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I love it. Here's the teams remaining, by conference:

Conference-USA: 1 (UAB)
Big 12: 3 (OSU, TX, KS)
ACC: 3 (Duke, WF, GT)
WAC: 1 (NV)
Atlantic-10: 2 (XAV, ST.J)
Big East: 3 (CON, PITT, SYR)
Big Ten: 1 (ILL)
SEC: 2 (VAN, ALA)

It's not the conference breakdown that's surprising, out of the teams left, it's the teams. Who would've expected the SEC's last two teams to be Vanderbilt and Alabama? And UAB to be the only C-USA team to remain out of six? And Nevada?

By seeding:

#1: 2 (Duke, St. Joes)
#2: 2 (UConn, Oklahoma State)
#3: 3 (Georgia Tech, Pitt, Texas)
#4: 2 (Wake Forest, Kansas)
#5: 2 (Illinois, Syracuse)
#6: 1 (Vanderbilt)
#7: 1 (Xavier)
#8: 1 (Alabama)
#9: 1 (UAB)
#10: 1 (Nevada)

Predictions for who makes it to the elite eight, now that the matchups are set (I picked only six right out of the sixteen, so I have to do it by the actual matchups here):

Kansas defeats UAB
Nevada defeats Georgia Tech*
Wake Forest defeats St. Joes
Oklahoma State defeats Pittsburgh
Illinois defeats Duke*
Texas defeats Xavier
Syracuse defeats Alabama
Connecticut defeats Vanderbilt

*These are the two upsets I pick. Though I have both Georgia Tech and Duke in my final four, this is how I see it going down...Nevada apparently cannot be stopped, and Illinois is playing like they're fighting for their lives. Duke is dominating too, so that will probably be the best game of this round, unless one team just runs away with it.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

I'm losing. What a surprise. Oh well, I'll join next year, and hopefully I'll know that the f***ing numbers by the team names mean that it's their rank.



The team that I said would win all lost their first game.

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Wow. 1,000 posts.

I miss you all now that I'm in boarding school! ;_;

Quote (io_rage @ 21st March 2004 23:15)

I do hate Phoenix, though. I'll go ahead and put that out there.

I just realize how odd this sounded, given my name of Phoenix Dark. Let me clarify: I hate the Phoenix bracket.

So, now that Rangers is out of it (Josh?), if Duke wins, I win. What an excellent postion to be in.

My picks for the Elite 8:
Wake
Pitt
Duke
Texas (though I hope Xavier wins)
Ga. Tech
Kansas
Syracuse (though I hope Alabama pulls off an upset)
Vanderbilt (die, UConn, die!)

Man, now I have to wait like 4 more days. What's to become of me?

My predictions:

Kansas over UAB

I love UAB's style of play. Press all day and go 11 deep into your bench, just kills teams that can only go 6 deep like Kentucky. Kansas has a little more depth, and seems to be coming together to play much better team ball than they have all year, so I can't see the Blazers pulling off another one.

Georgia Tech over Nevada

Is Nevada this year's Kent State? Can Snyder and Okeson hit seemingly everything they throw up. More importantly, will Georgia Tech's best player play about five minutes due to (ticky-tack) foul problems? (Not that I'm bitter) But still, Ronny Turiaf plays 30 minutes, and Nevada goes home in the second round. The good thing for GT is that they don't rely on one player, and don't have a point guard with a history of choking in the tourney. Sorry boys, GT limps by again.

St. Joes over WF

Sort of an upset. I know I picked WF before, but I think St. Joes even more now is out to shut Billy Packer up and be the last #1 seed standing. They're playing quite motivated. From what I've seen, WF is not. Chris Paul is amazing, but the supporting cast isn't quite playing like they did in ACC play, and Nelson and West are going to take advantage of that.

Duke over Illinois

Illinois lives by the three and dies by the three. They've lived by the three the first two games, I don't think it will happen again.This will be a good game, though. Remember what happened last time Duke rolled through the first two rounds, and faced a #5 seed from the big 10? Then again, Reddick, unlike Jay Williams, can hit free throws.

Xavier over Texas

I really like Texas, and am kicking myself for not picking them over UNC, but I think Xavier is the real deal. Chalmers and Sato are as good as any scoring combination left in the tournament (including McNamara and Warrick) and Texas does have a nasty tendency to not score for ten-minute stretches.

Syracuse defeats Alabama

When in doubt, look to the coaches. Boehiem just won a national championship. Gottfried gets his team over big games, but can't quite win the ones that should be easier. They just barely squeaked by SIU a minute ago. Speaking of squeaking by, that's what Cuse enjoys doing for some reason, so they get to do it one more time before the Huskies crush them.

UConn over Vanderbilt

Not much to say about this one. Complete overpowerment by the Huskies (again.) UConn won't get tested until the final four.

I refuse to call the OK St.-Pitt game, as I have way too much riding on it, and predicting one way or the other is only going to lead to bad things.



