Chris' March Madness Picks (Updated with Graham's picks)

Since tomorrow starts my second favorite sports weekend of the year, I suppose I should go on record with my March Madness picks. I’d taunt Graham and compare picks, but the tournament is a crapshoot and neither one of us has watched a great deal of college basketball. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve watched a full game of any college team save for the University of Memphis, and they aren’t in the tournament. I did fall asleep to Ole Miss-Tennessee earlier this year. Maybe that will help me out.

I’ve filled out about 10 brackets cause I love hedging my bets and ending up in 2nd place in multiple formats. But I guess if someone held a gun to my head and made me place bets, here’s how I would predict it shakes down.

Round 1 Upsets
I’m not going to list all the higher seeds that win. I simply think these lower seeds will advance past round 1.
Northern Iowa
Georgia Tech
Murray State
Louisville
Siena
St. Mary’s
Yep, pretty exciting, out of 32 games, I think a whopping 6 will be upsets.

Sweet 16 teams
Kansas
Maryland
Georgetown
Ohio State
Gonzaga
Butler
Xavier
Kansas State
Kentucky
Temple
Marquette
West Virginia
Duke
Texas A&M
Baylor
Villanova

Elite 8
Kansas
Georgetown
Gonzaga
Kansas State
Kentucky
West Virginia
Duke
Baylor

Final 4
Kansas
Kansas State
Kentucky
Duke

Final Game
Kansas beats Kentucky

I had to throw a few upsets in there. I know picking all number 1 seeds and a number 2 seed is pretty lame, but honestly, aren’t Kansas and Kentucky the best 2 teams? I know that doesn’t mean they’ll play each other, but hell, the percentages are in their favor. I don’t like Syracuse or Duke that much. I like Ohio State, Georgetown and West Virginia, but they’re stuck in the Kansas/Kentucky brackets. That just sucks. I hate when my sleepers get thrown in with the favorites. I could really see any team coming out of the Syracuse or Duke brackets. It wouldn’t shock me if it was a double digit seed. Oh well. Run to your bookie and bet the farm against these picks.

Graham's Picks

I have not watched a single second of college basketball this season. I occasionally glance at an article in Sports Illustrated while I'm taking a dump, but that's about it.

Although, that research taught me that for all its talent and wins, Kansas has been inconsistent this year. That worries me. So I'm not taking them in the Final 4. Instead, I have Ohio State coming out of that region. Why? Because I really like Mark Titus' blog Club Trillion. If I ever meet him, he will get an official RTS one-armed embrace. Plus, apparently Evan "The Villain" Turner is a badass. So there's that.

What other nuggets can I give you? I have a feeling about Washington. Granted, I say that every year and it never pans out. But I see a run to the Sweet 16.

Who else? Even though someone from Syracuse is hurt, I like them anyway.

How's that for analysis?

On to the picks:

Sweet 16:
Kansas
Maryland (does Juan Dixon still play for them?)
Georgetown
Ohio State

Syracuse
Butler (Because he's my butler)
Pittsburgh
Kansas State

Kentucky
Wisconsin (Go Packers)
Washington
West Virginia

Duke
Texas A&M
Baylor
Villanova

Elite 8:
Kansas
Ohio State

Syracuse
Kansas State

Kentucky
West Virginia

Duke
Baylor

So to recap, my elite eights are four #1s, three #2s and a #3. Not only did I not go out on a limb, I didn't even climb up the tree.

Final 4:
Ohio State
Syracuse

Kentucky
Duke

Final:
Ohio State over Kentucky.

There it is folks, take it to the bank. Good luck.