I Don’t Know How I Feel About My Bracket

Thank you to CBS Sports for the Sucker Punch banner ad. That's exactly what I wanted on the top and bottom of my 2011 bracket. Sarcasm.

These are my Final Four: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas and BYU, and I have no idea how that happened.

You see, my process for picking my Final Four teams is very scientific. I do the entire first round first, and go by the matchups. I then do the entire second round. Then the entire Sweet 16. Etc. I look at each matchup and determine who should win. I do not pick a favorite to win it all right off the bat, because everyone’s “Road to the Final Four” is very different. And somehow I get Notre Dame in the final game? I guess I just have to trust my predictions.

So let’s take Ohio State’s side of the bracket. As the number one seed they should have the easiest road, but it’s not going to be all flowers and candy for the Buckeyes. While I think they will easily defeat George Mason in their second round (third round? ugh, play-ins), I really believe Clemson is going to light a spark in the tourney, and may give OSU a rough game. They then have to meet Syracuse, who always shows up to play in the big tournament games (except those times they lose in the first round to really low seeds, but whatever).

Moving right along to Duke’s bracket, I have the Blue Devils losing to “are you from Tennessee, because you’re the only 10 I see.” Ha, it never gets old. Anyway, I think Tennessee is a legit wild card here, and Duke is extremely vulnerable. Even if Kyrie Irving is back, he hasn’t played in months. If UConn plays anywhere close to what they showed at the Garden last week, they’ll roll over SDSU. But I think that magic will have to run out somewhere and I have Texas ultimately coming out of this one.

I think Kansas will cruise to the Elite 8 in their bracket, but the best matchup will be the ND-Georgetown Sweet 16 game. I love when conference foes clash in the national tournament! I will root for Georgetown because I love them (and JT III, and JT III’s mom’s baking), but I think Notre Dame will take it, and continue that momentum to beat Kansas for a trip to the Final Four. Sidenote: I picked Vanderbilt to win a game in this one just because I like writing “Vandy.” Ok, the system isn’t always so scientific.

And on to the final bracket. Ugh. I had a whole mess of trouble with this one, mostly because I think its the weakest and therefore the hardest to predict. There’s no reason why Pitt shouldn’t make it to the Elite 8, but it’s also very possible that they could lose in the second round (really, third round?? WTF). Michigan State is tough, and if they can get their stuff together, could make a run. But because of my undying love for Jimmer Fredette, I’m going with BYU (also, I don’t know where my Wisconsin pick came from, but I’m sticking with it).

I think with the Final Four I’m predicting, it’s easily Ohio State’s title to take. With that said, I don’t think Ohio State is the best team in college basketball. That’s why it’s Madness, baby!! And this year more so than ever before. I expect my bracket to be full of red ink by the time April gets here, but if that’s the case it’s not so bad – at least it means there were some awesome games!