Here's what I have...

Atlanta Region
First Round -- (1) Duke over (16) Southern, (8) George Washington over (9) UNC-Wilmington, (13) Iona over (4) LSU, (12) Texas A&M over (5) Syracuse, (3) Iowa over (14) Northwestern State, (6) West Virginia over (11) Southern Illinois, (7) California over (10) North Carolina State, (2) Texas over (15) Penn.
Second Round -- Duke over George Washington, Texas A&M over Iona, West Virginia over Iowa, Texas over California.
Sweet 16 -- Duke over Texas A&M, West Virginia over Texas
Regional Final -- Duke over West Virginia

Oakland Region
First Round -- (1) Memphis over (16) Oral Roberts, (9) Bucknell over (8) Arkansas, (4) Kansas over (13) Bradley, (5) Pittsburgh over (12) Kent State, (3) Gonzaga vs. (14) Xavier, (6) Indiana over (11) San Diego State, (10) Alabama over (7) Marquette, (2) UCLA over (15) Belmont
Second Round -- Memphis over Bucknell, Pittsburgh over Kansas, Gonzaga over Indiana, UCLA over Alabama
Sweet 16 -- Pittsburgh over Memphis, Gonzaga over UCLA
Regional Final -- Gonzaga over Pittsburgh

Washington D.C. Region
First Round -- (1) Connecticut over (16) Albany, (9) Alabama-Birmingham over (8) Kentucky, (4) Illinois over (13) Air Force, (12) Utah State over (5) Washington, (3) North Carolina over (14) Murray State, (6) Michigan State over (11) George Mason, (10) Seton Hall over (7) Wichita State, (2) Tennessee over (15) Winthrop
Second Round -- Connecticut over Alabama-Birmingham, Illinois over Utah State, Michigan State over North Carolina, Seton Hall over Tennessee
Sweet 16 -- Connecticut over Illinois, Michigan State over Seton Hall
Regional Final -- Connecticut over Michigan State

Minneapolis Region
First Round -- (1) Villanova over (16) Monmouth-Hampton winner, (9) Wisconsin over (8) Arizona, (4) Boston College over (13) Pacific, (5) Nevada over (12) Montana, (3) Florida over (14) South Alabama, (11) Wisconsin-Millwaukee over (6) Oklahoma, (10) Northern Iowa over (7) Georgetown, (2) Ohio State over (15) Davidson
Second Round -- Villanova over Wisconsin, Boston College over Nevada, Florida over Wisconsin-Millwaukee, Ohio State over Northern Iowa
Sweet 16 -- Boston College over Villanova, Ohio State over Florida
Regional Final -- Ohio State over Boston College

FINAL FOUR -- Duke over Gonzaga, Connecticut over Ohio State
CHAMPIONSHIP -- Duke over Connecticut

I WOULD LIEK TO SEE GONZAGA GO ALL THE WAY

LSU upsets duke, what do you think about that, IONA, are you insane???

I got a N.Carolina repeat...

I think George Washington go SCREWED! I mean how can a team be #6 in the country and come away with an 8 seed? The RPI is ruining college basketball just like the BCS is ruining college football!

Has anyone started a Huskermat bracket on Yahoo or ESPN? If not, I am going to, we did this a couple of years ago. It was kind of fun finding out all the "closet b-ball players". HAHAHA

That would be pretty cool. I'm in a different league for my board. I just have to say first of all N. Carolina wont repeat, MAYBE sweet 16 or elite 8. And second watch out for Iona, and Winthrop. George Washington WAS #6 in the country, but after you get beat in the opening round of a sub-par tournament it dont look good. And they seed by recent performance as well so two losses in the last few games dont help them.

But if you do a league on ESPN post the name.

