Uneducated guessing
Here is the extent of my knowledge/made-up facts about basketball: Tall people play it. James Naismith invented it. He was Canadian. Converse used to have contracts to shoe the NBA. Now they just shoe ninjas.
Here is the extent of my knowledge about the current state of college basketball: Division I college athletes are spoiled. Oh, and, um, I think Duke might be good. You always hear about them, don't you?
So, of course, it follows that I am not (if the NCAA asks) entering a NCAA basketball pool. Yes, that's it. Not entering. Go away, nice NCAA.
But I will share with you who I would pick if I were to be entering an NCAA basketball pool, which of course I am not. If you do not want to hear about college basketball or my expert justifications for the teams I picked (based on no information other than their names and current rankings), then read no further.
First Round
- Illinois vs Fairleigh Dickinson. Yes, I just picked the #16 to beat the #1. Do you want to make something of it? How could you not pick a school called Fairleigh Dickinson? I bet they have a chip on their shoulder that will give them the advantage in this game.
- Texas vs Nevada. Nevada sounds like a good basketball place.
- Alabama vs Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I like the word Milwaukee. Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee!
- Boston College vs Pennsylvania. This is the first time I've picked the higher-ranked team! Good thing I'm NOT REALLY IN A POOL, NCAA! GOOD THING THERE'S NO MONEY INVOLVED! *WINK!* Pennsylvania, you lose.
- LSU vs UAB. I don't know what UAB stands for, but it's not in Louisiana.
- Arizona vs Utah State. This is a tough choice because I don't care at all. So I picked the #3 over #14.
- Southern Illinois vs St Mary's. Ha ha! Your school's named Mary!
- Oklahoma State vs. Southeastern Louisiana. Again, not Louisiana.
- Washington vs Montana. Yes, #16 over #1 again. Here is my expert decision-making process: I know one person from Montana and he's pretty tall. Yes. That is the extent of the information that went into this decision.
- Pacific vs Pittsburgh. I like the name Pacific.
- Georgia Tech vs George Washington. Hmmm. Tough call. I have a friend who goes to GWU, but Georgia Tech has an HCI program. So I went with #5 over #12.
- Louisville vs LA-Lafayette. Why are there so many schools from Louisiana in this? What is in the water down there?
- Texas Tech vs UCLA. UCLA sounds like a basketbally school.
- Gonzaga vs Winthrop. Why do I have to make this decision in the first round? Both are great names. In the end, I say, "No thank you, Amaryllith!"
- West Virginia vs Creighton. Where's Creighton? WHO CARES?
- Wake Forest vs Chattanooga. Chattanooga? I think they're trying just a little too hard. You're no Gonzaga!
- North Carolina vs Oakland University. This is really hard. I want to be all locally supportive and rah rah rah, but I've already picked two #16 over #1 upsets and... come on. Seriously.
- Minnesota vs Iowa State. I originally picked them because I like the gold and black better than maroon and gold, but then I realized that's the University of Iowa. But it was too late because I already had songs from The Music Man in my head.
- Villanova vs New Mexico. When I hear "Villanova" I think of villains. I like to think there's a school for villains! They'll win, just by cheating!
- Florida vs Ohio. Meh. Go Midwest.
- Wisconsin vs Northern Iowa. If I get my rear in gear, I'm applying for a job there. It's my duty to support them!
- Kansas vs Bucknell. I don't know where Bucknell is, but I don't like the sound of it. This game's in Oklahoma City, which doesn't seem that far from Kansas. Maybe their fans will come.
- Charlotte vs North Carolina State. This game is being played in Worcester, while North Carolina, Oakland, Minnesota and Iowa State face off in Charlotte. Not a good decision, NC$$-wise. I don't care, so I picked the one with a tougher name.
- Connecticut vs Central Florida. Central Florida sounds humid.
- Duke vs Delaware State. God, I love underdogs. I wanted to pick Delaware State, but this is getting ridiculous. So, alas, here's another #1 actually beating #16. :'(
- Stanford vs Mississippi State. Meh. I like writing Mississippi.
- Michigan State vs Old Dominion. Old Dominion is a cool name, but I guess since U-M isn't in the tournament and I already rejected Oakland, I have to make some sort of gesture of Michiganderdom.
- Syracuse vs Vermont. Katie, this one's for you.
- Utah vs UTEP. I don't know what UTEP stands for, but I like the acronym because it sounds like it would be some scholarly institute in Europe. I think I shall pronounce it "Oot-pee."
