NCAA Day 1 Thoughts

Belmont was for real. It wasn't a fluke that the Bruins were able to play with Duke. If Belmont would've shot slightly better from behind the arc (which may have happened if there best 3 point shooter, Wicke wasn't in foul trouble) the Blue Devils would be watching at home come Saturday.

Overall, a disappointing day, with no real upsets. Kansas St. over USC and Texas A&M over BYU weren't exactly shockers.

How disappointing was Kent St.? I'll be honest, I didn't know much about the Golden Flashes heading into the Big Dance. All the "experts" had great things to say about them, some even going so far as to predict a possible 2nd round upset over Kansas. Well . . . we all see how that turned out. 10 points in a half is absolutely unbelievable.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Xavier/Georgia game. A great back and forth battle, where Xavier showed their poise and experience.

Through day 1 I have 3 incorrect picks: Washington St. over Winthrop, UNLV over Kent St., Texas A&M over BYU

Bracket Blog - Day 1

Day one has provided two monumental blowouts, and a very limited dose of madness. So far, with four games to go tonight, Duke vs. VCU has been the only "down to the wire" finish. Out of the 12 games thus far, I've picked 10 correctly (which is much better than my usual ratio of success by this point in the tourny).

The day consisted of skipping my night class to watch games, signing my younger brother out of school at 12:00 so that he could watch games, and generally avoiding all of my daily responsibilities (so I could watch games, of course). As for day 2, I'll be glued to the games once again, and I'm expecting a little more drama for Friday's action.

March Madness Predictions

It's time for my tournament predictions. I have to mention this as a disclaimer: I absolutely suck at making picks in the "Big Dance". But you never know, maybe this is my year. And now onto the picks . . .

Sweet 16
Midwest
(1) Florida - Arizona or Purdue will be a dangerous 2nd round matchup
(4) Maryland - Davidson is a tough 1st round draw, if they get by them I see them in the round of 16
(6) Notre Dame - I can see them losing in the 1st round against Winthrop, so this is risky
(2) Wisconsin
West
(1) Kansas
(4) Southern Illinois - This is a team on the edge, they could easily lose either of their first two games
(3) Pittsburgh - It's going to take steady guard play to beat Pitt, Duke and Wright St. don't have it
(10) Gonzaga - Gonzaga is back to being a Cinderella team, time avenge last year's loss to UCLA
East
(1) North Carolina
(4) Texas
(11) George Washington - George Washington kinda sounds like George Mason . . .
(2) Georgetown
South
(1) Ohio State
(5) Tennessee - They need to take care of business against Long Beach St.
(3) Texas A&M
(2) Memphis

Elite 8
(4) Maryland - They've been hot as of late, and can sneak up on Florida
(6) Notre Dame - Wisconsin struggles to score and ND can shoot the lights out, upset special
(1) Kansas
(10) Gonzaga - They'll play focused, and play with discipline; this will be enough to beat Pitt
(1) North Carolina
(2) Georgetown
(1) Ohio State
(2) Memphis - Very tough game against Texas A&M

Final 4
(6) Notre Dame - the dream run ends here
(1) Kansas
(1) North Carolina - They've beaten Ohio State once, they'll beat them again
(1) Ohio State

National Championship
(1) Kansas 68
(1) North Carolina 76 - UNC is viewed as the weakest #1 seed in the field. I say, forget about the mask, UNC wins it all.

SoFla Hoops - State Championship Edition

Well I just got back yesterday from Lakeland. It was a fun weekend, with lots of good games, and one truly GREAT game.

2007 champions:
• Class 6A – Ely (Pompano Beach)
• Class 5A – Lake Howell (Winter Park)
• Class 4A – Monsignor Pace (Miami)
• Class 3A – Florida Air (Melbourne)
• Class 2A – Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville)
• Class 1A – Pine Castle Christian (Orlando)

The Class 6A game between Dr. Phillips (Orlando) and Ely (Pompano Beach) was the best game of the weekend. Final Score 80-77 in Overtime.

After another year heading to Lakeland as a spectator, I think I took three things out of it:
1. I'm tired of watching, I want to coach at the State Championship
2. Florida still has some great basketball
3. The gap between the small 1A schools and the larger 6A schools is narrowing. A good 1A school can beat a good 6A school on any day, and this is great for high school basketball.

Daily Bodog Pick

bodog.com Pick of the Day
Monday, February 26
NBA Basketball: Miami Heat (+3.5) @ New York Knicks
7:35 PM ET

This pick may be a little risky, with Miami's ancient roster going into the 2nd day of a back to back. Include the travel from Miami to New York, and you may think I'm crazy. However, Miami's veteran players are playing with a purpose, now that Dwyane Wade is out (that purpose being to prove they're not completely washed up). Kapono and Williams struggled from the floor against Cleveland, and they still managed to squeak out a win. I expect their defensive effort to be lacking from what it was against the Cavs, but also expect a better offensive performance.


Overall Record Against the Spread (3-2)

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