Bracketology

They haven't announced the brackets yet. I think they're still working on the womens (GO UCONN). So I have time to gripe about the choices before I can actually see them.

Up until about 2 weeks ago, I was ready to give it all to Stanford or Duke, I wasn't sure about the final game yet. Now, I have no idea in heck. Yes, Stanford won the Pac-10 but it took a lot of luck in that final win over Washington, who might have been legitamately tired after they're fight with Arizona. Then, Maryland (who was ranked 6th in the ACC) upsets Duke to earn the nod, and possibly take away Duke's number 1 standing.

So who do we go for? St. Joe? They lost to Xavier (who won the A-10) and they still can't rebound. Stanford? Maybe, but they better have a powderpuff way to the Final Four because they can't handle getting slapped around. Duke? They're still the favorite, but they've shown none of the domination that you expect from them. I'm not buying yet. UConn? I'd like to see UConn win and I think that Okafor does give them that chance, but his health has been sketchy. I'll have to see who they have to go through. Kentucky? Maybe, Tubby's team has been a sleeper and they just won the SEC championship. I'll keep my eye out. Pittsburgh? Mississippi St.? Okhlahoma St.? Wisconsin? All possiblities, all having serious flaws to counter their attributes.

So, more than any other year that I've been playing brackets, I think this year's champion is dependant on the road. Who they match up against, who they get on a bad day, etc. Last year I picked Kentucky but some concilation when I put Syracuse in the final game. We have no Kentucky's this year and more than one Syracuse. It should be interesting.