Stunned Silence

Ok...I realize that its been close to a year since my last substantial post on own blog. I also understand that this is my first blog on the critically acclaimed Sports Sauna and the pressure of providing a "good read" may be too much to handle. That said, I am going to do my best to fulfill the "mission statement" of the Sauna. Which is of course, to overuse quotation marks in discussing sports and sports-related topics.

So here goes nothing - the topic of my blog is stunned silence. A phrase that described me perfectly Sunday evening as Clark Kellogg announced the final pairings of the South bracket leaving Syracuse out. A phrase that describes me now as I watch the Cuse struggle against South Alabama, a team that hasn't beaten an opponent from a major conference since Auburn in 2000. Its done now and there is too much written about the subject by actual sports writers so why would anyone care what I have to say. So lets move on, shall we?

The actual tournament should be a wildly entertaining one. Never before has there been as much talent in the college game, thanks in large part to the one year of college/prep school required for high school seniors. Here are my thoughts on the brackets and piedictions for what is to come. (As a disclaimer, never before have I won any type of office pool involving brackets therefore, its best to read this after filling out your sheets).

MIDWEST
First round upsets - Tech over UNLV - I love the ACC, and GT beat NC and Memphis (away) this year. 1 and 2 seeds respectively. Technically, GT is favored so this isn't really an upset pick.

Sweet Sixteen - Florida, Maryland, Tech and Notre Dame
Elite 8 - Florida and Notre Dame
Final four - Florida

Thoughts on the region - Florida should have an easy time advancing. I just can't see them repeating as champs. It's too tough nowadays, what with parity and all. (good point EA). Notre Dame is my sleeper..not sure why but they remind me of the 2002 Indiana team that made a run to the Final Four. Couldn't name a player on that team either but sensed something special.

WEST
First round Upsets - VCU over Duke and Wright State over Pitt. Pittsburgh scored 42 points in a major conference championship game. Duke has struggled all year against fast teams. Plus Coach K is washed up...ok well maybe thats not true but the Dukies lack the talent to go anywhere. Va Tech goes down to Illinois as well.

Sweet 16 - Kansas, SIU, VCU and UCLA
Elite 8 - Kansas and UCLA
Final Four - UCLA

Thoughts - My dad used to teach at SIU so I may be a bit biased picking the Salukis to win a couple games. UCLA could have that one bad game and get bounced early by Indiana, or they could win each game by 20 points. Kansas vs UCLA will be an awfully entertaining game to watch so I hope it happens.

EAST
First Round Upsets - I like Arkansas over USC for a couple reasons. First - the Pac10 is over-rated, the SEC under-rated. Put them together and you get simply rated. The second reason is the fact that there are too many "haters" on the Arkansas bid, they should prove many people wrong. Same reasoning behind my Illini over Va Tech pick by the way.

Sweet 16 - UNC, Texas, Vandy, BC
Elite 8 - UNC and Vandy
Final Four - UNC

Thoughts - For those of you who don't know, I am a huge UNC fan. There is no reason why they shouldn't win the whole thing this year. Its quite possible that it won't happen as they could face a ridiculously tough road in MSU, Texas, AND Georgetown. I can see either of the latter two winning it all as well. Toughest bracket by far.

SOUTH
First Round Upsets - Albany over Virginia - I love SUNY schools and dislike ACC teams not knicknamed Tar Heels. Enough said.

Sweet 16 - OSU, Tennessee, Texas AM, Memphis
Elite 8 - Tennessee, Texas AM
Final Four - Texas AM

Thoughts - Chris Lofton is the main reason why I have the Volunteers going far. I can see him pulling a Damon Stoudamire and dropping 35/game in a magical run to the elite 8. Plus I watched only one of their games this year and it happened to be when they smoked Florida a few weeks ago. Ohio State gets dropped early as the Big Ten fails to prepare them for the all-around game needed to win in the Big Dance. I love A&M this year...for some reason I get the irking feeling that they will be responsible for me tearing up my bracket in a few days.

Final Four - UCLA over Florida UNC over Texas A&M
Why? Honestly, I don't think Florida will make it this far. If they do, UCLA will take care of them. They have the talent and the coaching to run with the Gators and its just too hard to repeat. UNC shouldn't lose to anyone. Hansbrough's mask scares me but the frosh trio of Wright, Lawson and Ellington have shown that they can carry the load. Add Terry and his ability to hit big shots and we have the recipe for another National Championship.

Final game prediction UNC over UCLA - 75 to 68.

There you have it, my predictions for the Big Dance. Tune into easblog.blogspot.com to view my picks against the spread as EA vs Vegas Bookies is back and better than ever.