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2011 NCAA Tournament Thread


HyacinthMacaw

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Hey college sports fans!

I didn't see a thread on the upcoming tournament, so I figured I would start one. Granted, there is a lot of grief swelling from all parts of the world right now, and I am hoping this is just a momentary diversion as we acknowledge our positions of relative privilege (and then go about the business of contributing to a better society, however imagined). So honestly I mean no disrespect to anyone afflicted by recent tragedies in starting this thread.

I've got Syracuse, San Diego, Kansas, and Pitt in my Final Four, with Kansas beating Syracuse in the final. Of course, I have to swear my allegiance to Kansas because they're the ones who have offered me a great fellowship to study there. I'm also a very poorly qualified prognosticator (I couldn't make a layup for my life), so please forgive the Ohio State and Duke snubs.

Upsets? How about Belmont over Wisconsin, Oakland over Texas, and USC over VCU and Georgetown? Utah State over Kansas State, anyone?

How will the absences of key players impact the tourney runs of BYU and and St. John's? Or will Gonzaga beat St. John's in the first round, preventing a BYU-St. John's matchup in the third round (what used to be called the second round)? Likewise, can Wofford beat BYU?

KU has a tough road to the FF, so I won't be surprised if any of you all have Louisville, Notre Dame, or Purdue instead. What can I say, I've got a thing for blue birds (hence my avatar and username).

I hope this is a useful forum to exchange picks and express jubilation or frustration come tourney time! All the best to everyone!

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I haven't made or really looked at any brackets yet, but Syracuse is my undergrad alma mater, and I was there when they won the national championship in 2003, so in short, GO 'CUSE!

 

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Jayhawks all the way. I could see K-State getting pretty far into the tournament too.

I would hope that about the Jayhawks! I could see K-State going to the Sweet 16 if they can get by Utah State and Belmont/Wisconsin. Beating Pitt would be a tall order, though. I have San Diego beating UConn in the Sweet 16 but maybe that should be the other way around--if the Huskies' Big East run was any indication of success in the tourney.

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Oh, my bracket is majorly messed up since St. John's lost and I had them pulling an upset over Florida... Not to mention the losses by Vanderbilt, Louisville, and ODU. I'm near the bottom of the pool already and only going to lower as the rounds progress. Hopefully tomorrow will go better for me and my poor bracket...

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On 3/18/2011 at 12:43 AM, rising_star said:

Oh, my bracket is majorly messed up since St. John's lost and I had them pulling an upset over Florida... Not to mention the losses by Vanderbilt, Louisville, and ODU. I'm near the bottom of the pool already and only going to lower as the rounds progress. Hopefully tomorrow will go better for me and my poor bracket...

I hear you! I knew it would be a sad day for my bracket, and I think the suffering will continue tomorrow. . I had Belmont making a run to the round of 16. And so much for Utah State upsetting K-State. I guess I just have to hope that Oakland pulls it off against Texas tomorrow, though enough upsets have already occurred that that seems like too much to hope for. And oh, note to Kansas and Syracuse: please don't screw up. I have you both in the finals.

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And oh, note to Kansas and Syracuse: please don't screw up. I have you both in the finals.

given their performance in the latter part of the season, i hardly doubt Cuse making it to the finals. Kansas though, is a legit contender. either Duke or Ohio state (my guess - Duke) will play the jayhawks in the final.

for today's game, i have ND on upset alert.

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given their performance in the latter part of the season, i hardly doubt Cuse making it to the finals. Kansas though, is a legit contender. either Duke or Ohio state (my guess - Duke) will play the jayhawks in the final.

for today's game, i have ND on upset alert.

Yeah, I must have been drinking the 'Cuse Kool-Aid (or orange juice, if you know what I mean) to think that they could make it to the finals. Oh well!

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heh - those who had louisville advancing are in some deep waters now

Hey, no name-calling! :P Luckily, the two of us leading our pool both had Louisville going to the round of 16, so it's a wash. We play a high-stakes pool (bragging rights for a WHOLE YEAR... which usually lasts a day) and I really wanted those points! Really happy to see a low seed doing well, though, and enjoying today's games. I remain "perfect" in the Southeast, but my Southwest bracket is bathed in blood (red lines indicating that my picks were wrong). At least I won't finish last: my spouse picks schools based on their colors and brings up the rear of the pool every year.

Anyone else pay more attention to women's basketball than men's basketball?

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not yet. sorry!

i will definitely watch the final games though. my pick for the final: uconn vs stanford, with uconn winning

The initials rounds of the men's tournament are much more entertaining than the women's, for sure. There's some great basketball on the women's side, and I appreciate that the women stay for four years, graduate, and look for careers outside professional basketball, unlike the men. However, there is less depth on the women's side, making the first two rounds fairly boring, usually.* My final two are also UConn versus Stanford, and I would like UConn to win, but I (think I) picked Stanford.

It's going to be hard for today's games to be more exciting than Butler/Pitt yesterday!

* Although the most exciting game that I ever saw was Harvard/Stanford. A 16 over a 1, baby!

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With Louisville, Purdue, and Notre Dame all toast before the round of 16, the only teams standing in Kansas' way to the Final Four is 12th-seeded Richmond and 11th-seeded VCU or 10th-seeded Florida State. After defeating #16 and #9 teams, talk about a cakewalk! But all bets are off at this point because honestly this Southwest bracket has defied logic.

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