March Madness Bracket Trash Talk
Back by popular demand: It’s teh Wheelhouse March Madness Road to the Final Four Bracket Extravaganza! I gotta tell you, this is a great year to argue for your favorite team, because with the exception of a few small conference champion entrants, there is a lot of parity in the field, some key injuries here and there and some intriguing matchups. Bottom line, this is a very unpredictable field and it will be very hard to pick all the way through the championship.
Click on the graphic immediately to the left for a full size detailed set of brackets that include teams, dates, locations and times of the games. Here is a link to a fully printable set of brackets you can print off and fill out.
And this year, the first in the last eight that we have not had an imbecilic moron in the White House, we have a special treat for you: Baracketology. Yep, the Big O fills out a set of brackets!
Now, we have a bit of a conundrum here. Marcy is not, by nature, a hoops fan; she like those funny looking footballs instead of the perfect symmetry of Dr. Naismith’s round ball. And we may have a hook to reel her in with. Yep, a honest to god real live team from Michigan that is in the playoffs and that doesn’t involve octopi on ice. That’s right, the Michigan Wolverines are in the Big Dance thanks to that nice coach, John Beiline, they stole from Christy Hardin Smith and the fine folks of West Virginia. Big Blue plays Clemson at 7pm Eastern Thursday night in the Kansas City portion of the South bracket. Of course, her odds are better with Michigan State, which will play a puny 15 see, Robert Morris at 10pm Eastern Friday night.
Obviously, those games are not quite as exciting as the ASU Sun Devils’ first foray into the dance since 2003. ASU will be playing Temple at 2:45pm Eastern in the Miami portion of the south bracket. If you haven’t seen the Devils in the last couple of years, they have a fantastic sophomore guard, James Harden, who was the Pac-10 player of the year and a consensus first team All-American. He is really good. They also have a senior center, Jeff Pendergraph and a point guard, Derek Glasser that are pretty good. Temple has a couple of studs in Dionte Christmas and Lavoy Allen that can light it up. Quite frankly, I am worried Temple may upset the Devils. But, like EW, I have a back up plan, the University of Arizona Wildcats, who are making their 25th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. One of the truly great programs, they are a little off kilter this year thanks to the sudden medical retirement of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson. The Cats will be playing Utah at 7pm Friday night. Believe it or not, I think the Cats have a pretty good shot of upsetting the higher seeded Utes.
Well, that is the story for the mopes from Michigan and Cactus Land; you each have your own story and reasons behind it. Ante up in comments and let’s get it on.
Go HILLTOPPERS! [Waving red towel]
Sooners could go all the way if we can keep Griffin healthy
GO SU ! … Orangemen !
Okay, that Baracketology was very cool. And I needed that, after watching some of that hearing today and reading, yet more, background. It seems like there is no end to the information to be found on this catastrophe.
But the Baracketology was very enjoyable and geez, impressive.
I have no dog in the fight this year. My Rutgers is out of the league. But my youngest son *loves* UConn. I have a soft spot for NC teams. Either of those would be great.
I enjoyed it too. Obama looks like a relaxed hoops fan, it was calculated to make him look like an ordinary American.
Shuster sez Obama picks Michigan to lose to Clemson in the first round! He also has Arizona State losing in the first round. ESPN seems to have his whole bracketology. Anyone have a link?
Actually, I’m more interested in the Women’s bracket. I like the Lady Sun Devils, and Iowa State as my favorite Cinderella prospects. But everyone’s Top Three include 1. Connecticut (33-0), 2. Stanford (29-4) and 3. Maryland (28-4). Connecticut is everyone’s #1, but I’m rooting for Maryland and Stanford. Maryland has a great guard, Kristi Tolliver, and forward Marissa Coleman, both seniors, aided by newcomers freshman Lynetta Kizer and junior-college transfer Demauria Liles. They have performed well in critical games recently. I really like the Lady Devils, but against Connecticut, they might have some vulnerabilities.
Stanford has a balanced team lead by Center Jayne Appel, who is only a junior. Among the starters, only forward Jillian Harmon is a senior. The workhorse is sophomore guard Jeanette Pohlen, also one of the leading scorers.
I will be watching, with interest!
Bob in HI
Bob, how early do we have to get up to watch the first games? Can the drinking start then? [That’s a Hawaii joke, folks.]
