RETRO: my bracket sucks

George Mason!

I didn’t even see this game because I figured that UConn had to win by 20 or so. I was worried about all those close games they had, but then, there was no way that they could possibly blow this, right? This has to be up there with all the great upsets in tourney history – N.C. State, Kansas and Villanova winning titles in the 80’s, LSU making it as an 11 seed, everything. My one rule was that mid-majors can make the Elite Eight if things work out, but they never win. Well, a Colonial team is going to the Final Four. Unbelievable.

I don’t even know how this will affect pools across the country. I’m guessing that most people are done, but then, maybe everyone else is too. People will win this by just getting half of the Final Four right, not the championship. Diehard fans of these schools will be giddy that their brash picks will turn out true (how many Mason fans turned in a dream bracket and will see it become real?) I called Florida and I was tempted by LSU, and I think some people have those. A lot of people did pick UCLA for that region. Screw them. They should not be here. I will not let myself be sucked in by their run. They should have lost to Gonzaga.

So who wins this now? Some team that no one predicted before the season, that’s who. None of these teams seems to have the stars necessary to win it all, and after Duke, UConn, Texas, Memphis, Villanova, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Boston College, and Ohio State are out, how do we pick? No expert would have taken anyone besides those teams as a champion. Maybe some would have UCLA or Florida in the big game, but just a few, and now one of these teams is going to win it all. This is like the ’98 Kentucky-Utah game or 2003 when Arizona and Kentucky were supposed to be the overwhelming faves and neither made it to the Final Four, and a young Syracuse team snuck in there to win it all. There is no logic to this.

My pick now is Florida over LSU, since they are the only team from my original Four to make it. I think they’ve come on strong, and they have the big men to hang with LSU along with a load of guards to throw at them. I’m still doubting UCLA and I think George Mason has made it further than anyone imagined (actually, they did that with just one good win, let alone four). LSU is my second choice, then UCLA, then Mason. If the Colonial upstarts pull off the impossible some brash alumni might get very rich if they put down the money early on. Who’s to say how this will turn out? They’ve etched their place in history, at least.