Rack ‘em and Bracket ‘em and Pick ‘em up – Your NCAA picks

Spent Saturday on Twitter decrying West Virginia because they play right with each and every opponent – but now I’m about to heap a bunch of love on them. These are the brackets in a nutshell.

Each team rife with flaws, and it’s tough to look at any contender and see a clear path to the Final Four. Besides Kansas’ tough bottom-half, you’ve got Syracuse’s early gauntlet – playing Vermont (wink, wink, committee. We get it.), then Gonzaga or Florida State, then potentially Butler, who scares me to death.

In a collegiate landscape that features no clear contenders, and glaring weaknesses or concerns on each team, it’s almost impossible not to overthink your bracket. In fact, right now we’re watching the Bracketology talking heads argue about Illinois, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, Florida, and others. Well, stop overthinking. Those teams are all terrible.

So I’m doing the opposite this year – going knee-jerk and picking the finals. And yes, I was worried about Gonzaga and Florida State immediately. Now that I know Arinze Onuaku probably won’t play in weekend 1 … I’m petrified. Undaunted, off we go.

MIDWEST.

First round winners: Kansas, Northern Iowa, Michigan State, Maryland, Tennessee, Georgetown, Oklahoma State and Ohio State.

Too bad for Northern Iowa. This team could have done some damage if it got the right draw – a seeding opposite UNLV and Kansas is perhaps the polar opposite. I wanted to pick Houston over Maryland, but I ended up going with the Terps – even though Houston got hot and surprised in the CUSA tourney, doubtful that carries through for the weekend. Besides, with one first-round win, maybe Maryland will retire Greivis Vasquez’ number. The committee decided to toss schizophrenic Georgetown a softball in round one, just because they love the Hoyas’ upside. I choose to believe that Oklahoma State is better than they showed against Kansas State.

Regionals: Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown, and Ohio State. No real surprises here. Plus, if you write “OSU” in your bracket for the winner of Ohio State and Okie State, you can’t lose!

Regional final. Kansas squares off against Georgetown; a team that can give the Jayhawks fits and even upset the juggernaut. I don’t see it, though – the Jayhawks are too good defensively.

Final Four: Kansas

WEST.

First-round winners: Syracuse, Florida State, Butler, Murray State, Xavier, Pittsburgh, BYU and Kansas State.

Syracuse is in Buffalo, and I hope that helps them fend off the Seminoles in Round 2. Gonzaga gets dropped because they’re a West-Coast team flying across the nation. Butler is my sleeper of the tournament, and Murray State is getting a lot of love, almost enough to scare me off of an upset of Vanderbilt.

Regionals: Syracuse, Butler, Xavier, Kansas State.

Xavier advances because of my long-standing Pitt policy. I lingered on BYU, because they can give Kansas State a hard time. And as you know, K-State is a team that will struggle on the second day of the tournament. However, BYU hasn’t seen the Wildcats either, and K-State’s quick defense in person should be tough for the Cougars to overcome. Butler will scare Syracuse to death, if not knock them off. And finally, I’d like to say that a Syracuse vs. Kansas State regional final wouldn’t be the end of my marriage. I’d like to say that.

But let’s just run with my pipe dream – I really, really want Syracuse to play both Kansas State and Kansas. If they could beat those teams in succession, that would be superfab for me. After typing that, however, I know I should pick Butler.

Whatever. This is my blog. You didn’t expect this?

Final Four: Syracuse.

EAST

First-round winners. Kentucky, Texas, Temple, Wisconsin, Marquette, Washington, New Mexico, Missouri, West Virginia.

Temple is grossly underseeded – that team is a 3-seed. And Cornell, for that matter, could be a No. 6. This game is my favorite of the first round. For whatever reason, I’m not sold on Marquette. Somehow they should have been a bubble team, yet were No. 5 in the Big East. Huh? Maybe Washington fulfills its potential. Let’s say yes. Wanted to pick Montana over Steve Alford and the Fighting Lobos, but couldn’t. Clemson vs. Missouri might be the worst game of round 1. How was Wake Forest a lock? Guh.

Regionals. Texas, Temple, Washington, West Virginia.

Texas upsets Kentucky.You heard it here first. I know, nothing in Texas’ history suggests they can pull this off. But I believe! Temple emerges through the gauntlet. Somehow. Washington takes down New Mexico. Take that, Steve! West Virginia struggles more than they should with Mizzou – but stop me if you’ve heard this – they win.

In an underrated regional final, West Virginia squeaks by Temple. I like this regional a lot. Lots of good teams, neither Kentucky nor Wisconsin nor Cornell nor Temple would surprise me coming out of the regional. West Virginia is the most efficient, and the best offensive rebounding team. That should get them through the lean minutes.

Final Four: West Virginia.

SOUTH.

At first I couldn’t care less that Duke somehow leapfrogged Syracuse to snare this bracket. Now I couldn’t be more jealous of the Devils’ supposed cakewalk. On we go.

First-round winners: Duke, Louisville, Texas A&M, Purdue, Old Dominion, Baylor, Richmond, Villanova.

I really hate this year’s crop of six-seeds. Siena is a popular upset pick over Purdue, but I sense too much chalk swinging away from the Boilermakers. They’re good enough to beat Siena. Everything else seems clear-cut.

Regionals: Duke, Texas A&M, Baylor, Villanova.

Again, almost a chalk bracket. I like Duke to narrowly get by Texas A&M – the Aggies get down and dirty and guard, but I think Duke’s perimeter play is just a bit better. Baylor and Villanova could top 200 points. I really like Baylor; this isn’t an unpopular stance – in fact, it scares me a little bit. But I think they beat Villanova, the Bears are slightly more sound.

Final Four: Baylor.

And in fact, I think it’s a brave new world once Baylor is in the Final Four. And they’re the biggest story – not just because of the resurrection Scott Drew has done after the wake of the 2003 teammate murder, but in the whole storied history of crappy Baylor basketball. In fact, with all those human interest stories, you’ll barely notice that Bob Huggins has made his second Final Four, and first since 1992, and first with West Virginia.

Much like 1996, one side of the bracket tilts toward juggernauts Syracuse and Kansas, and the other toward wunderkinds Baylor and West Virginia. In the end, the Jayhawks square off against the Mountaineers. (And for a K-State fan base enjoying one of their best seasons ever, this final is their personal hell.) And Kansas wins.