March Madness dominates American popular culture for a two-week period annually, a rarity for college sports. People of all understanding levels flock to their favorite sites (ESPN, CBS Sports, Yahoo and Facebook) to fill out and track their brackets.
So Monday morning found me joining the masses, filling out this year”s surefire winner. To be fair, I haven”t won a lifetime consistency award for my NCAA Men”s Division I Basketball Championship guesses; my bracket is either a hit or miss.
Nevertheless, my confidence level couldn”t be greater going into the first 16-game day of the tournament. Going 3-1 in Round 1 was a good start (remember, today is Round 2. Because of the new 68-team format, Round 1 consisted of four play-in games completed Tuesday and Wednesday).
East Region:
Look for rounds 2 and 3 to feature many higher seeds winning (in fact, I see No. 11 seed Marquette as the only team to score an upset, making a surprise run to the Sweet 16 with victories against Xavier and Syracuse).
Ohio State should face little resistance until a Sweet 16 matchup with Kentucky; however, the Buckeyes” depth should prevail. North Carolina should overcome a tough game against Washington and then pick apart Marquette before reaching the Elite Eight.
Ohio State should dominate North Carolina in the East Region final, especially if the Tar Heels get off to one of their patented slow starts.
West Region:
Following a highly competitive Round 2 (with Missouri, Oakland and Penn State upsetting), Round 3 opponents should be fodder for the remaining higher seeds. The Round 3 game-to-watch could be the offensively inconsistent Duke against Michigan.
Duke should squeak past Michigan and take care of Arizona in the Sweet 16. Connecticut against San Diego State will be one of the best Sweet 16 games to watch, with UConn prevailing.
Duke”s reliance on outside shooting will be the Blue Devils” downfall. The Huskies will force Duke into tough 3-point shots that the defending champions won”t be able to make consistently, giving UConn the victory.
Southwest region:
Here will be another by-the-book Round 2 (look for Florida State and Richmond to upset). The most competitive Round 3 game will be Georgetown”s upset victory against Purdue.
The region”s semifinal should feature three Big East teams. Notre Dame will beat familiar foe Georgetown in one Sweet 16 matchup; Kansas-Louisville will be the most entertaining Sweet 16 game of the entire tournament (give the hard-earned win to Kansas).
Kansas against Notre Dame will be another good game, but the Jayhawks” star power will take the fight out of the Irish. Though I”m confident in Kansas, the one concern would be an early-round dud like last year against Northern Iowa. Still, the Jayhawks should make it to the Final Four.
Southeast region:
Look for upsets aplenty in Round 2, with Belmont, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Old Dominion and Utah State each getting victories. BYU, Florida and Pittsburgh will sail into the Sweet 16, but the Round 3 matchup of No. 13 Belmont and No. 12 Utah State will be hard fought (and won by the underdog Belmont).
BYU will defeat SEC runner-up Florida in the Sweet 16 and Pittsburgh will easily handle Belmont. Pittsburgh”s depth, size and defense will then stifle Jimmer-time in the Elite Eight.
Really, Pittsburgh should have the easiest road to the Final Four because they shouldn”t face a single team from a major conference during regional play.
Final Four:
To recap, my Final Four prediction is Ohio State against UConn and Kansas against Pittsburgh.
And yes, I realize that those picks go against recent historical trends, such as only once in the past 10 tournaments has three or more No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four (2008) while there has been an average of one No. 2 seed during that span. Still, I”m confident in my four predicted finalists.
In the Final Four, Ohio State should outplay UConn because of its depth and attention to defense (they”ll find a way to shut down Kemba Walker). In the other matchup, look for Kansas to dismantle an untested Pittsburgh squad.
Championship:
Ohio State and Kansas will be the two left standing at the end of an exciting two weeks. Ohio State is the overall No. 1 seed and has been the best team for most of the season, but that doesn”t always work in a team”s favor in the tournament.
Big 12 champion Kansas also played consistently most of the season and dominated conference play.
One statistic on Kansas”s side is the fact the once-dominant Big Ten has not had a champion since Michigan State”s 2000 run. The Big Ten is due, as is recent bridesmaid Ohio State.
On championship Monday, Ohio State will have the best player (freshman forward Jared Sullinger) and the deepest team on the floor. Prediction is a double-digit championship game victory for Ohio State.
The championship win will cap a commanding tournament for the No. 1 overall seed Ohio State Buckeyes, who will have marched through opponents like a squad of Tolkien”s Ents.
The question remains whether hoisting this trophy would leave college sports fans with a better taste in their mouths about Ohio State than the recent revelations about the school”s head football coach. And really it probably would because as the old adage goes, “winning is everything.”
Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. He can be reached at 263-5636 ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com.