--------------------

Hip-Hop QOTW:

"Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that
Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack
It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack
Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac"

"Game Theory"
The Roots

nuh uh. no way is Xavier going to beat UT. They were lucky to beat Mississippi State. i think their streak is going to end with Ut and it is 7th trank vs 3rd ranked UT.

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"Isn't ramza a girls name?" -me

i havent changed my avatar or anything in a long time! time for a change yall!

Quote (RacistAgainstChocobos @ 26th March 2004 23:00)

nuh uh. no way is Xavier going to beat UT. They were lucky to beat Mississippi State. i think their streak is going to end with Ut and it is 7th trank vs 3rd ranked UT.

Lionel Chalmers
Romain Sato

Need I say more?



If they keep playing at the heightened game they are, I could see the X-men heading to the Final Four, maybe further than that...

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"When I turn the page
The corner bends into the perfect dog ear
As if the words knew I'd need them again
But at the time, I didn't see it."

~"This Ain't a Surfin' Movie" - Minus the Bear

UConn over Alabama
Duke over Xavier
Georgia Tech over Kansas <--will be a great game
Oklahoma State over St. Joe's

If this happens, my final four is correct. Bwahahha.

--------------------

Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Close, but I think St. Joe's will win. They're on a roll, and they have more to prove than anyone in this tournament besides maybe Duke (we can win a championship if we're first seed!) and Alabama (the SEC is not weak!). I would also love to see Bama beat the crap out of UConn, but I know it won't happen. A boy can dream, eh?

UConn over Alabama (UConn still goes unchallenged until the final four.)
Duke over Xavier (but if I'm Duke, I wouldn't be taking this one lightly.)
Kansas over GT (especially if B.J. Elder isn't at full strength.) (Must win for me.)
OK St. over St. Joes (Why did I have a brain lapse and pick Pitt over these guys??!?!)



--------------------

Hip-Hop QOTW:

"Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that
Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack
It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack
Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac"

"Game Theory"
The Roots

Sabs picks...

UConn def. 'Bama
(Okafor, Gordon, strong bench.. 'nuff said)

G Tech def. Kansas
(I have GT in the Final 4 in ALL of my brackets .. so if they don't win, I'm screwed over completely... but still, I think GT will take the game despite)

Oklahoma St def. St. Joe's
(I'm probably just an idiot, but I didn't watch a single St. Joe's game this year... and I think that Jamir Nelson is overrated as a player)

Xavier def. Duke
(bolded so everyone knows that it's not a misprint. I like to forsee upset probabilities. And after my last guessed upset didn't come true [Illinois didn't def. Duke ] ... But after watching last night's game against the Longhorns, Lionel Chalmers and Romain Sato are for real. Some things need to happen though. Duhon needs to be shut down and Xav needs to get Sheldon Williams in foul trouble. The X-men should review the ACC Chamionship game of Maryland vs. Duke and take notes on how the Terrapins were able to thwart Duke, granted that Duhon was injured. This game comes down to the last minute and a half. But Chalmers and Sato will keep this team alive. The Upset Train rolls through Tobacco Road....)

SABS's FINAL FOUR:
UConn
Xavier
Oklahoma State
Georgia Tech

This is 3 of the 4 I picked in the CoN bracket... (Mississippi State being the only absent one...)

--------------------

"When I turn the page
The corner bends into the perfect dog ear
As if the words knew I'd need them again
But at the time, I didn't see it."

~"This Ain't a Surfin' Movie" - Minus the Bear

I'm just curious, but how can you think that Jameer Nelson is overrated if you didn't watch a single St. Joe's game this year?

Edit

Also, I just noticed something cool: in the unlikely event that UConn and Oklahoma St. both lose today, I will automatically win.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooo BamaandSaintJoe's!

This post has been edited by io_rage on 27th March 2004 19:31

Quote (Neal @ 27th March 2004 12:05)

UConn over Alabama
Duke over Xavier
Georgia Tech over Kansas <--will be a great game
Oklahoma State over St. Joe's

If this happens, my final four is correct. Bwahahha.

Right on the money, especially with the GT vs. Kansas great game call.

--------------------

The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

I love how my pre-tournament final four is correct. Down to me and io_rage in the CoN pool...

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Yeah, congrats Neal. Way to go from barely hanging on to having your Final Four correct in the Final Four. Lot of things have been going your way. Hopefully that will change this Saturday.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this today (I had 2 computer science classes and calculus to sit through), and here are my thoughts for the remaining games:

Georgia Tech vs. Oklahoma State
This will be a close game. Both teams have great defense, incredible speed, and unconscious 3 point shooting, especially in the clutch. I think this will come down to a 2 key factors.
1. The health of B.J. Elder. I realize that Tech was able to squeeze by Kansas without him, but I don't think they can do as well against the Cowboys if their #1 scorer doesn't do something.
2. Big Luke. Everyone else on both teams has a sort of foil on the other team, but there's no one close to the enormous Aussie. He's a HUGE defensive presence and is becoming a more reliable go-to guy on offense. If he plays well and stays out of foul trouble, Tech will have a nice advantage.
Overall, I would say that Tech has the advantage with Schenscher and their excellent bench. Tech wins.