Atlanta Region
First Round -- (1) Duke over (16) Southern, (8) George Washington over (9) UNC-Wilmington, (4) LSU over (13) Iona, (12) Texas A&M over (5) Syracuse, (3) Iowa over (14) Northwestern State, (6) West Virginia over (11) Southern Illinois, (10) North Carolina State over (7) California, (2) Texas over (15) Penn.
Second Round -- Duke over George Washington, LSU over A&M, West Virginia over Iowa, Texas over NC State.
Sweet 16 -- Duke over LSU, Texas over West Virginia
Regional Final -- Duke over Texas

Oakland Region
First Round -- (1) Memphis over (16) Oral Roberts, (9) Bucknell over (8) Arkansas, (4) Kansas over (13) Bradley, (5) Pittsburgh over (12) Kent State, (3) Gonzaga vs. (14) Xavier, (6) Indiana over (11) San Diego State, (10) Alabama over (7) Marquette, (2) UCLA over (15) Belmont
Second Round -- Memphis over Bucknell, Kansas over Pittsburgh, Gonzaga over Indiana, UCLA over Alabama
Sweet 16 -- Kansas over Memphis, Gonzaga over UCLA
Regional Final -- Gonzaga over Kansas

Washington D.C. Region
First Round -- (1) Connecticut over (16) Albany, (9) Alabama-Birmingham over (8) Kentucky, (4) Illinois over (13) Air Force, (5) Washington over (12) Utah State, (3) North Carolina over (14) Murray State, (6) Michigan State over (11) George Mason, (10) Seton Hall over (7) Wichita State, (2) Tennessee over (15) Winthrop
Second Round -- Connecticut over Alabama-Birmingham, Illinois over Washington, North Carolina over Michigan State, Tennessee over Seton Hall
Sweet 16 -- Connecticut over Illinois, North Carolina over Tennessee
Regional Final -- Connecticut over North Carolina

Minneapolis Region
First Round -- (1) Villanova over (16) Monmouth-Hampton winner, (9) Wisconsin over (8) Arizona, (4) Boston College over (13) Pacific, (5) Nevada over (12) Montana, (3) Florida over (14) South Alabama, (6) Oklahoma over (11) Wisconsin Milwaukee, (7) Georgetown over (10) Northern Iowa, (2) Ohio State over (15) Davidson
Second Round -- Villanova over Wisconsin, Boston College over Nevada, Oklahoma over Florida, Ohio State over Georgetown
Sweet 16 -- Boston College over Villanova, Ohio State over Oklahoma
Regional Final -- Boston College over Ohio State

FINAL FOUR -- Duke over Gonzaga, Connecticut over Boston College
CHAMPIONSHIP -- Duke(69) over Connecticut(65)

"LSU upsets duke, what do you think about that, IONA, are you insane???"

NDB...I would think that, by now, you would KNOW that I am insane. But part of the magic of the NCAA tournament is the upsets, the little guy knocking off the powerhouse program. That's where a lot of people's brackets go haywire -- when #14 beats #3, all heck breaks loose.

One thing to remember, though -- since the tournament went to 64 teams 25-or-so years ago, NEVER has a #16 seed beat the #1 seed. #15 or #2 has happened on a few occasions, and 14 over 3, 13 over 4 happens quite regularly.

Another thing -- every year since 1985, at least 1 #1 seed has made it to the Final Four, but NEVER have ALL FOUR made it.

There are a lot of other scenarios to watch out for...the one you REALLY want to avoid is trying to compete against other family members, especially those with ABSOLUTELY NO KNOWLEDGE of the game.

In 1994, I thought I'd show everybody how smart I was by writing a series of columns on the tournament, competing against my wife. I sat her down and had her pick the entire tournament through to the finals, while I did the same.

I had some great logic behind my picks. I remember Boston College, UConn and North Carolina were among my Final Four picks, and I had perfectly logical justifications for those teams. I want to say I had a UConn-UNC final selected, but can't remember for sure.

