2010 Bracketology: The First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament

Bracketology is what we do before the NCAA basketball tournament starts.

Then Ali Farokhmanesh hits a dagger three-point shot to stun the overall No. 1 seed Kansas, and all of our brackets are filled with red ink.

A caller to the JT the Brick radio show said he thought that Northern Iowa had a shot against Kansas, and the host shooed him off of the air.

The Northern Iowa upset proves two things with certainty:

1. Anything can and will happen in a one-game elimination tournament (memo to BCS honks).

2. It is March Madness.

Bracketology is the science that tells us there will be upsets, and it is also the case study that we will never know where they are coming from.

There are bracket contests that allow you to pick each round, but that is not my course of bracketology. No, when my brackets crash and burn (this year I made it to day three before my brackets caught fire and I had to watch them burn), I simply vow to get all of the picks right next year.

Of course, I have to remind myself of the two rules of bracketology (see above) and how bracketology will always be a work in progress. I mean, bracketology is literally a science trapped inside of a case study. Two plus two might equal five in George Orwell's 1984, but the scientists at NASA don't have to go through this.

Unless they fill out a bracket in March.

I can start by making fun of my wrong picks or start with the glass half full and tell you what I was right about.

Making fun of myself sounds more appropriate to stick with the madness I saw in the last four days.

I said that Houston and San Diego State would pull off first round upsets in the Midwest Region. I also missed on half of the Sweet 16 here, as both Kansas and Georgetown suffered stunning upsets.

My poll had 383 votes, and a shade over 30 percent of those picked Kansas to win it all, so a lot of brackets were destroyed by Northern Iowa.

In the West Region I had Pittsburgh making it to the Sweet 16, but their season ended in a great game against Xavier.

In the East Region I had New Mexico making it to the Sweet 16, but they lost to No. 11 seed Washington. I also talked a lot of smack about the Pac-10, but they are 3-1 as of right now, so I was wrong about them, and I am a Pac-10 guy.

My South Region picks are a disaster. Purdue beat both Siena and Texas A&M. I have Duke in the Sweet 16, but Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Villanova are all done.

So in a stunning display of mediocrity, akin to the 6-6 record of the Big East, I missed on seven of the Sweet 16 teams.

That means that I somehow was right on nine of the Sweet 16 teams. Don't worry—I am as surprised as you are.

I picked Ohio State to make it out of the Midwest Region, so the Kansas debacle could have hurt a lot worse for me. I picked Michigan State to make it to the Sweet 16, and their win over Maryland was simply amazing.

In the West Region, I picked Syracuse to face Butler, and I did have Kansas State making it to the Sweet 16.

I picked Cornell to beat both Temple and Wisconsin in the East Region. I also picked Missouri over Clemson in what I deemed a mild upset. So I had Kentucky, Cornell and West Virginia as three right picks for the Sweet 16 in the East Region.

I had St. Mary's over Richmond, as well as Cal over Louisville in the South Region. Those are the highlights, as I only had Duke right in the Sweet 16.

I am proud to say that I have all four of my Final Four picks (Ohio State, Butler, Kentucky, and Duke) left after two great rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

I have proof too.

Now that the dust has settled, I might as well make some more picks since this is bracketology and I could use the extra credit.

In the West, I have Butler beating Kansas State in the Elite Eight. Jim Boeheim and his 2-3 zone are tough to pick against, especially with Wes Johnson, Andy Rautins, and Rick Jackson playing at a high level. The injury to Arinze Onuaku might be enough for Butler to sneak by.

That and the fact that I already picked Butler makes me locked into this pick. 

In the Midwest, I will take Michigan State to beat Northern Iowa. Ohio State will make it an all-Big Ten regional final when they beat Tennessee.

In the East, I have Kentucky beating Cornell, and I will take West Virginia to beat Washington.

In the South, I will take Duke over Purdue, while I will take St. Mary's to upset Baylor.

I am sticking with my Final Four picks (Butler, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Duke in case you forgot). I have all four of them left after four days, so for once I can say that I didn't fail bracketology.