March Madness and Final Four Predictions: Duke Vs. Kansas In Final

Here we are, less than 24 hours away from the tournament, on St Patrick’s Day, and the gods go ahead and make this Mullet Wednesday too.

How are any of us supposed to stay anything resembling calm or sober?

The answer? We’re not.

Since we haven’t yet had time to—and probably won’t—do a full on preview, here’s a quick summary.

Midwest

I like a lot of chalk getting through. The 6-11 in this region is awfully strong, Georgetown is schizophrenic, Ohio State is thin, but ultimately, this one just seems too good at the top. I like Kansas, State, Georgetown, and Ohio State to the Sweet 16, with KU trumping the Buckeyes to get to Indy.

West

The region that hinges on Arinze could go a lot of different ways, but really, it’s stronger at the bottom than at the top. Both FSU and Gonzaga could cause an Arinze-less Cuse problems, but both seem too deficient (FSU on O, Zags on D) to pull the upset.

I like Murray State over Vandy, and probably UTEP over Butler, with the Racers onto the Sweet 16. On the bottom, the Cougs could give KState some trouble in the second round, but they can’t handle them on the glass…Cats survive on the support of easy putbacks.

That gives us a Sweet 16 of: Cuse, Murray State, Xavier and KState, with another 1/2 final and the Cuse advancing. This is why Sailor pays me the big bucks.

East

Some tough decisions at the top with Cornell/Temple, both of which got under-seeded. I’m a little jaded here, because I watched our Hawks absolutely run Temple off their own floor, while Cornell played us tight in the Phog for 39 minutes. But at the same time, I get why the Owls are a bad matchup for Big Red and this time of year.

Tough call, but I’m going with the Ivy Leaguers, perhaps against my better judgment. That gives us a Sweet 16 of: Kentucky, Cornell, Marquette & West Virginia. And since I’ve been out on so many limbs already, I’ll take Huggy Bear over Cal pal in a grinder to get to Indy.

South

Duke could have some trouble early with Lousiville, except that I don’t think the Cards can handle Cal—again, maybe I’m overrating them after watching them not blink in Allen, but still. Below, I like Siena to take our Purdue—this seems too trendy to work, but I watched Purdue score 11 points in a half the other day and I can’t get that out of my mind.

Down low, the biggest thing I’ve got is Richmond over Villanova. That sets up a Houston based Sweet 16 of: Duke, A&M, Baylor and Richmond. And despite taking the chalk here, I think I’m in the minority, as I’ve got Duke advancing over Baylor. How they’ll handle Udoh, I have no idea, but I’m just not ready to have Baylor in my Final Four.

Final Four

Kansas over Syracuse and Duke over West Virginia to set up a rematch of the 1991 National Title. This time, the good guys come out on top, as the Kansas Jayhawks are your 2010 National Champions.

And while I may believe very little of that except for the final sentence, go ahead and celebrate.

After all, you’ve got plenty of excuses.

Happy Mullet Wednesday! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And Happy March Madness! It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and you can’t tell me differently.

This article originally appeared on Oread Boom Kings .

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