My colleague Tom Sorensen and I like to pick games against each other. We have a contest every year regarding who will pick the Carolina Panthers' final record most accurately. In 2010, I'd say we both lost -- the Panthers went 2-14. I picked them 7-9 and Tom picked them 9-7.
Hopefully our Final Four picks will be a bit better. Here's Tom's, from his column today, in which he wrote that Ohio State, San Diego State, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame would make the Final Four. Then: "Ohio State beats San Diego State and Pitt beats Notre Dame. The Panthers upset the Buckeyes. Pitt is your unlikely national champion."
OK, so here's mine: Ohio State, Duke, Kansas and BYU.
Then I've got Kansas beating BYU, Ohio State beating Duke, and Ohio State edging Kansas for the national title.
Three of our four Final Four picks are different -- Ohio State is the only overlap.
And I know I picked three No.1 seeds and a No.3 for the Final Four. The only time I won a large-scale bracket contest, though, I also picked three No.1 seeds. If you fall too in love with upsets, it's difficult to win a bracket in my opinion.
Incidentally, in Charlotte, Duke and UNC will both win a couple of games this weekend. I have the Tar Heels going out to Ohio State in the Elite Eight.
We're moving!
9 years ago
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8 comments:
Why does the NCAA never allow Duke and UNC at least the opportunity to play in opposite brackets and a chance to meet in the final championship game for an all ACC Final?
Maybe because outside the borders of the the ACC, nobody cares about the ACC or Duke vs UNC. You get that boring "rivalry" game 3 times a year. That's more than enough.
Scott - BYU? Didn't they prove in the Mountain West tournament that without their suspended player, they are extremely ordinary? You do have Ohio St, Kansas and Duke right, as well as the finals and champ.
The only major upsets I have in my bracket are Belmont over Wisconsin and Utah St over Kansas St.
J, that's laughable. There's a reason why Carolina-Duke is the highest-rated regular season game every single year; it's because people want to watch great basketball between bitter rivals.
Anon at 12:56; that's not something the NCAA "allows;" the seeds are the seeds. In 1991 Carolina and Duke were set up to go head to head in the final, Carolina just lost to Kansas. I'd imagine there have been plenty of times since then that the two teams have been on opposite sides, just haven't won enough to get to the championship.
No one outside the ACC cares about UNC-CHeats vs. the Dookies. Big East FTW!
That is a great question about why UNC and Duke would have to meet in the semis. I think the reason is that both teams lobbied too hard to play in Charlotte. I understand the many reasons for that, but I believe the committee gave them what they asked for, which also means they are in the same semi-final bracket. I guess the lesson here is to be careful what you ask for.
Duke and UNC have been on opposite side of the bracket several times, but both teams have never made it far enough in the same year to play in the national semi-finals or final game.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/wpix-snake-dies-after-biting-model,0,730456.htmlstory
CLassic some crap-for-brains mentions the Big East while berating the UNC-Dook matchup. The Big East Tournament Championship has worse rating than any UNC-Dook game of the last 15 years. UNC-Dook is head an shoulders above what any two sports teams in college athletics. The umbers are there, but if you want to be ignorant, hate on.
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