NCAA Tourney: Predicting the Second Weekend

Now the Bruins are fortunate enough to matchup against WKU.

Although the Hilltoppers shouldn’t be taken lightly, they got a good draw to end up in this game. I can’t recall another 12-seed getting a trip to the Sweet 16 while only having to beat two mid-major teams.

I am a natural-born mid-major supporter, having grown up around CAA basketball and attended JMU. But I know that going against a top-seeded team from a major league will be a different animal for the Hilltoppers. I think their respectable run will come to again, and I am again sticking with my initial pick.

The bottom half of this bracket is where I finally have to change one of my Elite Eight picks, but I am not going against my previous reasoning.

I still don’t think Xavier is one of the elite teams in the nation, and WVU did nothing but impress this past weekend. They had as good a weekend as anybody, controlling games against Arizona and Duke. I don’t care if those teams are in down years; it’s ridiculous to try to take anything away from what the Mountaineers did.

Doug Gottlieb should write a letter of apology to the entire state of West Virginia. He may have been in correct in saying WVU hadn’t played a very tough schedule, but he also continually implied that the Mountaineers couldn’t compete with the big-time programs in the nation. This was obviously dead wrong.

So there you have it—I have done my best to honestly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the picks I made going into the tournament. Again, I’m not psyched about getting nine of 16 correct, but I think that seven of my Elite Eight picks are strong and I am sticking with them.

I’m keeping my Final Four as well: UNC, Kansas, Texas, and UCLA. I’ve still got Kansas beating the Bruins for the title, and I think I could be in a lot worse shape.

Let me hear some feedback. Am I still analyzing this in a way to try to validate my original picks? What’s wrong with my picks I’ve got going forward?

I’d love to hear some opinions, whether dissenting or agreeing. But at least you should know this: I’m not going to shy away from acknowledging my previous predictions, in any situation, whether they turn out to be genius or idiotic.

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