Greatest Time Of Year Is Upon Us

Today were going to take a break from the "Parity in Baseball" discussion. That discussion will continue on Thursday March 25th 2010. 

The headline says it all. This is the greatest time of year when it comes to sports. Right now were in the middle of March Madness. Sixteen teams remain in the tournament and I happen to still have a couple brackets that look pretty good. In my important money bracket I still have West Virginia, Baylor, Ohio State and Kansas State. With West Virginia winning the championship. I have a gut feeling were going to see a few more upsets this weekend and we likely have a "surprise" team in the Final Four this year. Who will it be?

1. Northern Iowa- With Kalin Lucas out for Michigan State I am going to take Northern Iowa to the Elite 8. When they face Ohio State their going to see something they have not seen yet in the tournament. Ohio State is fast and they are facing in my opinion the best player in college basketball and that is Evan Turner. I think Ohio State will come out of this bracket and march to the Final Four.

2. St. Mary's-  Nope! Baylor is too quick and they are to smooth on offense and defense for St. Mary's to handle but the game will be close.

3. Cornell- This team is going to play with Kentucky for about 30-35 minutes before Wall an company wears out Cornell. No chance of beating Kentucky.

4. Butler- I am not sure if many will be surprised to see Butler make the final four but I think they have the discipline to beat Syracuse in the sweet 16 and make an appearance in the elite 8 against Kansas State or Xavier. They can play with either of those teams and there is a chance they could do it. 

5. Xavier- Yet another team that no one should be surprised on their third sweet 16 appearance in a row. Xavier got their butts handed to them back at the beginning of the season against Kansas State. Xavier is a much different team now with a more mature Jordan Crawford who I think is one of the best in college basketball right now. Xavier has tons of talent on their team and I think they will beat Kansas State and then here is the key if Butler upsets Syracuse then I am taking Xavier to the final four. Xavier lost a close one to Butler which ended in controversy. The referees blew the end of that game. Xavier came within a hair of beating Butler at Butler. I think Xavier can hang with Syracuse but their depth would likely get to the best of Xavier. 

Here in order our the 5 teams from most likely to least likely to make the final four. 

1. Xavier

2. Butler 

3. Northern Iowa

4. Cornell

5. St. Mary's.

My dream final four is:

1. Xavier vs Ohio State

2. Kentucky vs Baylor

Championship

Kentucky vs Ohio State "This has a good chance of happening I think" Wall vs Turner!! A dream match up especially those at the top of the NCAA wanting a good game. 

Enough with the madness and now on to the second reason why this time of year is great. Major League Baseball Opening Day is less than two weeks away. In about a week I will release my 2010 Baseball predictions. An early idea is the Yankees will yet again dominate the AL East and likely the American League. 

Lastly as soon as the NCAA championship ends we will be looking forward to the Masters in Augusta. This will likely be the highest rated golf tournament ever. Thanks in large part to the media'a obsession with Tiger Wood's personal life. I will save that whole discussion for another day. 

I have gone on long enough here! I will be back with my first idea on how to create more of a competitive balance in Major League Baseball.