It’s March Madness and no one’s more upset than the fans of teams that were supposed to go farther, do better and keep brackets across the nation intact. [I’m still not able to talk about…Duke] We’re getting down the wire and the road to the Final Four, always an exciting one, is on a fast track to New Orleans, word to Weezy F. Baby. I’d wager a Pepsi and a Moon Pie on my [current] Final Four teams; if I told you who I originally took all the way you’d likely stop reading. Entertain my ideas; I’ve listed them in order of least to greatest shock factor:
4. Like the rest of America, I’m taking Kentucky to the top. Before watching their second half 20-2 run against Iowa State I thought they were just another “good” team with a good seed and a 1/64 chance of taking home the trophy. Needless to say, I was dead wrong. They’re young but terribly talented. Take out another buzzer beater by Indiana’s Christian Watford and an unlikely upset courtesy of Baylor (a team I’m predicting will beat Xavier by double-digits) and Kentucky can go ahead and start warm-ups at the Superdome. More importantly, you would not have completely failed Bracketology and your ego may be saved.
3. Florida’s running on adrenaline, I’d guess. Considering their first two opponents (UVA and Norfolk State) the Gators would not have needed much skill (or luck) to make it this far. In either case, their demise is coming in Phoenix against Marquette. Marquette will win to shut-up Florida and lose to Michigan State because Michigan State has Draymond Green. Have you watched Draymond Green this season? If not, allow me: reader, meet YouTube.
2. Sans Fab Melo I think Syracuse can still pull it off. If this happens I’ll stab myself in the larynx for rearranging the Eastern Division of my bracket after the news of his injury. Wait, I’m lying! Heaven’s already smiled upon Syracuse once this tournament as pushing past UNC-Asheville was once a dream. We can call the victory over Kansas State a fluke though a predecessor to what’s next: Wisconsin. I’d favor Ohio State over Wisconsin to head to the Final Four except I don’t like Ohio State. Besides, I’m partial to Wisconsin—you can thank Russell Wilson.
1. I suppose it’s “ bad juju” if I don’t cheer my alma mater to the championship considering they’ve seemingly turned a subpar regular season around and found themselves in the Sweet 16, four games shy of winning the national championship. No one thinks North Carolina State will beat Kansas but no one thought we’d beat Georgetown. After almost losing to Purdue, the Wolfpack Nation is praying that the Jayhawks will play another half-hearted game Friday night in which we’ll reign free of foul trouble and thereby become victorious. Well then we’ll have to beat the Tar Heels. We don’t need a statistician to tell us the likelihood of State winning but with an injured Kendall Marshall and unnecessary media attention over an in-state athletic rivalry, who knows what will happen?
My most immediate after-thought is of the fall – for it brings football season.
What Do You Think?
-Brian Riddick
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