Duke vs. UConn
I think that this game should be the championship. The two most overpowering teams in all of NCAA basketball meet, and it's not even for a title? Anyway, I don't think this game will be as close as the Tech/State game. Whichever team wins will dominate the entire game, because that's what either team will have to do to be victorious. I'm going to go with Duke because I need them to win and I think they're more ready for this level of game than UConn. Honestly, in UConn's last 10 games, they've played 2 top 20 teams (Syracuse and Pitt), and they lost to Syracuse and barely beat Pitt. Also, it's significant to note that 2 of UConn's losses this year came to UNC and Georgia Tech, which both lost twice to Duke this year (and I would consider both of them "Duke Lite" teams). Duke, on the other hand, has played 6 top 20 teams in their last 10 games. They've proven themselves against teams that have similar builds to UConn, and I belive that if they play as well as they have been, UConn doesn't stand a chance. That being said, Reddick, Duhon, Ewing, and Williams are all prone to choking, so wouldn't be too suprised to see a UConn win. I just think that a Duke one is more likely.

Also, this should go without saying, but the winner of the Duke/UConn game will beat the winner of the Tech/Oklahoma St. game.

OK State vs. Georgia Tech

OK State just can't be underrated. Tech doesn't have the firepower to compete with the Cowboys. OK State wins by 10 or more.


Duke vs. UConn

Now this will be a great game, and as stated UConn really hasn't played anybody yet. However, Duke had way too much trouble with Illinios and then Xavier to be considered top 2 material. I'm gonna say UConn takes this one.

Championship:

UConn over OK State. It's what I've had from the beginning and I don't see any reason to change it.

--------------------

The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

GT over OK State.

I'm flip-flopping now. What I do when I fill out a bracket is look at it and make all my picks without thinking. Then two days later I sit down and thing about them more, then make another bracket that I've reflected on. The first one is the one I entered in to CoN and my money pool, since it's the one that's usually more correct (and is this year, too.) But an interesting thing happened this year. I had Pitt winning it all in the first one and OK State winning it all in the second. So, in essence, I really thought the OK State-Pitt game was the championship. And up until yesterday I would have kept saying that. But Georgia Tech really impressed me. Jarret Jack is really beginning to show he knows how to run an offense. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say that's the best I've seen the GT offense play together (including their win at Duke.) Something about not having Elder made everyone really recognize their role more, and take smart shots and move the ball around. Plus Paul Hewitt completely outcoached Bill Self, and I think he can do the same to Eddie Sutton.

Duke over UConn

I like UConn, I think they're the most talented team in this tournament, and if they keep shooting the lights out, they're going to be unstoppable. But they have two key weaknesses: free throw shooting and Okafor's back. The free throws hurt because no matter what, this is going to be a close game. And close games more often than not equal clutch free throws. No more Jay Williams= Duke making their clutch free throws. UConn has a history of not being so good at the line (62% this tourney so far, I believe.) Okafor's back hurts because all the reporters say he's in major pain. And let's be honest: of the four teams UConn's played so far, the best big man of the bunch was probably Taylor Coppenrath from Vermont. If Sheldon Williams is allowed to go unchecked inside, Rashad Anderson and Ben Gordon are going to really have to be on to offset that.

How appropriate this season. An all-ACC championship game.

This post has been edited by Gears on 29th March 2004 23:53

--------------------

Hip-Hop QOTW:

"Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that
Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack
It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack
Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac"

"Game Theory"
The Roots

Damn This is the First time ive looked at this topic. I sort of wish i had Joined up. GT!!!!!

This post has been edited by MogMaster on 2nd April 2004 21:26

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

Worst day of the year= Day farthest from the next college basketball game= Today

But it least it was an amazing season of college basketball. Sort of anti-climactic title game, but a great season, nonetheless. UConn proved their dominance, and all I can hope for now is to see Emeka Okafor in a Bulls uniform next season (please, basketball gods? We deserve one for the whole Jay Williams thing.)

Congratulations, Neal.

--------------------

Hip-Hop QOTW:

"Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that
Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack
It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack
Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac"

"Game Theory"
The Roots

Mwahahaha...I am the champion!

And Kappa wins the custom title prize.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

I didn't join up here in time to get in on the brackets, but I was in a group on ESPN.com. The winner was a girl who lost two of her final four teams in the first round. Unfortunately for the rest of us, her other two were Tech and UConn. Frustration, thy name is NCAA.

Okafor to the Bulls would definitely be intriguing. But don't the Bulls already have a gang of young post guys (Curry and Chandler at least)?

PB78

Yay for runner-up! It feels too much like charity though.

Congrats, Neal. I'm a little late catching up but the results were good!

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...