- Oklahoma vs Niagara. I read this as Nigeria at first. Go Nigeria!
- Cincinnati vs Iowa. I think I need more practice spelling Cincinnati - if you look at my bracket, I think I've spelled it wrong every time I wrote it. And I wrote it a lot.
- Kentucky vs Eastern Kentucky. Ah! One of those great rivalries, I'm sure, but one that I couldn't care less about. I picked the one that was simplest.
Second Round
- Fairleigh Dickinson vs Nevada. Reality comes into play. Fairleigh Dickinson gets cocky after their huge upset and Nevada stomps on them.
- Wisconsin-Milwaukee vs Boston College. Boston's #4 and Milwaukee's #12. A cool name will only take you so far.
- UAB vs Arizona. I took UAB out because I didn't want to bother to find out what it stands for.
- Southern Illinois vs Oklahoma State. Meh. The fewer modifiers, the stronger the name sounds. Somehow State sounds better than Southern.
- Montana vs Pacific. Go Montana! I don't know why I have such faith in you, but Pacific sounds pretty placid. You can do it!
- Georgia Tech vs Louisville. I hav no idea why I picked this. Maybe it's because Louisville is ranked #4 and Georgia Tech is #5.
- UCLA vs Gonzaga. No contest. I predict the score will be a hillion jillion to twelve.
- Creighton vs Wake Forest. I still don't know anything about where Creighton is and that's handicapped them.
- North Carolina vs Iowa State. North Carolina has a lot of teams in this. I'm tired of seeing that state's name.
- Villanova vs Ohio. They're going to get Acme™ jet-packs and shrink rays and things! Poor Ohio.
- Wisconsin vs Kansas. Yawn. Continue supporting Wisconsin, both for the job-thing and the Midwest-thing.
- North Carolina State vs Connecticut. Enough North Carolina already!
- Duke vs Mississippi State. See the list of things I know about basketball. Add to this the fact that they're ranked #1.
- Michigan State vs. Vermont. Michigan against Vermont? Come on!
- UTEP vs Niagara. UTEP was fascinating for a while, but I'm still cheering for Nigeria/Niagara.
- Cincinnati vs Kentucky. I am getting so good at spelling this! But I think I need more practice...
Regionals First Round
- Nevada vs Boston College. They're always winning things in Boston. I think I'll get their hopes up and then crush them later.
- Arizona vs Oklahoma State. I don't know why.
- Montana vs Louisville. Geez, once Montana got this far, they're good to go. There isn't a lot of tough cool-name competition in this bracket so far.
- Gonzaga vs Wake Forest. The Great Gonzaga! Bow down!
- Iowa State vs Villanova. Hmmm. I wonder why I did this. Villanova are higher ranked! And possibly evil! Oh well, too late to change now.
- Wisconsin vs Connecticut. Yay Wisconsin. You should hire me. Look how supportive I am.
- Duke vs Michigan State. End of the line, Sparty. I may not know a lot about basketball, but I know that Duke must be better than you. Right?
- Niagara vs Cincinnati. One-n, two-n's, one-t. This is how you spell it. I don't know why I'm so fond of Cincinnati, but it's calling to me!
Regionals Second Round
- Boston College vs Oklahoma State. Take that, Beantown!
- Montana vs Gonzaga. No one can beat Gonzaga!
- Iowa State vs Wisconsin. Please pay me lots of monies.
- Duke vs Cincinnati. Duke is good and - WHAT? - Oh my, it's an upset!
National Semi-Finals
- Oklahoma State vs Gonzaga. I'm not sure how Oklahoma State made it this far - I don't have any real attachment to the state or to the name. Nevertheless, now they are out. Like Seacrest.
- Wisconsin vs Cincinnati. *avoids eye contact with Wisconsin*
National Championship
- Gonzaga vs Cincinnati. There is no stopping them.
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srah - Thursday, 17 March 2005 - 11:13 AM
Tags: basketball, ncaa, sports
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Cari - March 17, 2005 - 6:13 PM - ℓ
Jeremiah - March 17, 2005 - 9:18 PM - ℓ
srah - March 18, 2005 - 12:56 AM - ℓ
Big fan of Villanova
But . . .
I always root for Gonzago cuz I like to refer to it as Gorgonzola and I think they ought to change their names so they could be real cheeseheads and cause great shame to the Green Bay Packers which is a different sport and not at all affiliated with the NCAA.
U.J. has put his money on the Tar Heels. And that is as much madness as I can take.
But you've no posts on more burning questions . . who's your pick for "Idol"????????