I’m glad you asked. 6:30 AM tomorrow (Thursday) morning, I believe, on CBS. But I’ll skip that, and look forward instead to Maryland v. California at about 8:30 AM here, I think. I checked the local broadcast time with Zap2It. Thanks for the question!
Bob in HI
I just turned in my bracket on CBS (some friends have organized a group there). I don’t know what came over me, but I have Siena as this year’s George Mason going to the final four. My other 3 are much more conventional: Memphis, Duke and North Carolina. I have Memphis winning it all. You might notice that I don’t care much for the Big East. I do have Pitt, Syracuse and UConn in the elite eight but no farther for any of them. I have my Jayhawks faltering in the elite eight also.
My Gators tip off in about an hour. They have the dubious distinction of being the first team to win the national championship and then not make the NCAA’s in the next two years. I am not a NITpicker, so I didn’t do a bracket there.
I’m okay with the Gators letting someone else win this year. If we get any more bling, I’ll have to hire a caddy to carry it all – which wouldn’t really be a problem since there are so many Ohio State folks out there that want to be around the real thing.
Tennessee upsets Pitt on the 21st, Kansas beats Louisville on the 28th, Arizona State beats Syracuse on the 21st, and UConn beats Memphis in an all-time classic on the 28th.
I’m thinking Kansas, UConn, Duke and UNC – with UNC winning it all.
Woo hoo! Time for trash talkin’!
(whoops)
I may be completely delusional, but I think North Dakota State can take Kansas. But I do not think that Siena can take Louisville.
I anticipate 3 weeks of the glory of Pitt as stated somewhere else. I would also like to see Mizzou do well because I enjoyed watching Mike Anderson at UAB.
Who let Arizona into the tournament? “A little off kilter . . .” is being far too kind, bmaz. They couldn’t beat anyone once they left their own building.
I want to subpoena the committee, get them under oath, and find the party responsible for this travesty. I want hearings. I want grand juries. . . .
This group works for hubcaps. Search high&low, I don’t detect any mention of hubcaps in this post. Want ‘free’ picks to impress Teh Fellow Travelers at Teh Water Cooler? Show the hubcap.
Just one word for y’all: Gonzaga.
Go Cal Bears!
(Boy, am I pathetic. But you have to love the Cubs of the Pac 10.)
does anybody even care about basketball any more ???
this whole thread is prolly a waste of good pixels
and admiral Neismith wouldn’t approve of trash talkin in the first place
or all the physical contact that occurs during a modern game (teh admiral was a really repressed dude, ya know)
(duckin & runnin)
did ya notice that I’m ouuta here a lot quicker since I started using an ampersand and dropping the “G”s, I gain 4 tenths of a second with the ampersand alone …
Meh who cares about the silly NCAA tournament or the lowly NIT…. when you can watch UB play Wichita State the CBI
http://www.gazellegroup.com/ev…..x_main.htm
Forget Basketball, Formula One starts in 8 days
ain’t that Formula .83
since, you know, toyoda quit an all
(nobody likes a quitter)
Honda nimrod. Jeebus I think you have indigestion from yer troll dinner….
honda, toyota who can tell those scooter companies apart ???
jeebus, these European sportscar types are a bit thin skinned, eh ???, kinda like nascar fans, cept with cheese an whine
Hey John, did you see that the title this year is going to be awarded for total victories and points only determining the order behind the champion???
Wow.
Yes, the current scoring system doesn’t work because in the last two years, the margin of victory in the championship, after the whole season, has been one point. Of course, you probably favour the change bmaz, because, based on the number of victories, last year’s champion would have been Massa.
I’ll be honest, I have very mixed emotions. I am a purist at heart; I didn’t even like it when they expanded the points allocation in 2003 from P 1-6 to P 1-8. I liked the previous 9, 6, 4,3,2,1 system in use prior to 2003. Drivers should race to win though and the new for 2009 system will do that. We shall see, but I think I still prefer the points determining the Champion but with a heavy point advantage for each win.
I’m with you on that … the point system used prior to ‘03 was the best. I don’t like this being based on wins only because I think we will see a lot more collisions and therefore, injuries.
Freep prolly got confused cuz the new Honda Hybrid looks so much like a Toyota Prius. *g*
The crunch from the troll meat is distracting.
naw, jes perfecting my Asshole routine
how’d I do ???
