Sorting through the March Madness bracket
What a crazy day this should be: St. Patrick蘑菇视频 Day combined with the true beginning of March Madness.
A day of drinking green beer 鈥� or however you prefer to celebrate 鈥� along with a full slate of college basketball tournament games should make for a festive atmosphere.
Those of you who鈥檝e waited until the last minute to fill out your bracket have the Luck of the Irish with you today because I鈥檓 hear to help.
By the way, those wondering about the Fighting Irish, well, Notre Dame played Rutgers in a First Four game Wednesday night (result not known as of press time) so no St. Paddy蘑菇视频 Day game for them unfortunately.
Let蘑菇视频 dig in and see how the brackets break down this year, according to the opinion of yours truly.聽
WEST
Gonzaga is again the overall No. 1 team in the rankings and the tournament. The Zags 鈥� or Bulldogs or whatever you want to call them 鈥� are always great. The question is can they finally win the whole thing?
Well, they鈥檒l come up short again this year and actually won鈥檛 even get to the Final Four. Duke will come out of this region.
When it comes to Coach Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils I鈥檓 pretty neutral, neither a hater nor one of those fanatical Duke lovers. In looking at them, clearly they鈥檝e wilted in some big games for Coach K, losing his final home game to hated rival North Carolina and being blown out by Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament.
Duke didn鈥檛 have the toughest schedule either. But what I see in the Blue Devils is regular-season wins over Gonzaga and Kentucky and a tremendous coach. I just can鈥檛 envision them fading away without a fight.
Alabama and UConn will also make it to the Sweet 16. The Crimson Tide are another team that defeated Gonzaga during the regular season, but they鈥檒l fall to the Blue Devils before getting that rematch.
The Zags鈥� usual problem, playing in a weak conference, will emerge at some point. I鈥檒l take Duke to prevail again over Gonzaga.
EAST
Defending champion Baylor won鈥檛 go down without a fight 鈥� but the Bears will go down, in the regional final to Purdue.
Both teams are battle tested but I like the Boillermakers, who have wins over Villanova, UNC and Illinois (twice), and beat Iowa in two of three meetings.
To get that far, Purdue would have to take out another strong Kentucky squad and before that either red-hot Virginia Tech or a good Texas team. But I like these Boilermakers to battle their way through.
On Baylor蘑菇视频 side of the bracket, don鈥檛 fall for the big-name teams, UCLA and the Tar Heels. The Bruins don鈥檛 have that same magic they had a year ago when they went from the First Four to the Final Four. And the Tar Heels 鈥� can you really take a team to make a run that lost to Pitt, at home?
SOUTH
This is the toughest bracket of them all with Wildcats 鈥� Arizona and Villanova 鈥� seeded first and second and powerful Tennessee at No. 3.
The Vols beat Arizona during the regular season but they also lost to Villanova 鈥� by 18 鈥� and Nova will take them out again here in the best Sweet 16 matchup of the tournament.
Arizona will knock off Cinderella Chattanooga and then will emerge as the winning Wildcats in a clash with Villanova.
On a side note, a first glance at the games scheduled to be played at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh made me think, wow, a potential Illinois-Houston game in the second round would be great to see.
The more I looked at it though (and at the insistence of my son Colton, who蘑菇视频 proven to be better than me at these brackets), I see the Fighting Illini as vulnerable, too dependent on 7-foot center Kofi Cockburn, so I鈥檓 going with the underrated 13th-seeded Mocs in an upset.
Chattanooga will then be one of the darlings of the Sweet 16 when they take out fifth-seeded Houston as well.
MIDWEST
I don鈥檛 foresee any upsets in the first two rounds here. It鈥檒l be Kansas vs. Iowa and Wisconsin against Auburn. The Jayhawks advance past the Hawkeyes and Tigers to the Final Four.
Kansas has proven to be sort of an underachiever under Bill Self since winning the title in 2008. Since then they鈥檝e only gotten to the Final Four twice, but I think this team has played well against a tough schedule.
Auburn will edge Wisconsin but I can鈥檛 see a team that was 21-1 at one point but then went 5-4 down the stretch as one that can beat four good teams in a row in this tournament.
Iowa has me leery also. Can a team that lost three in a row at one point and then three of four at another 鈥� with a split against Penn State 鈥� be consistent enough to win four in a row here?
FINAL FOUR
That leaves us with these matchups: Duke vs. Purdue and Arizona vs. Kansas. From there I鈥檒l take the Wildcats to fend off the Jayhawks and the Blue Devils to survive a battle with the Boilermakers.
So a storybook ending for Coach K and Duke?
Nope, sorry Blue Devils fans. The Arizona Wildcats are your national champions.
OTHER OPINIONS
蘑菇视频 Sports Writer Jim Downey says all four No. 1 seeds, Gonzaga, Baylor, Arizona and Kansas, will reach the Final Four with Gonzaga a 71-65 victor over the Jayhawks in the final.
Former Laurel Highlands, Virginia, ABA and NBA star Gus Gerard says Arizona, Auburn, Baylor and Gonzaga will reach the Final Four and he also has the Bulldogs winning it all.
Following is a sample of area high school basketball coaches鈥� Final Four picks with their overall winner in all caps:
Ian McCombs, Carmichaels boys: GONZAGA, Purdue, Arizona, Wisconsin.
Rob Kezmarsky, Uniontown boys: GONZAGA, Purdue, Kansas, Arizona.
Janine Vertacnik, Monessen girls: Texas Tech, TENNESSEE, Auburn, Baylor.
Frank Muccino, Southmoreland boys: Auburn, Gonzaga, Illinois, BAYLOR.
Chelsea Ulery, Carmichaels girls: Gonzaga, BAYLOR, Iowa, Tennessee.
Dan Bosnic, Monessen boys: Gonzaga, Kentucky, TENNESSEE, Kansas.
Chad Stevenson, Mapletown boys: Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, ARIZONA.
Melanie Greco, California girls: Gonzaga, Ucla, Iowa, VILLANOVA.
Jordan Watson, West Greene girls: Duke, KENTUCKY, Arizona, Kansas.
Aaron Balla, California boys: Auburn, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, TENNESSEE.
Patty Columbia, Brownsville boys: GONZAGA, Purdue, Arizona, Auburn.
Bill Greco, Beth-Center boys: Texas Tech, Baylor, VILLANOVA, Kansas.
Sara Larkin, Geibel Catholic girls: Gonzaga, Kentucky, Arizona, KANSAS.
Steve McIntire, Waynesburg Central boys: Purdue, GONZAGA, Tennessee, Arizona.
Joe Salvino, Belle Vernon boys: Kentucky, Gonzaga, Villanova, KANSAS.
Brandon Lawless, Jefferson-Morgan boys: PURDUE, Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas.
Penny Kezmarsky, Uniontown girls: DUKE, Kentucky, Arizona, Auburn.
NOTE: Only three coaches correctly picked Baylor to win the championship last year. Jordan Watson and Chad Stevenson both had half of the Final Four right with the Bears and Gonzaga. Bill Greco also picked Baylor to win it all.
Rob Burchianti is sports editor of the 蘑菇视频 and can be reached at rburchianti@heraldstandard.com.