What I DO remember, though, is that she picked a Duke-Arkansas championship game, based on the following criteria (and, no, I am not making this up):

-- Duke is her brother's nickname
-- A lot of her family is from Arkansas

I actually USED this information in my column that week, which a lot of people mistook for one of my humorous sports columns (well, it WAS funny, but unlike most of my jocular writings, this one was TRUE).

On Sunday afternoon, as we watched the tournament games (actually, I was watching...she was asleep on the couch), I suddenly found myself watching in horror as THREE of my Final Four teams -- including my two picks for the finals -- were upset in the second round and failed to reach the Sweet 16. My fourth team (UConn, I believe) made it one round farther before biting the big one.

Guess who wound up playing for the national title that year? Yep...Duke and Arkansas. She even correctly picked the winner of that game, rubbing just a little more salt into an already-gaping wound.

Three months later...I filed for divorce.

That's my show, folks...you've been a lovely audience...don't forget to tip your waiter...and now, may I present, live and on stage...K.C. and the Sunshine Band!!!

Here it is...took me awhile to figure it out, I had two brackets in the same group and then I left the group in that brackeet, and it deleted me out of my other brackets....but anyways...it's all good now!!! Enjoy!

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/invitefriends?entryIDFro...06297&groupID=148230


If it asks for it, here is the ID and password.
Group ID: Huskermat Madness
Password: gohuskers

Mikey, it is true that "every year since 1985, at least 1 #1 seed has made it to the Final Four, but NEVER have ALL FOUR made it." The yesterday I read that since 1990 a number one seed has won the tournament eleven times. So the percentages say to pick a #1 seed to win it all, but the percentages also say that very few #1s will actually make it to the Final Four. Statistics don't lie, but they certainly do shoot off their mouths a lot!

Here's another link for all you other statistical geeks out there...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/ncaa_tourney/2006/

I think the most #1's to make it to the Final Four has been three. Usually you'll see 1-2 get in.

The Daily Quickie on ESPN.com today picked Oral Roberts to upset Memphis, which would be the first 16 over 1 upset in the tournament's history. They had some pretty compelling numbers to support the pick, but the odds are pretty long on it happening.

Still in first place in my pool, but I'm in trouble. Kansas losing in the first round didn't help (I had them in the Final Four), and North Carolina (Finals) losing really hurt. But a lot of the guys in my pool went with some wild picks, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who had Duke winning the whole thing. Indiana in the Final Four (done by a high school basketball coach)??? Give me a break!

One thing that has been talked about a lot this weekend, is how many conference champions are out so soon. I wonder if the conferences will look to move their conference tourneys up a week now, being as the arguments have been made that 1) fresh legs go farther in the tournament and 2) some teams could have been seeded differently based on how they performed in their conference tournament. All I know is that the NCAA Committee is looking pretty smart with some of the picks they made after all the heat they received last week.

Kansas in the Final Four??? Are you high??? I had Pitt taking Kansas out in the second round -- KU is good, but a young team. They'll be Final Four contenders the next couple of years if that group stays together. Same with UNC...a good team, but a young one. Maybe a KU-UNC Final Four next year, but definitely not this year.

I had to laugh at the pundits who were dogging the Mo Valley and giving all these props to the Big 10 (plus Purdon't) -- The Mo Valley gets two into the Sweet 16 while the Big 10 pulls an oh-fer. My only question: what kind of crack was I on when I picked Ohio State for the Final Four? Can somebody explain this? Anybody???

I like Boston College in that bracket now. Probably should have gone with them in the first place. Other than that, my Final Four is still in the hunt...which may explain all the snow we got over the weekend.

quote:

Kansas in the Final Four??? Are you high???

Almost as high as you were when you picked Iona over LSU and Michigan State to make the Elite Eight...lol.

Hey - the 13/4 and 12/5 picks are always tough to make either way. And had I known the Big 10 (plus Purdon't) would have been so over-friggin-rated I wouldn't have picked Michigan State to win AT ALL.

With N.Carolina out I'm forced to go with Memphis Or Gonzaga, I would say Duke but I'd rather see them be upset...