Freep ate another one?
Good, I was tired of the last one. Already.
(They’re sending us lower-grade trolls these days. Word must be getting around about what happens to them.)
it gets better
I think my troll has Stockholm syndrome
he turned “chummy” on me
the fookin bastid
They’re not chummy until they find you the only Beamish on tap in Boston. You know you’ve got them right trained when that happens.
Apparently it wears off then….
A young Lion comes across the new Missionary, who had strayed from his Abbot.
The Lion tosses a ball to the missionary, who’s greatly relieved to have been spared and gladly
tosses the ball back.
This goes on for about 5 minutes when suddenly the Mother Lion appears, surveys the scene
and scolds junior … “How many times have I told you not to play with your food ?”
Totally agree with a points system which favours the winner, but the new system seems to me to narrow the potential season champions to two or three drivers. Schu’s best drive (even though I hate him), may have been at Monaco two or three years ago when he started on the back of the grid after parking his car on the final practice lap. The stewards put him on the back of the grid and he finished in the points – do you think that he would have driven like that if only wins counted.
No I did not catch that, wow is right
oh, hold on a second …
upon further review, turns out that Oklahoma has a basketball team
so I guess there IS a reason for people to care about this whole basketball thingy
Geez bmaz, you shoulda said
in fact, that whole headline is misleading
nobody cares about all that “march madness” stuff. March is almost over, an we been MAD at wall street for a month (it gets kinda old after 4 days or so)
you should just call this:
(is there some way to make that italicized part smaller ???)
well, you should call it that if your servers can handle the traffic …
if you can’t handle the traffic, your title will do
anyway, put me down for the SOONERS, and whoever nebraska plays next
and please don’t get jealous over how popular I am around here, people like me, I don’t know why …
(wink)
Totally OT and in thanks for the super liveblogging on the AIG Congressional Hearing that Emptywheel did today in her typically sterling fashion, I dedicate my latest Oxdown Diary to Emptywheel:
Funding the illegal warrantless wiretapping OR can the NSA get retention bonuses too?
Marquette…
Well, cross CSUN off. They won’t go anywhere this year either.
way to go bmaz
Marcy’s Wolverines may have stolen Christy’s coach, but they are not getting out of KC with a ticket for Memphis. You can say “That’s OK, she can always root for Michigan State,” but that doesn’t fly for a lot of folks in Michigan. Diehard Wolverines hate the MSU Spartans only slightly less than the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Uh huh. If ya was here, and had a microscope and stethoscope, you could see and hear the tiny violins.
I would say something about graceful USC bowing out of the running early, and the promise of former Cousy’s ex-team producing someone for the Celts on a par with The Chief of cryptic visage, or, maybe some remembrance for he of basketbaldom’s bard gallery past literatus JUpdike, who tried to fuse in his fictional character Coney, some paradigm of preppydom in amalgam with weightlifting or some other form of lifting, with a clean three pointer.
Oh noes! I killed off both Arizona AND Arizona State in the first round!
Heh heh
Did y’all notice that Michigan and Oklahoma are in the same region? Uh oh! I have Oklahoma knocking out Michigan in the second round
Of course, what the hell do I know? I basically pulled all my picks outtamyarse anyway.
PS – Memphis to win it all.
dis what my brackets look like
beat dat, suckers …
so, uhm, shouldn’t you be out stealing a hubcap or something, bmaz ???
jes send it to my email box …
Heck you may get a hubcap just fer picking the Sun Devils
Unlike that traitorous surfer dude. Jeebus, I thought west coast guys were supposed to stick together.
So disappointing.
ah yes, the joys of beautiful Coastal Arizona
I bought some real estate along that coastline
but I didn’t fall for that con artist who was selling the London Bridge, even though he said it was located in Arizona (that kinda gave away the scam)
laugh all you want, but the joke is on you. Because of all my investment savy, I got a new job, chief financial officer for some company called AIG
I can’t wait to get my bonus
I may have went the long way about telling you this bmaz, but Arizona ain’t coastal, sorry
damn I think your radar is broke
besides, didn’t Arizona get a bubble invite that should have gone to either St.Marys or SDSU, both true West Coast teams? just askin’
Unknown to most of the religious right, basketball is the one true faith in North Carolina. More adherents than Baptists and all those e-van-gelicals put together.
