have a lot of faith in UT come tourney time. Plus, Troy Bell is the type of explosive player that can take over a game. He scares me.

 

Mizzou over Miami - Ever since Rush started attackingt he basket, he's been unstoppable, when Rush gets going, Mizzou is difficult to stop.

Tulsa over Marquette.

McNeese St over Missippi St - McNeese has a very athletic 7-footer who can cause problems for MSU, and they have an exposive guard who has a dead on shot.

Penn over Cal.


As far as Texas-BC : Texas just played this team, except they were called Missouri and had more talent, and Rush DID have a big game, and Texas still beat them in a hostile environment. I'm calling Texas winning going away.

 

i'm wondering why so many people have marquette going down early? I guess I just really think they are a solid team, and only worry about them not having much tourney experience. I know tulsa can be tough as well, but i actually have marquette going to the sweet 16.

Currently, i do have both S. Illinois and Kent St. in the Sweet 16. I have a good feeling about Kent St., and I have absolutely no faith in georgia or texas tech in this year's bracket. Also, i'm contemplating having that jeckyl and hyde UCLA team sacking up and taking down cincy in round 2. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened, and wouldn't be surprised if ucla can't get pass ole miss.

I guess i currently have more upsets picked than usual. But i think this year's tourney, short of the top teams, is THAT wide open.

Also, i'm starting to hedge back on Mizzou-Miami. I picked Mizzou first as well, but i'm getting hesitant cuz everyone else is as well. that isn't a good reason to back off, but it just makes me nervous that everyone kinda has gone that same way on that pick. I'll probably still pick them, though. Right now, i'm having the toughest time picking the indiana-utah game.

 

I second this.

 

I'll throw out 2 random ones per region...upsets based on seeding:

South-
Charlotte over Notre Dame
Penn over Cal

West-
Wyoming over Gonzaga
Hawaii over Xavier

East-
S. Illinois over Texas Tech
Mich. State over N.C. State

Midwest-
W. Kentucky over Stanford
SDSU over Illinois

one extra here...Pepperdine over Wake Forest

i dont follow college basketball like a madman or anyhting, so these are just guesses. What do you think?

 

Kent St. I was at the game where Kent beat Indiana in the tourney last year. they were very, very good. IU came back on Kent which would normally be when an underdog decides it put
up a good fight and folds. Kent came right back. I think it's pretty much the same team as last year. Good guard play does wonders come tourney time, and Kent's Trevor Huffman is the real deal. They will not back down to OSU.

Hawaii The Rainbow Warriors won a very tough WAC conference, have been consistently excellent all year, and boast an NBA-caliber guard in Predrag Savovic.

P.S. Cal will not lose to Penn. Pittsburgh is a midwestern city; Philly is an east coast city. It is not a home game for Penn.

 

I have Penn (Cal can't shoot), and Tulsa as my first round upsets. I wouldn't be surprised if Georgia goes out.

My big surprise is round 2, where the Ducks go out to the Waves.

 

Cen. Conn. St. over Pitt...you heard, or read, it here first.

 

East - Valpo over Kentucky

Midwest - Pepperdine over Wake Forest

South - Utah over Indiana (Majerus is money)

West - Hawaii over Xavier AND Davidson over Ohio State

 

Correction. Cal is a less than average three-point shooting team. Inside the arc, they shoot just fine.

The fact that they play the best defense in the Pac 10 kind of balances out their weakness from behind the arc.

 

I'll pick Mizzou in the first round.

B

 

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men/show?page=printbracket&tid=35470

Damn OSU

 

I had Kent St. in every single one of my brackets =D. Of course, I also have Miami... so don't lose, damn you!

 

Thank you Mizzou, Lets go Pepperdine.

 

Joe Joe's March Madness Politically incorrect pick:

Zaga is going down....or will barely win.