Before the Sweet 16 last year, I bet my Pinto that Syracusewould win it all.
And, of course, they did.
I'm not going to say last year was pure luck, but it wasn't allgenius insight either.
This year, I'll need to be even luckier ... err, I mean smarter,to keep my classic auto.
To once again pick the winner, I needed to retrace my steps, soI pulled out the first bracket I filled out this year to find whereit all went wrong.
After digging to the bottom of my trash can and wiping themustard off the Atlanta bracket, I begin to look back over themayhem that was my bracket.
My Final Four?
Gonzaga, Stanford, Duke and Pittsburgh.
Awesome, huh?
Nevada destroyed Gonzaga in the second round. Apparently, the'Zags aren't good unless there's a 12 in front of their name.
And then there's Stanford. The Cardinal lost one game thisyear.
One!
Safe bet to make it to at least the Sweet 16 right? About assafe as a performing a root canal with a chain saw.
The tree-huggers lost to Alabama in the second round.
At least Duke and Pitt are still alive.
That's how bad my bracket is -- I'm pinning my hopes onPittsburgh.
My first bracket has more holes than Swiss cheese, but I'mstarting over for the Sweet 16.
I'm wiping the slate clean and calling a 'do-over' because thisis a column, and I can do that kind of thing.
By the end of this column you will know, beyond the shadow of adoubt, who will go to the Final Four and who will cut down thenets.
Legal notice: This columnist is not responsible for any moneylost betting on said teams.
We'll start in the South, I mean the Atlanta bracket.
I'm sticking with my first choice and picking Duke.
The only thing that makes me nervous about the Blue Devils isthey haven't really been tested yet. They cruised past AlabamaState and Seton Hall but could be shell-shocked by a surgingIllinois team.
Still, the Blue Devils are experienced, talented and ACC-tested.On top of all that, they are finding ways to win.
Xavier is another team that's winning when it counts.
I really believe the seven-seeded Musketeers are the biggestthreat to Duke in the region.
They've won 15 of their last 16 games with wins over Cincinnati,St. Joseph's, Louisville and Mississippi State.
If they were on this kind of roll at the beginning of theseason, they'd be a top-five team.
The biggest question I have about the St. Louis bracket is willit matter who makes it to the final four?
I would take any team in the East Rutherford region over anyteam left in the St. Louis regional.
Somebody has to win though, so who?
It would be fun to say UAB. The Blazers are more fun to watchthan any other team in the tourney.
They scored 102 points against Washington in the first round,and did you see that pass from Ronell Taylor to his twin brotherDonell Taylor in the second round win over Kentucky?
I really think Kansas will beat UAB in the Sweet 16, but I'vepicked against the Blazers twice already and gotten burned.
However, neither of those two teams will make it to SanAntonio.
Georgia Tech will move past Nevada with ease and pull out aclose one over UAB before packing their bags for Texas.
The only part of my original bracket that isn't covered in redink is the East Rutherford region.
I picked the four Sweet 16 teams from this region and onlymissed one first round game, Texas Tech-Charlotte.
I picked Pitt to come out of this region at first, but I'mchanging my selection. (Like I said earlier, I can do that.)
Pitt's struggles against UCF and Wisconsin combined with the jobOklahoma State did on Memphis in the second round convinced me thatthe Cowboys are legit.
I also think St. Joe's is good enough to beat Wake Forest.
With Jameer Nelson, St. Joe's will dominate Wake's freshmanpoint guard Chris Paul, and the Hawks will get the win.
But Nelson won't be enough for the A-10's finest to get to theFinal Four.
After OK State squeaks by Pitt, the Cowboys will roll on St.Joe's. (For a definition of "roll on" see also the first half ofthe Memphis-Oklahoma State game.).
It may be a surprise, but none of the teams I have picked so far(Duke, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State) will leave Texas with asmile.
The team that will win the NCAA Championship?
Connecticut.
With Stanford out of the way and only Vanderbilt, Alabama andSyracuse left, UConn has the easiest road to San Antonio.
No one else in this region is really worth mentioning.
UConn slugged its way to Big East Tournament championship andwith two more easy wins in front of them, the Huskies will enterthe Final Four with a head of steam.
Duke will have no answer for Emeka Okafor or Ben Gordon, and theHuskies will be the first team to stop the wide-open lay-ups anddunks Oklahoma State's offense creates.
UConn stumbled a few times earlier this year, but they seem tobe back to business now.
No team in Division I can match up against the Huskiesthree-headed monster Okafor (18.5 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4.3blocks), Gordon (18.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists) andfreshman Charlie Villanueva (9.5 points and 5.4 rebounds).
The x-factor is point guard Taliek Brown.
Brown is averaging 6.6 assists per game, and if he can take careof the ball and get it into the hands of Okafor, Gordon andVillanueva, the Huskies will take home the hardware.
So, when UConn players walk off the court in San Antonio withthe nets around their necks remember this -- I got to keep my Pinto... again.