How faithful are the faithful? The North Carolina dream final four is: UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest. The “elite eight” add Davidson, UNC-Charlotte, NC A&T, and UNC-Wilmington.
And how religious? Both Jim Valvano and Kay Yow were remembered with the equivalent of state funerals.
So who’s gonna win? Probably not UNC or Duke. Seven deadly sins and all that. UNC will play Ty Lawson too early in the tournament and risk injury or too late and risk defeat. Duke will be uneven in the wrong game.
Final Four: Kansas, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse. Championship game: Connecticut and Syracuse (Connecticut wins).
Trashy enough?
let’s talk b-ball when the dem’s in congress and senate screwed up with aig.
I guess that Tim G. will be leaving office soon.
Let’s find out how many in congress and the senate got $$$ from aig. I have heard that there are many.
Also why not make congress and senate pay the premiums on their health care. Nice job NoBama, making veterans pay the premiums on their health care.
But let get away from the hard issues and talk about b-ball…
Bite me you worthless simpleton troll
well, you see, we can walk an chew gum at the same time (please DO try this at home, or on a busy street)
people with intelligence can multitask. We can handle more than one subject at a time
people without intelligence can just repeat the same shit, like a braying ass
now, what were you braying about
Buncha mofo’s that want to scream OT can kiss my ass.
Gosh, I guess eight posts yesterday on fixing the AIG mess created by the almighty hand of free and unregulated enterprise just isn’t enough for some folks.
Here, freep, here, freep. But sorry, I have your Sooners going down to ‘Cuse in the second round.
I have senator dodd, Geithner and Peloser going down in the first round.
Go Gators!!
Go Gator nation…
Paycheck sports journalism
Final Four: Louisville, Marquette, Villanova, and Syracuse
Syracuse v Marquette
Marquette (The beer capital of the world)
Final Four: Michigan State, UConn, Duke, and Syracuse.
Championship Game: Michigan State and Syracuse
Winner of it all: Michigan State
Upsets to watch for: Northern Iowa over Purdue and as much as I like Bruce Weber, Western Kentucky over Illinois.
Upset not to watch for: Arizona over Utah. Joe Cassano will give AIG back his golden parachute bonus before that happens.
ASU is gonna whip the Evil Orange of the ‘Cuse Peter.
So how they gonna get to the Final Four
ASU over The Orange ?
*cough* … man, even I can’t visualize that fantasy … *g*
Let the
trash talkgames begin !you and everyone who has a pencil thinks the Illini will fall. Balderdash
hey, I picked Illinois
you sayin I can’t afford a pencil ???
I’ve been running the office pools now for over 20 years and still have lost more than I’ve won but I keep doing it just for fun.
This year I like Villanova in the east, but Pitt will end up in the final 4.
Oklahoma beating NC in the south.
For some reason I have a Big 10 actually doing well. Michagan State will be in the elite 8, but will lose to Louisvill in the Midwest.
Memphis over UConn in the west.
Championship game I have Memphis and Pitt. Pitt wins in a matchup against the coach who grew up in Pittsburgh.
So much for another $5 down the drain.
OSKEEWOW!
who are they playing
Basketball Jones, I got a Basketball Jones
Got a Basketball Jones, oh baby, oo-oo-oo
Yes, I am the victim of a Basketball Jones
Ever since I was a little baby, I always be dribblin’
In fac’, I was de baddest dribbler in the whole neighborhood
Then one day, my mama bought me a basketball
And I loved that basketball
I took that basketball with me everywhere I went
That basketball was like a basketball to me
I even put that basketball underneath my pillow
Maybe that’s why I can’t sleep at night
I need help, ladies and gentlemens
I need someone to stand beside me
I need, I need someone to set a pick for me at the free-throw line of life
Someone I can pass to
Someone to hit the open man on the give-and-go
And not end up in the popcorn machine
So cheerleaders, help me out
{cheerleaders sing repeatedly…}
(Basketball Jones, I got a Basketball Jones)
(I got a Basketball Jones, oh baby, oo-oo-ooo)
{while Tyrone Shoelaces sings/speaks…}
Oh, that sounds so sweet
Sing it out
C’mon Coach Booty, Red Blazer, sing along with me
That be bad, honky
Yeah
I want everybody in the whole stadium to stand up and sing with us
Oh yeah, sing it out like you’re proud
All right, everybody watchin’ coast-to-coast, sing along with us
Bill Russell, sing along with us
Chick Hearn, sing along with us
Chris Schenkel, don’t sing nothin’
Oh, it feels so good
Gimme the ball
I’ll go one-on-one against the world, left-handed
I could stuff it from center court with my toes
I could jump on top of the backboard, take off a quarter, leave fifteen cents change I
could, I could dribble behind my back I got more moves than Ex-Lax I’m bad I could
dribble with my tongue Here I go down court, try to stop me You can’t stop me ’cause I
got a Basketball Jones Here I come That’s my hook shot with my eyebrow Yeah, I could
dunk it with my nose I’m, I’m bad as King Kong, gimme the ball I’m hot, I’m hot as…,
I’m hot as…, I’m hot as… uh Uh, uh, uh, uh
(Basketball Jones, I got a Basketball Jones, I got a Basketball Jones, Basketball Jones)
X4
hah! Classic…. I have that album – I’ll be singing that song all day now…
It will be weeks before I can get this out of my head!
if yer lucky
it’s been stuck in my head for 37 years
jes sayin, is all
I has to splain that one to a guy just two days back
cept I only knew it from an old Cheech & Chong album (ooooh, liquorish pizza, mmmm)
I know, I know, I’m awful old to be this immature, It’s a gift …
I GOT A BASKETBALL JONES
Oh good … you found the time to come over … *g*
I got the first three games right on my bracket, but Memphis really stunk it up and I have them going all the way. Maybe this will wake them up…
I got the Illini winning. (exactly one and then going out in the second round)
I have LSU too!
upon further review, it’s a good thing that you don’t have to be able to spell the name of the school in order to root for the school
GO PERDUE
beet em boilerworkers
thas my story an I’m stickin with it …
Memphis almost got knocked out by another west coast team, Cal-State Earthquake. That would have rendered fatal damage to my bracket…
One more earthquake and you’ll be apologizing for offending my beachfront property!
This is not the first time that Memphis came out in the first round and induced heart failure. That said, it would have been wonderful if CS Northridge had won. It was a triumph for them just to get here.
Washington and ex-SLU Coach Romar up by 15. Highly excellent
Michigan is battling! Clemson is no slouch…
Michigan wins!
I picked that in my brackets!
Take that sucka!!
who’s a sucka?? I picked it too knucklehead.
Okay now, everybody sing:
all together now one-two-three
Hail to the VICTORS …
I think there’s music for that too, but that’s all I know
take that, you clemson pickin bastids
Let’s hear that fat fuck Digger talk about how the Big Ten defense is a myth. Clemson scored 20 points less than their average.
bmaz, there’s been bets from clans of the adventuresome sort, positing that the AZ Western Cretaceous Seaway may have been part of the origins of paleoneanderthal basketball rules, though only some judges in DC District court evidently remember any of this, as perhaps did Lamberth during a recent lecture about the charm of the good old days of nonpartisan nominations. It may be worth keeping ownership of that parcel, or, in time of need, some paleogeologists at NAU might consider purchasing it; nice place to build an ark.
and I still got Basketball Jones stuck in my head…
It’s in my heart. Go Illini!
Man, the Illini cost me a perfect day. WKU played a great game. The Illini just got serious too late. Bummer.
A bad 11-5 on Day 1…
At least VCU lost so Cantor can disappear (please go away).
I vote we all blame raven, because the post pick lobbying efforts have upset the primordial ooze
works fer me
damn, 12 an 4. I’m doing better this year than I did in all those years when I actually paid attention during the regular season
WKU was ahead 17… now just 9
Say! How ’bout them Hilltoppers anyway!
They played great OVM is my new favorite!
so here’s round two:
22-10, an most of my round two picks are still alive
how my doin ???
I’m 26-6. Was 15-1 after first day, but really sucked yesterday. The Cleveland State one was a killer too because I had Wake winning the next game too.
I was 11-5, followed by 13-3, glad I took both Arizona and Arizona State.
Nervous about Villanova today…
Wake Forest don’t stand a chance against the Utes
oh, wait
never mind
you was serious bout dat ???